Ahead of Melbourne WebFest 2014 we are profiling all the series in the Official Selection as well as the “Second Look” series.
The deathly comedy series is about the world of Hollywood zombies and not just the ones leaving their Botox appointments in Beverly Hills.
What if your acting career had taken a turn for the worse and your only option to get a role, to be cast in any number of the ever growing popular zombie-based TV shows and movies was to actually become one?
Beacock says his inspiration for the show came one day when in was sitting Los Angeles traffic. Looking around at all the people stuck in their cars like zombies he thought, what if they actually were? Being LA they would probably also be actors, thus the idea of zombies in Hollywood was born.
Shaun of the Dead meets Arrested Development, Acting Dead portrays a skewed look at Los Angeles, Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
How do you finance your series?
We had a fairly successful Indiegogo campaign, a few investors and then the rest was self-funded. It’s a difficult process, as most creators know.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in production?
Aside from the constant financial issues and managing the budget, pre-production was difficult with such a large cast and crew. We had 95 people involved in Acting Dead. Lots of our guest stars are currently working in television and film so it was a challenge to get everyone together on the same days. Add to that the zombie factor, and actors going in and out of makeup chairs to become a zombie, or go back to the living, and we ended up having very long hours in order to make it happen. Los Angeles is a big place and we shot all over, sometimes having up to 30 extras needing places to park, organizing craft service, etc. All the typical problems of production I suppose but it seemed like such a huge production for a webseries and that’s what made it exciting to me. If felt like a full-on production.
How do you reach your audience?
We tried to create a fan base before production ever started with our facebook and twitter pages. We’ve also been fortunate to be featured in a three page spread in Soap Opera Digest because some of our cast are Soap stars, we’ve been on lots of radio shows, and have had a good presence online in blogs and horror fan sites.
Is it an ongoing project? If so, can you give us some clues about what comes next?
It is indeed. While we’re now deep into the festival circuit with Season 1, I’ve already started coming up with storylines for Season 2 including a musical episode. Which after Season 2 will probably lead to a feature musical version of the show.
Why make a web series?
It’s the quickest, most linear path to getting your ideas and talents “out there” for people to see. You can write a screenplay and hope it gets bought. You can pitch a TV show and pray someone gives you the time of day. But you can write and shoot a webseries and if you’re smart about it, and understand the web, social media and marketing, you’ll get it seen. And honestly my first show McCracken Live! has been an enormous calling card when I’ve been in meetings pitching other ideas and projects. It has a life on the web, a history with festivals and people are finally paying attention to those kinds of projects.
Acting Dead on the web:
Website: actingdead.com jts.tv/previews/acting-dead/
Facebook: facebook.com/ActingDead
Twitter: @actingdead
Keep up to date with Melbourne Web Fest on twitter: @MelbWebFest
La Trobe University is a festival sponsor of Melbourne WebFest.
