Malice: The Webseries Returns!

Rolling out from my grave to bring you a special Halloween alert.  Forget Sandy, or the Elections (I know, they're both awful frightening!), Malice: The Web Series is the big happening on Halloween.  Season Two premieres with a fantastic episode that expands the series in both technical and narrative ways.  If you haven't been watching, go give it a great big try.

To whet your appetite, here's an interview with Malice creator Philip Cook...

Can you give me a little background on you, and also a bit about the film community where you live and work?

Well … I’ve been knocking round a while.  In the 80s I worked on the first MTV Ids. 

And animated rock videos for the Alan Parsons Project “Don’t Answer Me” as an animation cinematographer.

I had always wanted to make features so when the animation company I worked for moved to New York I stayed behind in Washington D.C. to direct my first feature the sci-fi film OUTERWORLDwhich debuted on the SyFy Channel the year they launched.

After that I directed another sci-fi thriller called INVADER which was broadcast on HBO, Showtime and Cinemax.  And then after that I made a direct to video feature DESPISER.  These were all micro-budget independent productions.  But they all got finished, made their money back and got distributed worldwide.

How did the concept of Malice begin?

Well I still wanted to produce stories yet it is so difficult to raise money for production.  In the 80s it was possible to make a no-star-name independent genre film and get it in a movie theater.  That day has passed.

In the 90s it was possible to make a no-star-name genre picture and get it on TV and cable.  That day has passed.

In 2000 it was possible to make a no-star-name genre picture and sell videos to 35,000 Blockbuster and 27,000 Hollywood video stores.  Well those stores are all gone now.

What was left?  The web.  Produce a web series and distribute it your self via YouTube or other means?  How does it work?  How do you monetize your efforts?  Interesting possibilities.  So I started researching web series and found most of them awful.  But then I found THE GUILD, which I loved.  You could see some rough production value in the early episodes but the writing and characters were brilliant.  I thought I could do this and bring some of my production and visual effects experience to bear.

I needed a containable story.  A hook.  A compelling character.  It had to be tightly paced and character driven.  It had to have visual effects.  So I thought … hmm … well I live in this interesting house.  What if it was haunted?  It wasn’t hard for me to hear the voices of Alice and Abbey come from anecdotes of my daily life with my two daughters.  I like swords.  Dad has swords.  We also have a bunny named Plot.  You get the idea.  But we have no Ghost Boy in our house.  I made him up.  But the eyeball in the garbage disposal?  That’s real.  Hmm.  Not really.

Your cast is terrific, but Brittany Martz seems like a one in a million find.  I understand you discovered her in a not so typical way.

It was truly serendipity.  I spent months writing the scripts and getting them as tight as I could.  But I dragged my feet on producing the show.  I knew it was going to completely consume my life for a year.  And there was no point in going through all this effort if I couldn’t find brilliant actors.  It would live or die by its cast.  MALICE is a self-finance show so casting directors and the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) was out.  Being typical me I said I’ll find my own cast.  So I put out an ad on Craigslist, looking for young teen girls to be in a horror show.  Sounds creepy right?  But I crafted the ad very carefully -- listed my credits, links to my website and past productions.  The most remarkably talented young people started showing up for the casting call.  But when Brittany read the voice-over for me in her audition I was sold.  She had a lovely old-world-wise melancholy coming from such a young woman.  It’s funny because she wasn’t at all how I envisioned how Alice would look.  But she was simply amazing.  Now I can’t even see my original Alice -- it’s Brittany now.

How has it been working with Brittany, and the rest of the cast?

Brittany is wonderful.  Motivated, enthusiastic, committed, always thinking how the shot or scene is plugging into the story arc.  She really gets the process – wise like a veteran in that regard.  Frankly our whole cast was the most amenable group of people I have ever worked with.  I can honestly say we all had blast shooting MALICE.  We collectively all lived at my house for a month and made a horror show.  What could possibly be more fun then that?

The effects look pretty sweet, and the stories are great.  How tough is it to work all this magic into such a tight budget (and small crew)?

Well.  It’s hard.  MALICE’s crew was basically me as the Director/Director of Photography/Lighting Person and Art Director.  I had a wonderful committed young makeup artist Courtney Westphal who basically was my right hand on the set and I ended up crediting her as an Associate Producer.  And I had Max Heaton who just graduated from school was my Sound Recordist.  And of course my daughter Alexandra was Production Manager keeping us all straight on logistics.  That was it.  The whole gang.  Quite a few days it was just Brittany and I running around grabbing pickup shots or insert scenes – an army of one and the star!

What I find great about some of these webseries I've come across is the potential for them to go bigger.  You've now moved  beyond YouTube, right?

 

We’re on a couple of hosting sites right now.  YouTube, Blip.TV and most recently Koldcast.TV -- which has been remarkable.  They’re very selective of what they host on their site and they actively drive crazy amounts views.  So that’s very exciting expanding our audience.

MALICE has tons of potential.  I simply love the dynamic of Alice, this diminutive young woman being thrown into these way-over-her-head situations that she has to resolve.  And it’s not because she a superhero or has superpower.  She just cares and does the best she can.  Some of it comes down to a mere survival struggle but the other part is finding a profound inner strength when you need it.  But in the end, Alice is just a kid trying to grow up.

Right now, you have a Kickstarter campaign, to raise funds to continue.  How tough is it to find support, being outside of the usual big production areas of NYC or LA.

It’s very hard.  We have started with nothing but a hundred pages of script and lots of committed young talented people that I never even know barely a year ago.  Yet we are managing to build a community around this show. MALICE is taking on a life of its own.  Fans all around the world are discovering the show and that is very exciting.  But I feel we are merely a hundred feet up the slope of Everest right now.  And it’s a five-mile hike to the summit.  But we’ll get there.  And it will be epic!

And how challenging has it been to build a fan base?

We’d love to go to Comic Con.  But it takes money and our production runs on two sticks and a Band-Aid.  Did I mention micro-budget?  Perhaps some day.  I know if I could get Abbey (Rebekkah Johnson) and Alice (Brittany Martz) in the lobby of Comic Con wearing Battle-BunnyT-shirts and black bunny hats passing out flyers that geeks would flock to them.  Guerilla marketing with a bunny twist!

Besides all the cool weaponry and kick ass qualities of Alice, you and Brittany have developed her to be quite a positive role model for young girls.  Not only does she handle the firepower like a boss, she uses her wit and brains to get through the messes.  Was this your original concept of your heroine?  Did Brittany help mold her with you?

All of what Alice is was carefully crafted in the script.  We really didn’t deviate barely a single word from what was written.  But what Brittany did was make you believe that Alice was real, sincere, threatened, vulnerable and brave.  She sold it.  It’s quite remarkable watching her say my lines and making me hear them as if for the first time.  That is a gift and she gave to MALICE for all of you to see.

As far as Alice as a role model?  I think that’s cool.  In my view isn’t that why we want to hear and watch these stories?  To get some closure?  Take a journey?  Resolve something epic that we rarely witness in our regular lives?  Alice is a noble and tragic heroine making tough choices.  Her life is not going to be easy.

What do you have in store for Malice: The Webseries in its upcoming new season?  And secrets you can share?

In the interim we produced a special “MALICE in Space” episode that is completely out of context of the main story but features the same characters – Dad and Alice.  It was a pretty wild and intense promotion for a Space: 1999 convention coming up in L.A. in September.

Consider it another of Alice’s “wild flights of fantasy.”

After that we continue our story with Episode-Seven, which really ups the ante concerning MALICE.  We see Alice and Abbey’s house party.  And as you can imagine it’s going to be a total disaster.  What ever is going on in that house starts to show up in a big way.  And then from there … it’s a roller coaster straight down the rabbit hole!

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So, what are you waiting for?  Go check out Philip Cook's amazing webseries, and watch Brittany Martz kick some monster ass in Malice: The Webseries.

Click here to watch the new season on KoldCast!

 

BadRonald Chats with Brittany Martz of Malice: The Webseries

I don't know if you guys have been noticing, but the webernets are chock full of great original programming.  It used to be that so much of the web "television" shows either came off like a cable community access show, or worse, like a half-rate cable community access show.

Shattering the Looking Glass

YouTube has done its share of star making from the song and dance end of the world, but now there looks to be a concerted effort to find some real bonafide screen talent.  Type in webseries and you'll find yourself a list full of shows, from comedy bits to real, down and dirty action and thrillers.  One of my favorites has been The Haunting of Sunshine Girl.  After discovering that last year, I checked out the sidebar suggestions and found the teaser for a new upcoming program Malice: The WebSeries.  Instantly, upon seeing the open shot of Alice (played by Brittany Martz), a sweet looking teenage girl, dressed in some goth-punk grrl outfit and an awesome black rabbit ears cap, perched on a rooftop with an assault rifle in hand, and weird creatures approaching her from the distance -- I was ready for more.  When the series finally arrived, earlier this year, the pay off was satisfying -- a mix of sci fi/fantasy and horror, with some After School Special teenage angst, to boot.




Brittany takes on the lead role with ease and charm.  She's angsty in a John Hughes misunderstood teen kinda way -- cute and awkward, with a tomboy edge.  And then, after the spooky stuff flies, she turns all kickass, with her freaky bunny gear.  She's definitely a treat to watch.  With Rebekka Johnson as her older sister, and Mark Hyde and Leanna Chamish as their parents, the cast rounds out pretty solidly. It's a terrific show that sometimes shows it's budget.  But, that's to be expected when the show is pretty much run and operated by the one-man-band Philip Cook.  I certainly don't rag on that notion, either, since Cook and his gang pull off an amazing show. small budget or not.  This really is worth the while.

And speaking of budgets, the creator and star of the series, Bittany Martz, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to continue producing the Internet series. I had the opportunity to chat with Brittany about her role in the series, and got some great behind the scenes knowledge.

BadRonald: For those who haven't had the good fortune of seeing Malice, yet, can you describe it for them?

Brittany Martz: Malice is the story of the Turner family who inherits late grandma's house in rural Virginia. The move reveals some cracks in the already shaky family dynamic. As soon as they move in a bad energy seems to hit the air. Dad starts acting tense, Mom's drinking problems come to the surface, and Abby and Alice cannot get along. A creepy feeling pervades and soon strange things start happening, the most disturbing of which is family members disappearing. Suddenly it's up to Alice, the youngest, to solve the mystery of the house and rescue the rest of the Turners.

BadRonald: How to did you get yourself in Malice?

Brittany Martz:  I actually found out about Malice through Craigslist. Crazy right? Phil put a post up in the talent section and I found it, contacted him, made sure he was legitimate (Craigslist can be creepy), and ended up auditioning for him all within the course of a week.

Dig that bunny cap

BadRonald: Malice starts out seemingly as a sort of haunted house type of story, with Alice discovering some weirdness going on in the house.  And of course, no one believes her... And then, things kinda get... Medieval.  And, with some wild FX, too!  How crazy can fans expect this story to get, as it continues?

Brittany Martz:  As the story continues it only gets crazier! I think a lot of people who are already watching might be formulating some ideas about what exactly is going on, but as the story continues, it goes in (what I feel) is a very unexpected direction. I remember when I first read the script I was completely shocked when the source of all the Turner's troubles was finally revealed.

BadRonald: Besides having some great horror/fantasy action, the story also involves the coming-of-age of the main character, a somewhat average, somewhat invisible and misunderstood teen girl. What's your insight into your character?  Do you relate to her? 

Brittany Martz:  I'm actually very different from Alice. I am incredibly girly and sociable. I am an only child and I get along very well with my family.

However, there are some parts of Alice that I can definitely relate to: for one, Alice lives very much in a fantasy land in her head. She has a wild imagination.  She's also a bit of an outsider - and as a theater kid, I can't deny that in a lot of circles I'm considered a little weird.

I tried to channel a bit more of my younger, angst-y side into Alice. I remember being younger, trying to figure out exactly who I was, and getting frustrated with myself and the world at large. At the end of the day, she's just a girl trying to figure out her place in the big bad world. I think that's something we can all relate to.

BadRonald:  Alice has a neat edge to her, besides handling the firearms and cutlery like a pro, she dreams of passionate fantasies, of romantic trysts in the woods with an unknown young man.  Also, the Battle Bunny gear you have on for the promotional pics and videos -- there's a real coquettish mood to it all, but highly playful and innocent overall.  It's like Alice wants to grow up, but also doesn't want to lose her childhood, either.  What are your thoughts on Alice's coming of age?  And of how you portray her maturity vs. innocence?

Brittany Martz:  Actually, those fantasies you speak of, are actually visions of the past. Alice has an almost clairvoyant quality to her. That is something the second season expands on a bit.

Alice has a particularly rough coming-of-age. Does she want to grow up? Yes and no. Yes, she wants people to take her seriously. She wants recognition that she is a capable, respectable person. And she is painfully tired of dealing with the trite social interactions that being in a high school setting entails.

But growing up means coming to terms with some very uncomfortable realities for Alice. Her father, whom she takes after, and idolizes, is not the invincible man she has always dreamed of. She has always seen him as a king, but "oh how the mighty fall." She sees that he cannot stop her mother's "problems" and despite being an ex-Navy Seal, he cannot protect his family from these strange new things attacking them. Additionally, she must face the fact that you really cannot rely on anyone but yourself to get through the toughest things in life. People leave, change their minds, go insane - you have to be tough to make it through this thing called life.

On top of all of this - Alice is pretty much FORCED to grow up in a very short amount of time. She becomes the sole protector of her family without and forewarning.

I did not try to put any emphasis on Alice's maturity. Despite her intellect and toughness, I did not want to create a super hero. She's a real girl. She's flawed.

BadRonald:  This feeling of halted childhood - or halted maturity, as well -- is a big theme in Alice and Wonderland.  You guys carry it over in your story well, not with the stuff we discussed already, but also in her family relations.  Alice looks to become independent, but also doesn't want to let go of her hard-drinking mom, her sometimes not-so-understanding dad, and her big sister, who... well, acts like a big sister.  How do you view this family?

Brittany Martz:  This family is full of problems, but frankly, I don't think they're too entirely far from average. Every family has problems. The Turners, despite their issues, have a strong sense of loyalty that sort of lives underneath the surface of their interactions.

BadRonald:  You guys have a Kickstarter funding campaign going on.  Can you let everyone know know how important this is to you and the project?

Brittany Martz:  Malice has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my acting career. I'd hate to see it end prematurely.This Kickstarter fundraiser means the world to me and the Malice family! We have dedicated so much time and hard work to making this web series as awesome as we possibly can. We would love to bring more Malice episodes to fruition, but we can't do it without help! 

BadRonald:  I've spoken to other webshows that start out as YouTube productions, but have now moved on to developing into something larger (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, for instance).  Are you guys looking to grow, as well??

Brittany Martz:  I, personally, would love to see Malice grow into something bigger. I don't think people realize just how LITTLE funding we were working with to create the first six episodes. We already created something pretty badass (if I do say so). If we had the fan base and the funding to grow even large, we could create some truly amazing material.

BadRonald:  Have you got any hints as to what we can expect from the next "season" of Malice?

Brittany Martz: Well, I don't to give too much away? But viewers can expect a real good look at the world of the creepy things haunting the Turners, and the force behind it all! We're kicking up the action!

BadRonald:  Even though Alice totes some mean firepower, she uses her wits and brains and courage. Can you talk about the importance of creating and portraying a positive young female image?

Brittany Martz:  To be honest, when I began creating Alice I wasn't at all focused on creating a positive female image. I was just trying to create a believable person who lives through and must deal with some pretty unbelievable circumstances. She does so with great bravery and strength, but who wouldn't muster up such courage when faced with the task of saving one's family?

That being said, I do think it's important that young women (and men) have positive role models. I think that maybe Alice can teach people that even when you feel like you're at the end of your rope, there is a small spark inside of you - if you can tap into it, there's really no limit to what you can do.



Thank you Brittany!  We here at BadRonald wish the production well, and hope it finds the funding it needs to continue.  Go contribute! Come on -- how can ylou resist this plea for help!!!

Really... go save this show!!!

Save me!