Actor Highlight: Josh Kessler

We had a couple of the actors in the show answer a few questions for you. Here’s some from Josh Kessler who plays Blake Goodman.

Josh Kessler- Blake Goodman

What do you do when not on set with Peculiar?

When I’m not filming Peculiar I’m a pretty busy guy, lol. I’m an actor at Universal about three days a week. I’m currently a full time student at Reformation Bible College in Sanford where I take classes three days a week as well. On top of that, I lead worship on Wednesday nights for a youth group in Apopka and for a church in Ocoee on Sundays.

What’s your favorite scene from the show?

My favorite scene has to be the Jason flash where he and Blake are in a therapist setting and Jason is crying on the couch while Blake is telling him to “get his big boy pants on.” I was on the verge of cracking up (you can probably tell if you watch me closely) almost every take. Too much fun!

Besides the one you play, who is your favorite character?

I would say the Coach is my favorite character. For me personally, my father never led anything spiritual or taught me how to be a man. Maybe that’s too personal, but that’s why I appreciate the character of the coach.

Why did you want to be a part of Peculiar?

I see a real opportunity for change to take place in Christian television through this show because I think the show targets a completely ignored age group (younger to middle age adults). Also within its own genre, I don’t believe there is anything comedy related that handles the topics Peculiar tackles. I just see so many opportunities to reach people with this show.

Why should people watch?

People need to watch for several reasons. But if I had to boil it down I would say watch it because we need your help. The only way to change Christian television is if we can get people behind us. It’s difficult for us to get the word out any other way than for people to watch and then tell their friends. It’s pretty obvious that most of Christian TV is geared toward the older generation. So if Christians want new content geared toward younger generations, we need them to watch the show and then tell their friends to watch.

Watch Josh in the first semester on DVD and in the 2nd semester online.

1 More Week of Production to Go!

Just one more week of production to go for Season 1B of Peculiar.

We wrapped up the 4th week of taping last night with some scenes from the most controversial episode we have ever done. Homosexuality and same sex attraction are huge issues facing the church today. So we are exploring what a biblical worldview of this issue looks like.

Next week we finish up a couple scenes from earlier episodes and shoot the 10th, and final, episode of the season.

I know I say it a lot, but I can’t say it enough. I have a great crew and cast! They give up their time, as volunteers, to make the show happen. They take time away from their family to create these stories. Thank you, a million times over.

Next Saturday we should start broadcasting on JCTV! The NRB network and the Walk TV will begin in July, as well as a few individual stations.

Cost of Doing a Webseries: Infographic from VGHS and our own Season 2 Budget.

The guys from over at Video Game High School posted up exactly what it cost to do their 1st season of their hit web series.

Now, their $636,000+ cost was for a special effects intense series with tons of locations and shots and all sorts of stuff we don’t have to worry about. They raised their initial money from Kickstarter, and are doing another campaign for Season 2. Their Season 1 ended up at about 200 minutes of video.

$636k. I’d take 10% of that. We did about 103 minutes of video for $3,600.

In reality, to really do what we need to do for the next season of the show, we need to raise about $11,500 for 7 more episodes. That allows me to pay some people a little bit, and covers the cost of some things I didn’t factor into the original budget.

Here’s how it breaks down.

Gear: $1000
Food: $250
Props $250
Closed Captioning (For past a future episodes): $3000
Cast and Crew: $7000

Total: $11,500

The closed captioning cost hurts. If we don’t caption the first episodes, we limit the broadcast possibilities for the show. Unless a station/network is exempt, like The Walk, they cannot play the show unless it is captioned.

Would the cast and crew do everything again for nothing? Maybe, but I don’t want to ask that of them. At $1000 per episode for the total personnel budget, I’m not giving anyone very much.

We could maybe scrimp on gear, again. The food and prop budgets are already small. $11,500 is what we should shoot for.

I’d love to have about $5000 per episode to use. Then we could get more of what we need, and pay everyone a more fair wage. Based on what we raised last time, $11,500 is already a God-sized goal. $35,000 is of course, within His power.

So, right now the minimum goal is $11,500 for the next 7 episodes of Peculiar.

Oops!

[UPDATE] All shoots are now complete!

I feel like a complete idiot. Because I didn’t know my own equipment as well as I should have, and because of the crazy shoot schedule, I made a couple of mistakes with audio that require us to shoot a couple of scenes again.

The mistake is that I wiped out the audio for those scenes. I thought I had them, but I didn’t. They were all recorded correctly, I just missed the folder they were stored in. The Zoom will store files in different folders based on the mode you are using. I did not realize that.

So we get to reshoot some scenes.

Two were just short scenes, outdoors. We’ve already shot one again. The worst was a day’s worth of scenes that have to be re done. We’ve got the date set. And should have everything captured… again… be the end of this coming week.

In the real world, this kind of mistake could have cost me my job. Of course, since I’m the boss… I won’t fire myself, this time. But I had better shape up.

Seriously, I hate that I wasted all of that work. I can’t stop apologizing to the cast and crew affected. Luckily, it’s just scenes with 2 people. So we don’t have to get large groups back in, or even arrange locations. It could be worse.

Still a drag though. I don’t think I’ll be making this mistake again.

Meanwhile, I’m still plugging away on the Post Production side of things.

Michael Shippy Joins the Cast

Michael Shippy has joined the cast of Peculiar. Shippy is very active in the drama ministry at First Baptist Orlando, playing roles in both the Singing Christmas Trees and Easter One presentations. He has also been involved in the television ministry at the church and was on the crew for the Peculiar Preview Project.

Torry Martin Joins the Cast

Actor, author, scriptwriter, producer, comedian Torry Martin joins the cast of Peculiar in a reoccurring role.

Martin has written several books, writes for “Adventures in Odyssey”, and created the character Wooten Bassett for the show. He has appeared in numerous videos, short films, spoofs, movies and TV Shows.

Watch his latest reel:

More about Martin from his website:

Martin was a standup comic and actor in Los Angeles before he became a Christian. After finding the Lord, Martin moved to Alaska and lived in a remote cabin with a friend who was studying for ministry. He gave up acting and comedy for two years and studied the bible while becoming grounded in his faith. After being encouraged by some friends at his church, Torry began writing comedy sketches which he entered into the national competition sponsored by the Gospel Music Association called Christian Artists, now called Seminar in the Rockies. He won the grand prize two years in a row and now returns annually as an instructor. Martin has written for “Adventures in Odyssey”, a children’s radio series produced by Focus on the Family. For this self-proclaimed “hippie-for-the-Holy-One,” the melding of talent and faith have also resulted in the release of several books, including “Under the Circumstances,” and “What a Character,” both are collections of comedy sketches about Christian life.

Thank You!

I know the pilot isn’t done yet, but I wanted to take some time to thank the people who helped get me this far. No money. No food. Long hours. They all worked together to help me with the vision God has given me. I will never forget them. I don’t think I can convey my gratitude enough.

George Livings who encouraged me, and helped me with the script. Torry Martin, who took time to help me make a better story. Jaye Gragg and Dawn West who were great with advice and helped behind the scenes (or as extras if necessary.)

The crew: Stephen Brandt was at every shoot, and willing to do what ever was needed behind or in front of the camera. Jeff Atkisson was also at every shoot, bringing his own gear to make the shots better. And Bobby Falconnier who helped with one of the bigger shoots.

The cast, each of which gave up long hours and delivered great performances. Josh Kessler, Kaleia Giancini, Steve Bleiler, Melanie Turner, Becky Abu Rahmeh, Joel Coffey, Tony Dietterick, Joan Peterson and Gordon Hooper. And my son, Jeff Link.

Background actors who helped make the scenes more real. Lamar Washington, Susan Lawson, Xiomara Seliga, Danielle Manna, Sharon Coffey, and Mario Giancini.

When I stop to think about what has already been accomplished with these guys,I am overwhelmed.

Thank you.

Becky Abu-Rahmeh Joins The Cast of Peculiar

Becky Abu-Rahmeh has joined the cast of Peculiar. She has had several parts on stage, including roles in Little Women, and Tom Sawyer. She has also been in the Singing Christmas Trees and Easter ONE at First Baptist Orlando.

She joins the cast as we begin preparations for shooting the pilot in earnest. The goal is to release the pilot by the middle of May. Becky fills the first of several new roles that will be cast.

The Pilot Interest Meeting Info

Last night we had a great meeting about the pilot. For some reason everyone sat on one side of the room, which was kind of odd, but a good group nonetheless. I know some folks couldn’t come, so I wanted to post the information here:

We started the evening with an explanation of why I’m developing the project. You can read all about that process in great detail here on the blog, so I won’t go into it again.

Budget:

We have no money.

This is a personal project that the church is partnering with us on. I do not want to impact the church budget.

Luckily we have access to most of the gear we need. But this will be a 100% volunteer effort.

Now, if you happen to run into someone who is looking to invest in ministry…

Cast & Crew:

The Pilot has a small cast. Only 4 speaking roles are available. We do need quite a few extras. we are primarily looking for people who can play college aged adults.

We need a lot of help with behind the scenes crew and preproduction.

Schedule:

We shot the Preview Project in 2 days. The Pilot has 9 Scenes and 7 locations. It will probably take 7-9 days to shoot.

We are working around the production schedule for First Orlando. We could do a little the 3rd week of March, the rest will be after Easter. I expect the Pilot to be done by the beginning of May. Much of the shooting schedule depends on the people involved.

There is a lot of preproduction work to be done.

I want to have the cast finalized by the end of February. There won’t be a general audition, but I will have people come in for a reading based on the interest they showed on the forms.

How you can help:

Pray.

Talk about the show. Tell your friends.

“Like” the Facebook page, subscribe to the Youtube channel and the blog. Encourage your friends to do that too.

Roles for the Peculiar Pilot

Here is a list of the roles in the Pilot for the show.

This isn’t a complete list of every character in the show, in fact there are a couple that won’t be introduced until later episodes. But this is what I need to shoot the Pilot. Some of the roles were cast during the Preview. We will be reshooting almost every shot of the preview. The pilot is a 30-minute show.

Roles for Peculiar Pilot:

Blake Goodman– (Played by Josh Kessler) About to start his first year of college. Known for his quick wit. Star athlete in high school. He knows college will be different because he lost all of his athletic scholarships after a car accident the night of graduation. Raised in a non-religious home, he only know what media has told him about Christianity. He recently asked Jesus into his heart. He is trying to figure out what all of this means.

Coach B (Bill Miller)– (Played by Steve Blieler) Old enough to be Blake’s dad. He led Blake to the Lord and is meeting with him regularly for discipleship. Is a deacon in a small church. He is an ex college football coach.

Sarah– (Played by Kalea Giancini) College freshman. Will become Blake’s love interest. She is not against religion, but not religious. Spunky, smart and funny.

Jamey– Will become Blake’s best friend. College freshman. Long time Christian, involved in BSM on campus. Traditional Christian views. Grew up in a Christian home. Knows all about the faith, but is a bit jaded and sarcastic.

Blake’s Mom– Syrupy, sweet. A bit frumpy, and mostly oblivious to things outside her world. She has no religious background. Has been divorced for a long time. Is currently looking for a new husband.

Professor Fitzpatrick – Atheist philosophy professor forced to teach a general college orientation class, doesn’t want to be there. He requires people engage in debates and discussion. It is his mission to teach them how they should view the world. He has a special place in his heart for torturing Christians.

Harry– Non traditional college student who knows Jason.

Aunt Millie– (Played by Joan Peterson) Sarah’s aunt. Know’s Blake from church.

Extras:
-Class extras- 2 sets of different classes, 10-20 people each time. Backpacks or other bags, laptops or tablets.
-Café extras- 8-16 people each scene.
-Coffee Shop extras- 4-8 people each scene.

Come to the Pilot interest meeting on Feb 8th, 7:30PM, at First Baptist Orlando room WC 132-134 to find out more about the show and the schedule.