aT , Unravelling ‘Unreeled’ | Interview with Chris Lee about his upcoming web series Angela Espinoza Arts Reviewer veryone has their own hobbies B= talents that they intend to do something with. Whether you’re a musician or an artist, you’ ve convinced yourself that ‘if I do this, it’ll be great!’ Most of us never follow through with that hunch, but fellow student Chris Lee did. Now, taking the time to sit and chat, Chris discusses what it’s like to create his own web series. What is ‘Unreeled’ about? Christopher Lee: [Unreeled] is about a guy named Devon, a college-league hockey player who gets a university scholarship. [Unfortunately], he ends up blowing out his knee and has to go home to try and raise enough money to attend university. He gets [hired] at a movie theatre, which we thought would just be the most degrading job— [partially because] he was always a hometown hero, so everyone knows who he is. The story’s him realizing that even if your dreamis are shattered, there are always other opportunities to make something of yourself. We wanted to go with that because, sad as it is, not everybody’s going to reach those ultimate goals in their lives. The point of the show is to say that it’s not the end of the world; there are other [roads] you can take. Who is your character in ‘Unreeled’? CL: I play Paul, the antagonist of the series. He and Devon went to high school together and at prom, Devon slept with [Paul’s] girlfriend. [Obviously], Paul’s always held that against [Devon] because then he played in the college leagues while NHL pro-scouts followed him around. Basically, we all know some guy who’s good at everything, but also did something to us in the past; we know that secret about them. So my character is always trying to make Devin’s life a living nightmare, which often gets him into these ‘wacky situations’. In the first episode, he’s introduced harassing an old woman at the theatre. He literally grabs her purse and starts going through it. He’s very intrusive, [to the point] where he’ll attack an old woman because he thinks it’s the right thing to do; that’s the kind of person he is. How did the project get started? CL: Last year I was supporting lead in a romantic comedy with two other guys, Duncan Polson and Ryan Haneman. [Duncan and Ryan] are the other writers for Unreeled, while Devan Vancise, who was also in the movie, is our executive producer. So after filming one night, Duncan dropped the idea [of making a web series]. Then we started talking about it, and Ryan suggested actually writing it because it had potential. So we got on Skype a couple times and tossed around some ideas, and [eventually] we came up with the characters and what the season would [focus on]. The first season’s basically about them trying to keep the theatre open while all this ridiculous stuff happens that threatens to close it down. That’s kind of how the idea for [Unreeled] started; we just thought about what the craziest things that [could or] have hindered our work are. How would you say your past experiences as an actor will affect the project? ‘ CL: I’m primarily a comedic actor; dramatic timing isn’t [necessarily] my strong suit. But because I’ve been taking writing courses at Douglas, I’m understanding stuff like exposition, character structure, and story structure. I realize that we can’t have a comedy [solely] based on telling jokes. We want to tell a meaningful story with tension and drama. There’s a love story, and there’s a lot of character wants [and needs]. But we’ve managed to interject hilarity into these situations, too. As an actor, I’ve seen a lot of people do some wacky things, and [from that] I’ve taken what and what not to do while writing a comedy. I think I’ve lived enough of my life to know what’s funny and what isn’t. My [belief is that] you can’t just throw jokes in people’s faces. There has to be a real situation people care about, and then the comedy behind that situation. I think [Unreeled] will be good because all the actors have experience. I can’t say what they’ve done, but I started auditioning for things like student films, and [then I moved onto] independent films. I did one or two indie films that were really good, and from there I started getting seen for other things, like TV movies. [These things build upon each other], then recently I had an audition for Degrassi. It didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to and the role went to someone else. It films in Toronto, and they’d have to spend a lot to [hire someone from Vancouver] when they could just grab [a local] instead. There’s a lot that goes into an audition, but getting an audition alone is an achievement. It’ll come down to a hundred things; if they don’t like your Christopher Lee hair, you won’t get the part. Anyway, the work that I’ve put into past projects, I’m bringing into this one, [and I’m determined] to make it fantastic. What would you say factors into making a decent web series? CL: A lot of it is unexpected; this is the first thing I’ve ever written ‘professionally’ with a group of people. I’ve written screenplays by myself that I’ve scrapped, but I’ve never dealt with other people’s ideas [simultaneously]. I was prepared for pitching jokes and writing meaningful characters and objectives, but not for other people’s ideas and what their takes on jokes would be. Things change when you have another person straight up telling you they have a better idea; they’re going to be throwing jokes, too. But they have as much of a say as I do; they’ve put their money and time into it, too. Even our producer Devan, he has ideas all the time. I wasn’t really ready for the business end, it’s just happening, and it’s a very unpredictable thing. I didn’t even think about re-writes; the story has changed from kind of a wire frame outline into [something way more] fleshed out. I care about my characters now, and I’m really happy about that. When can we expect to see ‘Unreeled’? CL: We’re aiming for August-September 2011. We’re in the process of making a trailer right now, so that should be up on the site March 28. Casting will take place in April, and then filming is in May. Then shortly after the season finale airs on YouTube, we should have the first season DVD available, plus some merch. [In the meantinie], we’re going to have a link on our website to our IndieGoGo page, which is like a fundraising site for independent filmmakers. You can donate from $1 to $1,000 to our show, and depending on the size of the donation, there will be various perks. If you’d like to donate to the project, head over to unreeledwebseries. blogspot. com. We wish their team the best of luck!