We would like to present another project that may be of interest to our fellow readers. Pretty sure a good portion of you are into a show where a group of friends deal with living in a magical fantasy world.
The upcoming online web series is called Suspension of Disbelief and is presented by Head Games Entertainment. In this fantasy world, a group of female friends and allies, have set up a tavern where epic adventurers come to refresh themselves. When these adventurers meet their unfortunate doom, these maidens will salvage the loot.
There is only a trailer available for the series. From the looks of it, there will be lots of snark, lots of jokes, and lots of fun. This is one of the few web series that contains a diverse group of women as the main cast, set in a fantasy setting. The production values reflect the independent filmmaker spirit: it’s not as flashy as the big companies but it does pack a lot of character.
The fantasy genre and synopsis of the film definitely grabs my attention. The editing and the dialogue makes me hesitant. The series is currently in the midst of a kickstarter campaign to get the project going. The quality will most likely be improved once they have obtained the funds for the project.
It’s definitely hard to gauge whether a web series is of interest when there is only a trailer standing behind it. Head Games Entertainment did produce another series called Star Command ( lots of Star Trek influence). If Suspension of Disbelief will continue the same line, then the draw will be lying primarily in the dialogue. Since they are competing for viewership in an online landscape of high production value and effects, they will have to bring a lot of personality and character to the series.
To help impress and entice future viewership, the director/producer Ben Boardman was nice enough to answer some of my questions:
Easy and predictable question: what was the inspiration for the series?
BOARDMAN: The series started out as just a series of sketches from when we used to be LARPers and the crazy things that would happen in the “town” that our characters lived in. From there we ruminated about what kind of people would live in a town that was constantly under assault from monsters, evil sorcerers and also had to deal with the crazy Heroes running around. So we decided to shift the point of view to a group of peasants living in the village and “Suspension of Disbelief” was born in truth.
Are you or any of the actors/actresses gamers?
Pretty much the whole group has some experience with gaming, the production team grew out of our old LARP group and folks we met from conventions
For the actresses/actors: what motivates to work on this project?
Adena Brumer who plays “Sally”: “The premise and the fact that it could potentially be four badass women. Women are woefully under-represented when it comes to video games even though the amount of women gamers is rapidly rising. It seems like the perfect time to do something like this: strong, intelligent women with clever, funny, wonderful writing. Who wouldn’t be interested?“
Madeline Hatter who plays “Willa“: Well, the truth is… I’m a big ol’ nerd. Comics, games (albeit, in the days of Contra), movies. I do Dragon*Con. I’m not a larper myself, but I’ve known a couple. So when I was looking for projects, SOD stood out because of its subject. I understood it. And it was the only project posted that’s of that genre. Then, when I read Willa’s description, the first thing I thought was “Oh, that’s so me. I’m doing this.”
What are the long time goals for the show?
BOARDMAN: The long term goals of the show are to show that a Hero is much more than just someone who carries a big sword, kills the bad guy and retrieves the ancient artifact. We have a lot of that but we wanted to show that a hero also cares for the little people, makes sure that what they do is for the good of everyone and not just self-aggrandizement. But also have a bunch of cool sword fights and monsters!
What keeps you motivated to work on these projects?
BOARDMAN: Wanting to see these stories come to life. We’re especially proud of this one, we get to make statements on equality, women in gaming, and even class immobility all wrapped up in a fun and exciting package.
What are future projects that people can look forward to ?
HeadGames Entertainment is planning on future seasons of Suspension of Disbelief and an Anthology series like the Twilight zone melding scifi, fantasy and horror.
If you can exist in a gaming world, what would be your character type? (i.e. I will always be a human warlock, true story)
BOARDMAN: I’d be an elf ranger, I know it’s stereotypical but they just look so damn cool.
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Suspensions of Disbelief seems to be powered by a group of dedicated players. They may be working on a small budget but they have big plans. Check out their kickstarter here to help fund the campaign and learn more about this independent entertainment industry.
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