Get CODED! An interview with producer Joely Collins:
How STORYHIVE and grant programs are changing today’s industry.
How STORYHIVE and grant programs are changing today’s industry.
In this day and age, there are so many new ways for film projects to gather funds. In a time where big (mega) budget films are still the norm, smaller projects are turning to crowdfunds and special (on- or off competition) grants to show themselves to the world. One project looking to get funded through a grants project is the webseries CODED.
CODED was created and written by Steve Neufeld, a former teacher from Alberta, Canada who filtered some of his own experience in the field into a webseries that puts a light on the public educational system. You can view and vote on the pilot for FREE at http://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/231. Through a first STORYHIVE grant, they were able to make an eight-minute long webseries pilot. Now, they’re less than two days away from finding out whether they’ll receive additional funds to make more episodes!
We spoke to CODED producer/actress Joely Collins (“Becoming Redwood”) about their process, their STORYHIVE campaign and why YOU should vote for CODED!
CODED was created and written by Steve Neufeld, a former teacher from Alberta, Canada who filtered some of his own experience in the field into a webseries that puts a light on the public educational system. You can view and vote on the pilot for FREE at http://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/231. Through a first STORYHIVE grant, they were able to make an eight-minute long webseries pilot. Now, they’re less than two days away from finding out whether they’ll receive additional funds to make more episodes!
We spoke to CODED producer/actress Joely Collins (“Becoming Redwood”) about their process, their STORYHIVE campaign and why YOU should vote for CODED!
"We've all gone to school and had those experiences so it relates to a broader audience."
Acting Indie: Thanks so much for this interview! Let’s get right to it: What exactly is CODED about?
Joely Collins: CODED is about a young teacher who is an idealist. He believes he can save his students. I always describe the show as a “Breaking Bad” meets “Breakfast Club” combination. I compare it to “Breaking Bad” because eventually the teacher ends up crossing the line. The one you’re never supposed to cross: when you enter the personal lives of your students to REALLY try to help them. Because of his ideals, he goes too far to try to reach his students. “Breakfast Club” because it really is about children who suffer from emotional and behavioral disorders that don’t necessarily get the support they need in the educational system or at home. They usually are fighting to be properly understood. So it’s a dramatic series where we really talk about some of the issues today’s youth are facing, their struggles.
Acting Indie: How did the project see the light of day? Tell us a bit about the pitch-to-webseries development? Was it always supposed to be a webseries?
Joely Collins: It was originally written as a TV series. We’re part of the STORYHIVE competition, which means that we – with 30 other projects – got a grant to make an 8 minute pilot episode. If you win their competition, you win additional funding to make extra episodes.
Joely Collins: CODED is about a young teacher who is an idealist. He believes he can save his students. I always describe the show as a “Breaking Bad” meets “Breakfast Club” combination. I compare it to “Breaking Bad” because eventually the teacher ends up crossing the line. The one you’re never supposed to cross: when you enter the personal lives of your students to REALLY try to help them. Because of his ideals, he goes too far to try to reach his students. “Breakfast Club” because it really is about children who suffer from emotional and behavioral disorders that don’t necessarily get the support they need in the educational system or at home. They usually are fighting to be properly understood. So it’s a dramatic series where we really talk about some of the issues today’s youth are facing, their struggles.
Acting Indie: How did the project see the light of day? Tell us a bit about the pitch-to-webseries development? Was it always supposed to be a webseries?
Joely Collins: It was originally written as a TV series. We’re part of the STORYHIVE competition, which means that we – with 30 other projects – got a grant to make an 8 minute pilot episode. If you win their competition, you win additional funding to make extra episodes.
Acting Indie: Why go through STORYHIVE? Joely Collins: We thought it would be a great opportunity to build ourselves an audience and to give this show some legs. It also gave us an opportunity to really give us a sense of how we wanted to approach making this show, in terms of tone and style and the esthetic feeling of it. The great thing about producing a pilot short - which is kind of similar to making a teaser trailer when you’re doing |
a feature film - is that it’s not only a great opportunity to show investors the kind of project you’re working on, but it’s also a great way to work out all the bugs. You get an idea of what your vision is for the project. Our STORYHIVE Project and entering this competition has allowed us to do that. It’s allowed us to really craft how we want to see the show. The long term idea for CODED is to make it into a network TV series.
Acting Indie: Where did you come in? What attracted you to take on CODED?
Joely Collins: I was approached by writer and creator, Steve Neufeld. He was looking for a producer and I met up with him, read the script and just fell in love with it. I just had a connection to it. It was very well written, it was smart, funny. It has a lot of heart. I just had a really good feeling about it and wanted to jump onboard. Working together has been great. . Of course, if you’re dealing with the high school genre, it’s something everyone can relate to. We’ve all gone to school and all had those experiences so it relates to a broader audience. There’s so many different things that happen throughout those years that there’s so many opportunities for great storylines.
Acting Indie: Where you surprised with how well the pilot episode came out while you were on a rather restricted budget?
Joely Collins: It wasn’t really a surprise because we worked hard with the actors before we started filming. This is a group of kids that spends all of their time in a classroom together so it was really important that they had great chemistry and that you had the feeling that they hadn’t just met each other. The rehearsals beforehand – before we got together – with director Gary Harvey and the cast, Steve and myself allowed us to build that chemistry. But it’s always a lovely surprise when you see it all come together.
Acting Indie: Where there special moments you, as a producer, experienced on set of your pilot?
Joely Collins: What was so wonderful was: the moment we did get on set and started filming; that chemistry we were looking for was instantly there. Put actors in their environment – on a set – and as a producer it is so rewarding to see your show come to life. You work so hard to prepare and for everything to work out and it’s just so beautiful when you see all those elements come together, and that they come together well. I’m really proud of the end result of the show and how it looks.
Acting Indie: Where did you come in? What attracted you to take on CODED?
Joely Collins: I was approached by writer and creator, Steve Neufeld. He was looking for a producer and I met up with him, read the script and just fell in love with it. I just had a connection to it. It was very well written, it was smart, funny. It has a lot of heart. I just had a really good feeling about it and wanted to jump onboard. Working together has been great. . Of course, if you’re dealing with the high school genre, it’s something everyone can relate to. We’ve all gone to school and all had those experiences so it relates to a broader audience. There’s so many different things that happen throughout those years that there’s so many opportunities for great storylines.
Acting Indie: Where you surprised with how well the pilot episode came out while you were on a rather restricted budget?
Joely Collins: It wasn’t really a surprise because we worked hard with the actors before we started filming. This is a group of kids that spends all of their time in a classroom together so it was really important that they had great chemistry and that you had the feeling that they hadn’t just met each other. The rehearsals beforehand – before we got together – with director Gary Harvey and the cast, Steve and myself allowed us to build that chemistry. But it’s always a lovely surprise when you see it all come together.
Acting Indie: Where there special moments you, as a producer, experienced on set of your pilot?
Joely Collins: What was so wonderful was: the moment we did get on set and started filming; that chemistry we were looking for was instantly there. Put actors in their environment – on a set – and as a producer it is so rewarding to see your show come to life. You work so hard to prepare and for everything to work out and it’s just so beautiful when you see all those elements come together, and that they come together well. I’m really proud of the end result of the show and how it looks.
"We feel that we really scored with our cast, they've got great range and diversity. A great opportunity to discover new faces!"
When we were looking for our lead, we considered a lot of different people. He just had the right… everything for us.
It’s one of those things you know. He had the right look, the right feel. He had a connection to the material and a great understanding of his character. When it came to casting the younger kids, it’s the first job for some of them and it’s a great opportunity to discover new faces and find new people. Give them a chance to really do something. We feel that we really scored with our cast because we’ve got a great line-up. We’ve got great range and diversity. Also I’m an actress, so I play the vice principal of the school, which is also fun! Angela Moore plays the principal of the school and she’s a great actress. I’ve known her for a long time. Also we have Orsy Szabo who plays the character of Marci.
Acting Indie: Steve Neufeld created and wrote CODED, where did the idea for the series sprout from?
Joely Collins: Steve comes from a teaching background and he’s had a lot of experience in that field so he’s drawn on a lot of personal experiences to write and create this show.
Acting Indie: What sets CODED apart from other high-school located films/shorts?
Joely Collins: It’s just very well written. One of the things we wanted to get away from was stereotypes. We wanted it to feel very real and honest and true to what youth these days are really dealing with. Especially kids that are suffering from emotional and behavioral disorders. I’ve been doing a lot of research on this and there’s a lot of kids that suffer from various disorders. I also think it’s a very hot subject to talk about. We want to shed some light on the subject and, hopefully, with the audience that becomes engaged with Coded, it will start a dialogue. How can we best support our youth? Because our youth is the future – that’s our future generation and I think it’s really important to start talking about how we can make sure they get the best possible education. I think CODED brings some important issues to the surface. Our actors are all just so talented and interesting to watch. I think people will really connect with them.
Acting Indie: “Coded” is also a term used in the pilot for students with behavioral disorders; in fact, the entire series is pitched as putting the public educational system under a microscope – what can you tell us about that?
It’s one of those things you know. He had the right look, the right feel. He had a connection to the material and a great understanding of his character. When it came to casting the younger kids, it’s the first job for some of them and it’s a great opportunity to discover new faces and find new people. Give them a chance to really do something. We feel that we really scored with our cast because we’ve got a great line-up. We’ve got great range and diversity. Also I’m an actress, so I play the vice principal of the school, which is also fun! Angela Moore plays the principal of the school and she’s a great actress. I’ve known her for a long time. Also we have Orsy Szabo who plays the character of Marci.
Acting Indie: Steve Neufeld created and wrote CODED, where did the idea for the series sprout from?
Joely Collins: Steve comes from a teaching background and he’s had a lot of experience in that field so he’s drawn on a lot of personal experiences to write and create this show.
Acting Indie: What sets CODED apart from other high-school located films/shorts?
Joely Collins: It’s just very well written. One of the things we wanted to get away from was stereotypes. We wanted it to feel very real and honest and true to what youth these days are really dealing with. Especially kids that are suffering from emotional and behavioral disorders. I’ve been doing a lot of research on this and there’s a lot of kids that suffer from various disorders. I also think it’s a very hot subject to talk about. We want to shed some light on the subject and, hopefully, with the audience that becomes engaged with Coded, it will start a dialogue. How can we best support our youth? Because our youth is the future – that’s our future generation and I think it’s really important to start talking about how we can make sure they get the best possible education. I think CODED brings some important issues to the surface. Our actors are all just so talented and interesting to watch. I think people will really connect with them.
Acting Indie: “Coded” is also a term used in the pilot for students with behavioral disorders; in fact, the entire series is pitched as putting the public educational system under a microscope – what can you tell us about that?
had certain behavioral disorders – they would refer to them as a “49” or “42”. It was more of a way of being able to identify what that particular child was dealing with so that the teachers knew how to relate to them. As of last year, they have stopped using that particular coding system, but because of all the experiences Steve had as a teacher he always thought it would make a great concept for a TV show. So that’s really where the idea came from. I don’t think the idea was necessarily to shed a light on the coding system per sé, but I think the teachers that teach those types of students face a very unique set of challenges. I think there’s a lot of different stories that can be told which make it a really unique show.
Acting Indie: The beginning of your pilot also shows a job interview with 2 teachers who are less than sympathetic to the situation of those kids and towards the system as a whole, do you think that’s part of the problem as well or how do you perceive this?
Joely Collins: I think there’s a couple of things going on in that interview scene. One of the things is that Shae – the teacher - is quite young himself. The school has just had a very experienced teacher quit his job because he couldn’t handle the students. A lot of that scene is the two interviewers trying to assess Shae – kinda like: “really? You think you’re gonna be the one to do this job? I don’t think so.” All he wants is a chance. He has a good reason for that. But I do think it’s hard for a lot of teachers and principals to have to deal with those types of problems over-and-over again because I don’t think they quite know how to deal with them sometimes, so they end up pushing those kids away out of frustration or just because they don’t know what to do. They don’t have the resources, the time and the support or the know-how to really make that connection with those kids. They’re often quite over-worked as it is. That makes it an interesting angle.
Acting Indie: The beginning of your pilot also shows a job interview with 2 teachers who are less than sympathetic to the situation of those kids and towards the system as a whole, do you think that’s part of the problem as well or how do you perceive this?
Joely Collins: I think there’s a couple of things going on in that interview scene. One of the things is that Shae – the teacher - is quite young himself. The school has just had a very experienced teacher quit his job because he couldn’t handle the students. A lot of that scene is the two interviewers trying to assess Shae – kinda like: “really? You think you’re gonna be the one to do this job? I don’t think so.” All he wants is a chance. He has a good reason for that. But I do think it’s hard for a lot of teachers and principals to have to deal with those types of problems over-and-over again because I don’t think they quite know how to deal with them sometimes, so they end up pushing those kids away out of frustration or just because they don’t know what to do. They don’t have the resources, the time and the support or the know-how to really make that connection with those kids. They’re often quite over-worked as it is. That makes it an interesting angle.
"Shae believes they can be saved, against all odds"
Acting Indie: Tell us a bit more about the Shae-character. Joely Collins: There’s an interesting back-story with our main character where he was a student who was also given an opportunity when he went through some troubled times. He had a teacher reach out to him and make that connection. He was able to get on the right path in life and now he wants to give that opportunity to other students. He wants to help them and that’s what makes him an idealist. He believes they can be saved, even against all odds, because that’s what happened to him. |
Acting Indie: Were there certain clichés you were trying to avoid or highlight?
Joely Collins: We didn’t want the student’s issues to be clichéd. We wanted them to be real and honest. Behind every child, or person who is struggling is a whole life. People go to school with their whole life and whatever set of circumstances they’re dealing with at home. Some of them go there with a difficult life or abusive parents – or no parents at all. We wanted that to feel real. We didn’t want to make them “bad students”, we wanted to show the reason behind their behavior and why they do what they do.
Acting Indie: How did you get to work with STORYHIVE on this?
Joely Collins: Steve Neufeld and I have a friend who also had a STORYHIVE project from the year before Orsy Szabo, who plays Marci - and that’s how we knew about the program. I think it’s a great initiative to discover new talent. I think writers who are looking for producers and directors can really use that community to get their ideas off the ground. In that regard, I think it’s a great incentive and it just seemed like a great place for us to start with this project.
Acting Indie: You funded your pilot through STORYHIVE as well, is there a difference in the process then and the process now?
Joely Collins: It’s still a voting process. There were initially around 120 projects that were narrowed down to 15. There’s 15 projects from Alberta and 15 projects from British Columbia. After that, we had to produce the pilot. If we win this, we’ll receive the grant to make about 5 more episodes.
Acting Indie: What are some of the challenges you personally faced during this project and with getting it off the ground?
Joely Collins: The biggest challenge for me as a producer is working with a very small budget. Not that I’m used to big multi-million dollar budgets by any means, but coming from film, you do work with a slightly bigger budget than you do for a webseries but you still need all the same elements. You need props, locations, insurance, wardrobe and cast. You can compare it to having a baby. It doesn’t matter if you go on vacation for a day or a month, you need the same amount of things. You need to have everything. It’s the same with a project like this. Whether it’s a smaller or a bigger project, you basically need all the same things. Trying to do all of that on a really, really small budget is probably the toughest aspect to all of this.
Joely Collins: We didn’t want the student’s issues to be clichéd. We wanted them to be real and honest. Behind every child, or person who is struggling is a whole life. People go to school with their whole life and whatever set of circumstances they’re dealing with at home. Some of them go there with a difficult life or abusive parents – or no parents at all. We wanted that to feel real. We didn’t want to make them “bad students”, we wanted to show the reason behind their behavior and why they do what they do.
Acting Indie: How did you get to work with STORYHIVE on this?
Joely Collins: Steve Neufeld and I have a friend who also had a STORYHIVE project from the year before Orsy Szabo, who plays Marci - and that’s how we knew about the program. I think it’s a great initiative to discover new talent. I think writers who are looking for producers and directors can really use that community to get their ideas off the ground. In that regard, I think it’s a great incentive and it just seemed like a great place for us to start with this project.
Acting Indie: You funded your pilot through STORYHIVE as well, is there a difference in the process then and the process now?
Joely Collins: It’s still a voting process. There were initially around 120 projects that were narrowed down to 15. There’s 15 projects from Alberta and 15 projects from British Columbia. After that, we had to produce the pilot. If we win this, we’ll receive the grant to make about 5 more episodes.
Acting Indie: What are some of the challenges you personally faced during this project and with getting it off the ground?
Joely Collins: The biggest challenge for me as a producer is working with a very small budget. Not that I’m used to big multi-million dollar budgets by any means, but coming from film, you do work with a slightly bigger budget than you do for a webseries but you still need all the same elements. You need props, locations, insurance, wardrobe and cast. You can compare it to having a baby. It doesn’t matter if you go on vacation for a day or a month, you need the same amount of things. You need to have everything. It’s the same with a project like this. Whether it’s a smaller or a bigger project, you basically need all the same things. Trying to do all of that on a really, really small budget is probably the toughest aspect to all of this.
"I call films "little miracles", because if you realize what it takes to make one, it's amazing they ever get made!"
Acting Indie: Is that also one of the more rewarding parts of doing projects like this?
Joely Collins: Absolutely. I call films “little miracles” because if you really realize what it takes to make one, it’s amazing they ever get made! There are so many elements that need to come together at the right time with the right people. It’s incredibly rewarding when you can look back at something and say: “Hey..Look what we did for almost no money!” Big studios and millions-of-dollar budgets doesn’t necessarily make something a better film. Big or small budget, everything starts with a great story.
Acting Indie: 2 days remaining on the voting round. Does STORYHIVE keep you in the loop on how things are going for CODED Vs the other projects?
Joely Collins: We’re currently trending NO2! It’s so exciting. They don’t give you exact numbers. The only thing you can see is how you’re trending. They’ll let you know – for instance – “you’re in the top 20%.” You really have no idea what the actual numbers are.
Acting Indie: Have you seen all the other projects looking for the grant through STORYHIVE?
Joely Collins: I have seen most of them. I really want to see all of them before the competition ends.
Acting Indie: What was the atmosphere like on the set of your pilot episode?
Joely Collins: One of the unique things we had with CODED was that we had a very experienced director – Gary Harvey – and then we had a very new and young crew. Also, we had a very experienced Director of Photography, Danny Nowak. So we really felt like we were in school in terms of being able to support young, up-and-coming film makers, camera technicians and crew with the support of very seasoned and veteran professionals. So that was a very cool thing to see as well.
Joely Collins: Absolutely. I call films “little miracles” because if you really realize what it takes to make one, it’s amazing they ever get made! There are so many elements that need to come together at the right time with the right people. It’s incredibly rewarding when you can look back at something and say: “Hey..Look what we did for almost no money!” Big studios and millions-of-dollar budgets doesn’t necessarily make something a better film. Big or small budget, everything starts with a great story.
Acting Indie: 2 days remaining on the voting round. Does STORYHIVE keep you in the loop on how things are going for CODED Vs the other projects?
Joely Collins: We’re currently trending NO2! It’s so exciting. They don’t give you exact numbers. The only thing you can see is how you’re trending. They’ll let you know – for instance – “you’re in the top 20%.” You really have no idea what the actual numbers are.
Acting Indie: Have you seen all the other projects looking for the grant through STORYHIVE?
Joely Collins: I have seen most of them. I really want to see all of them before the competition ends.
Acting Indie: What was the atmosphere like on the set of your pilot episode?
Joely Collins: One of the unique things we had with CODED was that we had a very experienced director – Gary Harvey – and then we had a very new and young crew. Also, we had a very experienced Director of Photography, Danny Nowak. So we really felt like we were in school in terms of being able to support young, up-and-coming film makers, camera technicians and crew with the support of very seasoned and veteran professionals. So that was a very cool thing to see as well.
other ways to get this story told because I feel this is a show that needs to get made. I am hoping we will get the opportunity to make more episodes with STORYHIVE and give the show some legs, build our audience and continue to make this show. .
Acting Indie: What other cast can we expect as the series progresses? Do you know anything about that yet?
Joely Collins: You’ll definitely get to see Marci’s parents. We also have a possible love interest – for our lead actor who will be played by the lovely Leah Cairns. We’ve got a few people who we’re thinking of bringing on the show. There’s room for so many characters. You’ve got the parents of the kids, other teachers, outside friends,… Of course, when you’re on a shoestring budget, the first thing you do is put your producer hat on. You want to keep your cast small, because a larger cast comes with larger expenses. But you can expect some great characters that run through our storyline.
Acting Indie: If CODED wins the STORYHIVE grant, what will be your production process from that point on? Can you go into production immediately or how will that go?
Joely Collins: If we win the grant, our deadline to get the episodes done by is July 10 so we’ll really have our work cut out for us. That’s not a lot of time. There’s a lot of planning that’s involved so it’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster. It’ll be a wild ride getting all of those episodes done by the deadline.
Acting Indie: What other cast can we expect as the series progresses? Do you know anything about that yet?
Joely Collins: You’ll definitely get to see Marci’s parents. We also have a possible love interest – for our lead actor who will be played by the lovely Leah Cairns. We’ve got a few people who we’re thinking of bringing on the show. There’s room for so many characters. You’ve got the parents of the kids, other teachers, outside friends,… Of course, when you’re on a shoestring budget, the first thing you do is put your producer hat on. You want to keep your cast small, because a larger cast comes with larger expenses. But you can expect some great characters that run through our storyline.
Acting Indie: If CODED wins the STORYHIVE grant, what will be your production process from that point on? Can you go into production immediately or how will that go?
Joely Collins: If we win the grant, our deadline to get the episodes done by is July 10 so we’ll really have our work cut out for us. That’s not a lot of time. There’s a lot of planning that’s involved so it’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster. It’ll be a wild ride getting all of those episodes done by the deadline.
"Follow your dreams and make it happen, because you can!"
huge cast or a lot of locations. You are limited and governed by your budget. Also, it’s so important to be able to reach people and to build up an audience, especially these days. There’s a lot of content on the internet so there’s a lot of things you have to compete with. Even if you make a great show, it still doesn’t mean everyone will be able to see it. So marketing is just about as important as making your project. Social media has become so important for that!
Acting Indie: Any particular things you want people to know about CODED? Shout-outs you want to do?
Joely Collins: I want to thank Steve Neufeld for creating a great show & I hope we can continue to build our audience and make many more episodes. I really want to thank our amazing cast and crew and everyone who has loved and supported Coded throughout this process. We couldn’t have done it without their support. I hope the people who are supporting us will enjoy our future episodes.
Acting Indie: Anything you wish we talked about that we haven’t touched base with yet?
Joely Collins: People who are starting in this industry from the beginning: follow your dreams and make it happen because you can. There are ways to get your projects made. Find your team and just try to get it done!
We'd like to thank CODED producer/actress Joely Collins for her time and sharing her experiences. We'd also like to thank Owen Cameron for helping us setting things up!
Check out this really cool Vote Coded song by Twintime!
Acting Indie: Any particular things you want people to know about CODED? Shout-outs you want to do?
Joely Collins: I want to thank Steve Neufeld for creating a great show & I hope we can continue to build our audience and make many more episodes. I really want to thank our amazing cast and crew and everyone who has loved and supported Coded throughout this process. We couldn’t have done it without their support. I hope the people who are supporting us will enjoy our future episodes.
Acting Indie: Anything you wish we talked about that we haven’t touched base with yet?
Joely Collins: People who are starting in this industry from the beginning: follow your dreams and make it happen because you can. There are ways to get your projects made. Find your team and just try to get it done!
We'd like to thank CODED producer/actress Joely Collins for her time and sharing her experiences. We'd also like to thank Owen Cameron for helping us setting things up!
Check out this really cool Vote Coded song by Twintime!
Here are some useful CODED-related links for you in the mean time:
Visit CODED on STORYHIVE and don't forget to vote!
Follow CODED on Twitter
Like CODED on Facebook
Like Joely Collins on Twitter
All media was used with permission of Joely Collins and Owen Cameron!
Feel like working with Acting Indie to feature your project or do you support Indie films through special (funding,..) programs, EMAIL US and find out how we can work together! actingindie[at]gmail.com
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Visit CODED on STORYHIVE and don't forget to vote!
Follow CODED on Twitter
Like CODED on Facebook
Like Joely Collins on Twitter
All media was used with permission of Joely Collins and Owen Cameron!
Feel like working with Acting Indie to feature your project or do you support Indie films through special (funding,..) programs, EMAIL US and find out how we can work together! actingindie[at]gmail.com
More Acting Indies?
Follow Acting Indie On Twitter Like Acting Indie On Facebook
All rights reserved, no portion of this interview may be blatantly copy/pasted without prior consent and back linking to the original article © Acting Indie 2015