Getting Foolish With The FOOLS FOR HIRE!

Where on earth has this year gone? Talk about a whirlwind!

I've let things lapse around here the last few months but it was with good reason - I've been busy as hell creating new content and some of it just launched on the "internets" in the form of the comedy webseries FOOLS FOR HIRE.

Way back in July I briefly mentioned a new project I was about to go into pre-production on. The series in question is very different from my last web adventure, Libelle, although one probably would not have existed were it not for the other.

I first heard about the concept for Fools For Hire back in the summer of 2011 when Nick Harrison, who was my Assistant Director/Stunt Coordinator/Actor on Libelle, told me about some of his crazy experiences over the years working as a corporate entertainer. At first I didn't believe half the stories he told me but I was nonetheless intrigued enough by his idea to take some of those exploits and develop it into a comedy webseries.

Almost a year later, schedules finally lined up and Nick introduced me to Mike Cavers, fellow actor and victim of corporate entertainment and just like that we were off making the webseries!

Nick and Mike had a gig coming up at the annual Lonsdale Quay summer festival where they would be playing their pirate characters and we all agreed that it would make the perfect backdrop for the first 2 episodes. Given the theme of piracy, we also thought it would be a great way to introduce the show's villain who ended up being played by Eric Breker in another cool Libelle connection.

Eric Breker filling in on slating duties at Lonsdale Quay

The scripts for Episodes 1-4 came together incredibly quickly as did the cast and crew - it helped that our crew was well... Minimal.

Hey! Isn't that sound guy one of the Fools For Hire?

On most days it was pretty much just me and the camera and a different volunteer doing sound each day of shooting with other roles being filled as needed by whoever wasn't in front of the camera for a particular shot.

Shooting the first 4 episodes was a great learning experience, it was a lot of work and it was a ton of fun. Portions of each of the episodes were only loosely scripted and relied upon the cast to improvise but since many of them were experienced in theater sports this came easy. There were a lot of takes that ended with me having to cut simply because I couldn't stop shaking the camera from laughing.

The real work however, was still to come. With almost 1TB of video files on my hard drive there was a LOT of footage to sift through. In addition, we were going to have to learn how to self-distribute our work and though I've dabbled plenty in social media etc. even I was surprised at just how much work this would end up being. I'll write a separate post on the distribution and branding side of things at a later date.

Here for your viewing pleasure is Episode 1 of Fools For Hire.



And here's Episode 2 of Fools For Hire.



Over the next little while I'll be sharing lots more on my experiences with getting Fools For Hire out into the world as well as what our plans may be for the future of the show. A lot of people have put a lot of work into making Fools For Hire possible and it's all for nothing if nobody sees it so please, please check out our Youtube Channel here and don't forget to click the "Like" button, comment and let us know what you think and "Subscribe" for more episodes! Also, please come and visit our official Facebook page here or find us on Twitter here.

As 2012 comes to an end I'm already thinking that perhaps my first New Years resolution should be to pay more attention to this little corner of my world and blog with more frequency. If you're still with me and checking back here from time to time, thank you! With any luck I'll have lots more to share over the coming 12 months.

Merry Christmas to you all and a very Happy New Year!