Cartridge Heroes in A Digital Age: An Interview With PBC Productions
Cartridge Heroes In A Digital Age: An Interview With PBC Productions
By Gabriel Ricard
1.) Tell us about PBC Productions and how you got this thing off the ground.
It all started about a year ago. Chad & Devon had gone to see a Machinima Festival and afterwards began talking about how fun it would be to create their own shorts for the internet. Devon had seen an old short that Chad had created about a year ago called "Captain S" and suggested that maybe we try to create something based on that. Brett was asked on to play Captain S, and soon after Z began contributing a lot of her time to the project. A couple of weeks into filming it was decided that we would form a Production Company and bring the first three episodes to MAGfest and see what people think. Thus PBC began.
2.) So far, your one major project has been the successful internet series, The Adventures of Captain S. Tell us about it and some of the influences behind its conception.
When Chad was growing up, when all the other kids had a Nintendo, he had a Sega. So much material has been written and created for fans of the Nintendo, it was time for Sega to share the spotlight a little.
3.) To the best of my knowledge, at least two of you have worked with X-Strike Studios, who we did an interview with last month. What lead you to break away from them and start your own production company? Was the split amicable?
X-Strike Studios and PBC Productions totally support each other. The split had a lot to do with location. A couple of years ago Chad had gotten a job that moved him to Albany, NY. X-Strike Studios is very hands-on. It’s quite difficult to be involved when you are more than a couple of hours away. Since then Chad and Z moved to New York City, Brett Vanderbrook was already here – pursuing an acting career, and Darrin DeMarco has recently joined the pack. It’s more that we all wanted to be in New York City for reasons outside of the production company, but since we are all here – let’s do something together!
4.) Any chance of PBC and X-Strike coming together on a project?
Location and time would be a bit of an issue, as there would be a lot of people to coordinate with as far as schedules. But yeah, it could totally happen.
Steve Vargo, vision
5.) Tell us a bit about your next project, Greater Gamer Culture.
Greater Gamer Culture is a documentary series about gamers for gamers. Since we live in such an active metropolis – lots of Gamer Events happen here. We want to be able to share the experience of those events with the folks that might not be able to be there themselves.
6.) I understand Brett Vanderbrook, who stars in the Captain S. series, was an extra in the upcoming remake of Funny Games. How’d he manage that?
I think it was one of those – right place, right time kind of deals. He’s an actor and at that time was actively auditioning and trying to find work.
7.) Tell us about your work as a puppeteer and the success your having with the PBS series Seemore’s Playhouse.
I’ve been a professional puppeteer for the last 4 years. I attended the University of Connecticut and pursued a Masters degree in Puppet Arts -yes you can get a degree in anything! Since then I’ve worked in lots of
different puppet shops, building and have also had the opportunity to perform for many different live theater and television gigs. Seemore’s Playhouse was a wonderful experience. It was the first show where I had my own character. Performing Lottie is so much fun. The show currently has two seasons out, and is being broadcast on lots of PBS stations around the country. If your local PBS station isn’t playing it – give them a call! :)
8.) I’m curious, but what sort of high budget projects has Chad worked on?
Chad has worked as a P.A. and also in the Locations Department on a whole bunch of films in NYC. Off the top of my head some of them are: Watching the Detectives, P.S. I Love You, Then She Found Me, Rockaway, and also the new Batman movie.
9.) Any dream projects?
Honestly – Season 2 of Captain S. We are really trying to find a way to fund that project. Season 1 pretty much drained our collective bank accounts dry. So currently we are trying to recoup that money. We are also
looking for sponsors who might want to invest in the project.
10.) What’s up next for PBC?
We have just recently launched a new property for PBC called "Little Miss Gamer” a video game review show for everyone. Hosted by me, Z, I review all sorts of video games, old and new, and give my opinions on them. So far reviews have included: Missile Command, Gyruss, StarTropics, and Pinball – including an interview with an awesome Pinball guy in NYC.
11.) You attend a lot of Anime conventions. Do you enjoy the scene? Has the huge reaction to your work surprised you?
We do enjoy Anime Cons. It’s always great to be able to share our work with new people. And generally speaking people who are into Anime and the Anime scene are interested in the kind of things we create as well.
12.) I actually asked this of X-Strike as well, but I’d still like to hear PBC’s own advice for anyone looking to start out in the world of low-budget filmmaking?
Just do it. The more you create, the more you’ll learn. You also have to be self-disciplined and give yourself deadlines and stick to them. And also- it’s way more fun to work with other people – you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish.
Copyright C 2007 Gabriel Ricard