The Remnants
Yesterday, a Google News alert informed me that the web pilot I wrote and directed way back in February has been dis-embargoed. I’ve been deliberately sketchy on details about the project, but since Variety has the story, there’s no reason to be coy.
It’s called The Remnants.
It’s a comedy about a group of squabbling survivors in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Tonally, it’s a cross between The Stand and The Office.
It stars Justine Bateman, Michael Cassidy, Ben Falcone, Ze Frank, Ernie Hudson, and Amanda Walsh. It was produced by Dan Etheridge and Matt Byrne.
60Frames and NBC Universal Digital Studio are in discussions about shooting a bunch of episodes as a web series. If that happens, hooray. If not, it was a great experience making it. We shot it during the darkest part of the WGA strike, so to be working again was amazing.
You can watch a two-minute snippet from the middle of the pilot here:
Better yet, if you have a fast connection and a fairly fast computer, check out the HD version. It even looks good full-screen.
35 Responses to “The Remnants”
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October 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hahaha, I’m so excited to see Ze Frank!
October 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am
that looks awesome, although to be honest, I have no clue what they are saying (I’m Deaf). congrats on the writing gig, hope it goes great for you!!!
October 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
John,
Please excuse my ignorance, but what is meant when you say that it was “dis-embargoed”? I’m picturing all the warships blockading its port raising anchor and sailing home, but somehow I don’t think that’s quite the correct meaning here. I looked at the Variety article, but didn’t see anything that really helped explain it to me.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Okay, hahaha, I don’t think I fully comprehended “The Stand and the Office” until I watched.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Pro: I chuckled.
Con: Way too much cutting.
And Ben Falcone is like Michael Cera-lite.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Craig,
I’m assuming the colloquial embargo took place between the time the project was done and now. John was prohibited from talking about it in public or showing it because he was shopping it around. Now that he has a deal, and it’s public knowledge, the “embargo” is lifted and he can talk until he’s blue in the face.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Awesome, hope something happens with it. Good to see more of Ze
October 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
That’s really sharp. I’m sold.
Reminds me a little bit of Arrested Development.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
@Craig: Grant is right.
@UGLY PUNK GURL: I just added the script to the Library, so now you can know what they’re saying.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
She wasn’t afraid of me, that means she’s one of them. Nice! This looks great or you just picked the best two minutes. I hope this gets made. I saw Ze Frank twitter about this and was wondering why you had not said anything about it. All the 60 frames new projects sound good. The Stand and The Office, Great! That’s why they pay you the big bucks!
October 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
It’s a comedy about a group of squabbling survivors in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Tonally, it’s a cross between The Stand and The Office.
And not at all like the short-lived, post-apocalyptic sitcom on FOX, appropriately titled “Whoops!”.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Now the question I just emailed is out of date. Perfect.
My favorite line: “Can you even have kids anymore, Gwen?”
October 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Was part of that pilot shot at Blane Dunham’s apartment? Looks like a really great show. I hope it happens and you can utilize components of the web that make it a unique medium for storytellers. Would love to see more original work of yours online.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I like this. Cool stuff!
October 9th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Wow, that looks awesome! I really hope it gets picked up.
The acting was great, the dialogue was great and the camera work was like Arrested Development and The Office… which is a good thing.
I’m excited for this.
Congrats on a job well done John.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Really funny. This makes me excited about the prospects for new media.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Ha! I saw Ze Frank’s twitter tweet about this, but I didn’t realize it was the same thing you blogged about! Woo hoo!
October 10th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Man, that looks great.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Hey I love this! I think it’s my favorite thing you’ve done. The premise seems so inevitable, but I never would have thought of it.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Hey John… not trying to start a shit storm or anything… but if u did this is the strike period… And its a pilot for something that will be produced by a network isn’t that defeating the purpose of the strike?… I can see that obviously you had some creative freedom which is great, and I think it looks great too, I was just wondering about the implications (whether you care about them or whether they are even relevant), or was this written before the strike and you just directed it?…
I don’t mind either way, just that the thought came into mind as soon as you mentioned NBC… Actually surprised no one else has mentioned it… Have i missed something (wouldn’t surprise me)?
October 10th, 2008 at 9:20 am
@Chris Danvers:
We shot the pilot on spec. So it’s very much in keeping with the WGA’s goal of getting their members shooting projects outside of the normal studio system. (Read “Seeing other people.”)
If (big IF) we end up shooting it as a web series, and if it ends up being for NBC/U, we’ll need to figure out a workable model for paying for it. That’s all still murky.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I don’t like the camera movement. It’s pretty off-putting to me, although, I suppose it works if it’s web-based.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Great job. It’s at once simple enough to make me think even I could write it, and then when I try I discover how tough it is to make simple so funny.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Thanks John… Like i said.. sounds good to me too.. great concept…
October 11th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Funny bit, that…and holy snap-zoom! Curious…hand-held work for practical or artistic reasons?
October 11th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
@Cesar Romero:
I pushed the camera work to dangerous places because, hell, it’s an experiment. That clip has the worst of it, because covering five people in a half-improvised conversation is naturally going to get messy. My editor (Doug Crise) did a heroic job.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
You’re my hero. I love the office and post apocalyptic scenarios.
October 12th, 2008 at 9:08 am
John, awesome snippet. I’d watch it regularly if it were on the web. I don’t understand the reticence of the big media companies to do stuff like this on the web. If anything Dr Horrible has proved that it’s totally viable. Do you have insight into why NBC/U wouldn’t do such a thing? (I’ll totally understand if you aren’t allowed to talk about why they wouldn’t since you are in the middle of getting it out there.)
October 12th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
loved that. great clash of genre’s.
nice to see ernie back on screen too. Is it just me, or did that guy get younger?!
October 12th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Link to the full episode?
October 13th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I would’ve said “bone” not “boink”. Otherwise, funny!
October 14th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Nice work. Interesting and humorous. I liked it.
Mark
October 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I didn’t even notice the camera work while watching — strange that people would have such different reactions. I’m happy to see Justine Bateman in something…. looking forward to more of this.
And as a side note to the Variety article: “skein”? Do insiders really use that term? Just say “series,” dude.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Ze FTW!!! Hope this happens.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:27 am
This was fantastic, and I hope you get to put it into full production for the web. As someone else mentioned, Dr. Horrible had tremendous success on the web, and that was more in the style of a tv prduction. The Remnants however, seems tailor-made — in its stylishly low-fi way — for the web, and for those of us who love to share this stuff on social networks, and have conversations about it online.
Oh and vampire yetis are cool. Way cooler than zombies. Zombies are totally lame.