Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment

It’s the pilot episode of Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment! I’m so proud of everyone who came together to make this happen. If you enjoy the episode, please consider going to the Kickstarter campaign and contributing to fund season one!

META Kickstarter Campaign is Live!

offhandphotography:

Gina. By Offhand Photography

This is Gina Rickicki, an amazing actress and, as you can see here, bombshell. She’ll be playing the role of Thundra of the Tundra, Soviet Superwoman in META. 

(via flamingcity)

A production still of Ariel K. Stewart as Vroomhilda, the deadly assassin and Lord Destructeronimous’s chief lieutenant.

Over 10 years ago, I came up with the idea for Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment. While the original idea was more of a spoof of anthology shows like Amazing Stories, it quickly morphed into a series about superheroes and villains who couldn’t escape dealing with the same junk the rest of us face every day. I found endless inspiration through two of my previous jobs — as part of the administrative branch of a college and at a human resources management consulting firm.

I once attended a meeting that was all about how to have fewer meetings. That sounds like a joke but it’s real. And that sort of absurdity is half of what META is all about.

The other half of META is the huge collection of comic book cliches that have crept into our cultural identity. People who have never even picked up a comic book know some of these by heart. The secret identity, the arch nemesis, the endangered girlfriend and the loyal sidekick are all tropes we know. Some of these are just as silly as the stuff seen in the corporate world.

Putting the two together was easy — and it’s not as if I’m the only one who has done it. There are many examples out there, from Ben Edlund’s brilliant work on things like The Tick and The Incredibles to more recent efforts like Sandeep Parikh’s The Super Force have tread that ground. But I still feel like my series has a place out there.

In the early days of META, certain characters stood out. There’s Captain Outstanding, the brave but somewhat clueless hero who acts as leader of fellow heroes. There’s Odd Doc, a bizarre and somewhat disturbing hero whose ego far outstretches his own accomplishments. And there’s Lord Destructeronimous, a villain who became a series favorite thanks in no small part to the performance of Geoffrey Brown, who helped define the role back when META was an audio performance piece.

It’s been a long and sometimes challenging journey to bring META into the world of live-action video. Between the time I wrote the first script and today, I’ve produced META as an audio play, I’ve pitched it as an animated series and I’ve toyed with the idea of a stage version. I’m glad that the video is nearly finished and I’ll be able to share it with a larger audience. 

Thank you to my cast and crew for bringing my vision to life. And thanks to all of you for following along! I can’t wait to share the pilot with everyone.

Here’s a quick behind the scenes video of the pilot shoot for META. Ariel shot this on her phone. Apologies for the audio synchronization — this was a fast and dirty video upload.

Here are a few candid shots from our pilot shoot this weekend. We’ll have a few actual production stills up soon and the pilot will follow! Keep your eyes peeled!

The Philosophizer is a member of the Ministry of Sinistry. He’s an evil philosophy professor who uses his powers to disorient and demoralize his opponents. In short, he thinks, therefore you’re not. The Philosophizer will be played by Houston McPherson.

In this episode of the behind the scenes look at bringing my web series to life, I talk about what it takes to set up a Kickstarter campaign. The META Kickstarter campaign will begin in mid-September!

Here’s The Zipper, a superfast hero and loyal sidekick to Captain Outstanding. He’s young, idealistic, headstrong and technically savvy. He’s played in META by Nate Weimer.