Photos: Alan Mercer Lighting: Eric VenturoThe future is now when it comes to web series. By now even the people who are the 'last to know' know about webisodes. They are big budgeted productions that hire Hollywood stars and get nominated for awards. The time is being compared to television taking over radio sixty years ago and it does seem logical.
Mark Gantt is Executive Producer, Co-writer with Jesse Warren, and Star of Sony Pictures Television's web series, 'The Bannen Way.' The show blends action, suspense, and humor to show us the challenges of life for Neal Bannen, a thief who wants to change his lifestyle but faces inner turmoil on his journey. The show had thirteen million views in the first ten weeks on line.
Mark and the show were recently nominated for seven Streamy Awards, the first and most prestigious awards ceremony devoted to honoring excellence in original web television programming and those who create it. The annual ceremony, and its live online broadcast, brings together top talent, decision-makers and influencers shaping the online entertainment industry. Mark came home with the Best Actor in a Drama 2010 award and the show won the award for Best Drama Web Series, 2010.
Not bad for a guy originally from Stockton, CA, who started in the business working in the Art Department, Props and Production on over 100 feature, TV and commercial projects, all the while training as an actor and director at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
Richard Levi put Mark and I together for this blog. He told me Mark is the real deal and I agree. Mark has the charisma, talent, charm and obviously the vision to go all the way. The proof is in the accolades already bestowed on him. I told him he is a pioneer and making history. Eric Venturo and I met up with Mark for a quick photo session and a chance to find out a little bit more about what makes this man tick...right before he won the Streamys.
AM: Hi Mark, how does it feel to be a pioneer?
MG: It feels really exciting. My partner Jesse and I created this. Going into it was like the wild, wild west. We had no idea what to expect. We looked up web series and basically it was just a reason to get millions of people to look at us. We did it because we didn't have acting or directing careers.
AM: You were proactive. Didn't you want it to be a movie?
MG: We were tired of waiting for an agent to call us. As we kept going forward we decided it could be a web series AND a movie. Who says it can't be both? Nobody really knows what's going on. We didn't plan it. We didn't have anything figured out.
AM: Didn't your agent tell you that it wasn't going to happen for you?
MG: Most agents and my manager told me I was too old. It's not going to happen for you. The people who are your age already have pilots and have been testing or they already have careers.
AM: How did that make you feel?
MG: It hurt. For a couple months after that I asked myself what was I doing? A lot of the agents were saying the same thing. We like you and your reel is great. You've got a great look but I can't get you in the door.
AM: Did you believe you could write something like this?
MG: I'd written a couple of scripts and at the time I had a whole bunch of post-its on my wall for a script I was working on. This was March of 2007. I was in class at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and a teacher was talking to a student about how she needed to create her own career.
AM: How did that effect you?
MG: I was fighting to get a starring role in anything. Co-star was the most I'd ever had. I had made some short films and I had directed and written so I thought why not this way? My girlfriend told me she thought this would be my "in" right here, pointing to all the post-its. I should be creating my own project.
AM: What was the first thing you did?
MG: I got together with Jesse and we adapted something he had already started writing. That was kind of it.
AM: How did you get it to Sony?
MG: We spent six months writing the first six episodes which were five minutes each. Then we did an outline for the whole series. We were able to fund it ourselves. We shot the first two episodes and then we got a whole bunch of favors like to color correct it and sound design. That took another four or five months. We posted the two episodes and a trailer on our web site. We sent out 600 emails and the first person to contact us asked if we wanted to sell it because it was amazing. He already had a relationship with Sony and ABC and NBC. They were looking for these types of projects. Then the doors opened.
AM: You made it! How did you feel then?
MG: This whole process has been about me fighting it, then letting go, and then something else better happens. I have to learn to be patient. This has been a three year process. It didn't go in any way, the way I thought it would, but better than I could have expected.
AM: You are up for all these awards and you won something already didn't you?
MG: Somebody honored us with the Groundbreakers Award at the LA Web Festival.
AM: I think you are setting your place in history. Don't you love that?
MG: It's a little surreal. It's tough because I'm in my world and nothing major is changing, but I do keep having conversations with people who are getting inspired by what I have done.
AM: Has this project brought you any auditions yet?
MG: I just signed with a great manager two weeks ago. The auditions haven't popped open yet. We're just now in the opening phases of a new manager submitting me. I feel good. I feel like we are creating more projects with one that I am starring in. Nothing has hit yet. I'm trying to be patient.
AM: Well I do think you are in a better place than you were three years ago. Working for Sony with name actors.
MG: We got to Sony and they told us we needed some big names to sell the DVD so we got Robert Forster and Michael Ironside.
AM: When does the DVD come out?
MG: The DVD will probably come out at the end of May. It's going to be on cable as well. It will be a movie of the week special on some channel. Within two weeks of that it will be on Netflicks and Blockbuster.
AM: That's when you will notice the change so get ready. What about this character? Is it someone who has been living inside you?
MG: He's the guy that I'd always love to be. He can get the girls and charm his way into or out of things. I struggle with all of his addictions on a daily basis. Those are things I wanted to bring to the character. Things that are more personal. Otherwise he is just kind of a "Bond" character. We wanted to be able to relate to him and his struggles.
AM: It seems like you put in a nice bit of humor to go along with this story. Was that intentional?
MG: Our teacher Milton Katselas, who passed away a year ago, told us to use charm, humor and irony in everything so we tried to do that. When we knew we had a darker scene we looked for some of the charm and humor and definitely the irony throughout the piece. I think it was a challenge. I'm glad you said that. We did feel good about it. That is the struggle as the writer to keep people interested.
AM: Could this possibly be a series on network TV?
MG: We are actually putting together through ICM, a short list of show runners. Hopefully we will be meeting them soon and putting together a pitch.
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