Another week of work in the books! I’ve made some changes to my approach with Fastlife, my web series. I’ve learned that change is a sign of growth. My friend Patsie said as we chatted this week, “Just change the format and pretty soon you’ll be on the super highway towards your goal.” I have seen evidence of this and am trusting that as I work and make adjustments, we will continue to achieve our goals.
When I created the concept of this web series, I did not see it exactly as it is now. I saw it as a more dramatic, striving type of a show with many hurdles and excitement as my husband Derek DeBoer- my main cast member-strove to achieve his dream of being a race car driver. I spent a fair amount of money- too much, creating a sizzle reel. I hired people, paid for travel costs for crew, cameras and equipment, and envisioned this as a network television show. I dreamed of being the creative producer of a big time show and having this be my break- out series. I was caught up in the glamour of it (and probably a little bit of ego, too), in the hope of being noticed, see and receiving accolades for my work. I didn’t want to admit that, but now I’m clear that this was not the right motive or path for me. I’ll gladly admit it now because I am so sure that the change of direction was very necessary.
It turned out that a couple of bumps in the road were catalysts for Fastlife’s change of direction. The concept garnered attention as I started shopping it around and in my gut, I knew it was a great idea. I knew it was not something that had been done before, however, as I shared the project, the opinions starting coming in about how it needed to look. The monetary discussions were also difficult as I had legal counsel telling me one thing and interested parties telling me quite another about what it was worth. A few networks reviewed the content and had various opinions about it, as well. All of this was complimentary of the look and feel of the show.
One very reputable company in Hollywood said they could “see” the characters and declined because they were staying with the more formulaic unscripted shows like Survivor and The Voice. And there were negatives. “Racing doesn’t sell” was one. Another was the cost of production. If they only knew what I could accomplish on a shoe string budget! I did spend more than I should on the sizzle, but relative to a full budget of episodic television I spent nothing. This was probably the single biggest push for me to produce a web series on my own.
Ever since I was a kid, if you told me I couldn’t do something, my line was, “I can do it by myself!” So there you have it. I decided to take off on my own and produce this thing as a web series. I tossed out the ideas of fancy cameras, running a crew, being a big time producer, and jumped head first into producing it on my own and on my iPhone. It remains to be seen if others will catch my vision.
I found an Andy Warhol quote this week that resonates with this theme, “Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it. ” And, I’m ok with that. You know the statement we keep hearing about the election? “Vote your conscience.” Well, I’m working with a conscience. I still feel in my gut that this is what I should be doing. The nice thing is, I don’t have to change it for anyone. I don’t have to fear a producer coming in and asking us to act differently for better ratings. We can be who we are and share what we are inspired to do and hope that this inspires others. And, we’ll have a clear conscience while doing the project because we are portraying exactly who we are and what we stand for.
Another wise quote from Patsie that came from our conversation today is, “It may not be exactly what you thought it was going to be but it’s going to work out.” I truly believe this and I would only add that when you feel something in your gut, don’t compromise. Stick with it. Be strong and courageous and be open to change of approach. When you are open to change sometimes the most unexpectedly beautiful things happen and that’s what I’m counting on!
This week our episode is about Thanksgiving and family. I am grateful for these things and grateful for your support of Chop Chop’s work. Please visit www.fastlife.tv and subscribe to our You Tube channel. There is now a button on the site just to the right of the featured weekly episode. We are hoping for 100 subscribers to apply for a custom You Tube link to our channel. We would love your help and your feedback on the series!
“Just change the format and pretty soon you’ll be on the super highway towards your goal! –Tweet That
