{"id":11018,"date":"2010-07-24T14:18:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-24T21:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/?p=11018"},"modified":"2010-07-24T23:01:10","modified_gmt":"2010-07-25T06:01:10","slug":"dylan-kussman-on-his-film-noir-web-series-the-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/?p=11018","title":{"rendered":"Dylan Kussman on His Film Noir Web Series “The Steps”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Earlier this year I had the pleasure of being on set when some friends of mine shot the pilot for an upcoming web series. While there, I met a wonderful group of talented people, several of whom worked on a Chattanooga based web series called The Steps<\/em><\/a>. While I usually watch sci-fi and fantasy shows, I am a huge advocate of indie films and web series in general so I checked it out. While I was at first really just curious to see what kind of production value I could expect from the project we were working on together, what I found was so intriguing and impressive that I was immediately a huge fan. The look, the feel and the sound of the show was beautiful and unique and I was immediately hooked.<\/p>\n

The Steps<\/em> is the story of Charlie Madison, an P.I. from L.A. who is now hiding out in Chattanooga, living under a fake name. He’s trying to flee his troubled past but trouble seems to find him. It’s a gritty, intense, high-quality crime drama with a touch of film noir, dash of mystery and a pinch of thriller.<\/p>\n

Tim Cofield<\/a>, who was director of photography for The Steps<\/em>, put me in touch with series creator, writer, director and star\u00a0Dylan Kussman<\/a>. You might recognize him from his long career in film and television including Dead Poets Society<\/em><\/a> and Leatherheads<\/em><\/a>. He was gracious enough to take some time to answer a few questions for me about the show.<\/p>\n

\u00dcberSciFiGeek (\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> What were your inspirations while creating the concept and writing The Steps<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Dylan Kussman (DK)<\/strong> I was inspired by two things.\u00a0One was my own physical move from Los Angeles to Chattanooga in the winter of 2008.\u00a0My wife and I moved here to be closer to her family, and while I have personally enjoyed the transition, I enjoyed conceiving of a character who wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0The second source was the story of Anthony Pellicano, the infamous \u201cP.I. to the Stars\u201d, who is in jail for extortion and blackmail.\u00a0You can read about him in several places online. I liked the idea of someone who worked for him having to flee Los Angeles in order to escape Pellicano\u2019s legal fate, and what that person might have to do in order to hide out for a while in a small town.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Did you write the story and then decide to make it for the web or did you decide to make a web series and then write the story?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> The second one.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Why did you choose the web?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> The Web just proved to be too tempting to me as a distribution platform. It\u2019s just… there.\u00a0And I knew I could shoot something and put it up on there and someone on the other side of the planet Earth could watch it.\u00a0For free.\u00a0That\u2019s just… nuts.\u00a0It is a vastly powerful tool that we\u2019re still trying to figure out how to use.\u00a0It really is, in a sense, the Wild Frontier. How any of us filmmakers are gonna make any money with it I have no idea.\u00a0But you gotta start somewhere, and for now, it\u2019s allowing a whole new generation of artists to cut their teeth and explore their talents for very little money, and then have their work seen and commented on.\u00a0That\u2019s amazing to me.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> The Steps<\/em> had a really ambitious marketing campaign with Space Truffles Entertainment<\/a>. What did you do that is different than most web series marketing and how do you think it paid off for you?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> I suppose the most interesting thing we\u2019ve done in terms of marketing is put up a few ads on the back of some Chattanooga city buses, promoting the series and the free wi-fi on all the bus lines.\u00a0Other than that, we\u2019ve been out in the scrum with everyone else, looking for online reviews, getting active on Facebook and Twitter and Digg and whatnot.\u00a0I\u2019d say our efforts have paid off with a solid, supportive fan base, one that we\u2019re working every day to expand.\u00a0It\u2019s a step-by-step, day-at-a-time process, it\u2019s slow, it doesn\u2019t go viral while I\u2019m in bed, and it\u2019s the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever tried to do. I\u2019m learning a ton.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> You\u2019ve been acting since the mid 80s, appearing in some very well known films and TV series. When did you start writing? Have you always wanted to write and direct?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> I\u2019ve written all my life.\u00a0I wrote my first feature in 1990… it\u2019s called Burn<\/em>, it won a grand jury prize at Slamdance but never found distribution, so you can\u2019t see it, so I can tell you that it was pure, unadulterated genius.\u00a0I\u2019ve been directing shorts since high school, but this is my most ambitious project to date, no doubt.\u00a0I\u2019d like to do more.\u00a0I enjoy it immensely.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Who were your influences in filmmaking?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> Wow.\u00a0There are so many filmmakers whose work I admire.\u00a0I\u2019ll list a few…\u00a0Akira Kurosawa, the Coen Brothers, Billy Wilder, the David Simon-Ed Burns writing team (the writers behind the HBO series The Wire<\/em>) was a huge influence on me as I was writing the show, Robert Rodriguez, Werner Herzog, John Cassavetes.\u00a0That\u2019s far from a complete list, but it\u2019s enough for now.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> The Steps<\/em> received some praise from big names in Hollywood right from the beginning. I imagine that made you feel pretty good. What kind of feedback have you been getting since the launch?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> People have been really positive.\u00a0I had hoped that we would fill a void in the Web series world by doing a drama, a mystery, a neo-noir with an anti-hero at the center of it, and I think that\u2019s been the case. We\u2019re appealing to an online audience that hasn\u2019t been catered to yet, and it\u2019s been a pleasure to find those people out there who are into what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> You wear a lot of hats in The Steps<\/em>. Writer, creator, director and star. How did you juggle everything? Is the end result what you had in mind all along or has it gone through changes as it went into production?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> First of all, I couldn\u2019t have done any of it without my cast and crew.\u00a0Their dedication and hard work is what made it possible for me to get this thing done, period.\u00a0For me, it has been an absolute thrill watching my vision get realized. I can\u2019t even tell you how close the end product has come to the one I initially conceived at my writing desk, and that has been such an incredibly powerful and humbling experience.\u00a0Sometimes I don\u2019t know how we pulled off what we did.\u00a0I am continually amazed at everyone\u2019s contributions, and I\u2019m so grateful for them.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> In addition to the episodes, Charlie has a vlog with additional backmatter included. What made you decide to do the vlog in character?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> That idea came from Executive Producer Adam Paul and also Gennefer Snowfield at Space Truffles, and it stemmed from their belief that Web series have got to offer personal, highly immersive subsidiary content in order to engage viewers, who increasingly demand more in-depth, more interactive ways to experience a story online. I did it for them, but I ended up having fun with them.\u00a0They\u2019re little mini-episodes that I can do by myself late at night when I\u2019m wondering why my episodes don\u2019t have a gazillion hits each yet like The Guild<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> We\u2019ve learned a bit about Charlie. Will we eventually learn any back-stories of the other characters?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> I hope so.\u00a0I probably could have done a better job in that area.\u00a0But the shortness of the format, and my overriding desire to propel Charlie\u2019s story through each of the installments, just kinda shoved the other characters to the periphery, to a certain extent.\u00a0I think we\u2019re learning something about Doris in these latest episodes, and I\u2019ve enjoyed watching that develop. But as for more… might have to wait until next season.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Did you hold auditions or are you working with a group of actors and crew you already have a history with?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> No auditions.\u00a0I cast local actors I had done theater with in the area, ones that I knew could fill out the roles, take direction, be human beings on camera. In not a single case was I disappointed.\u00a0The crew formed organically around us through Tim\u2019s and my professional networks here in Chattanooga. We reached out, asked for help, and people climbed onboard. Some were performing their jobs for the first time; but there\u2019s nothing like on-the-job training in the filmmaking world.\u00a0If you’re smart, and you pay attention and listen, you can grab on for the ride and you come through the other side with a head full of knowledge and experience, maybe even a little confidence.\u00a0I liked watching some of my actors and crew go through that, it\u2019s one of the joys of the art form.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Once you decided to put it together, how long did it take to make it happen?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> Well, we did some initial shooting in the Fall of \u201908, and we\u2019re still in post on episode 10, so… a year and three-quarters and counting, I guess?<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> What are your hopes for The Steps<\/em>, both as a series and as a vehicle to other productions?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> I want to shoot a fully-financed season 2.\u00a0Barring that, I\u2019d be happy to transform the idea into an hour-long cable television show, I think it could do really well in a format like that.\u00a0I\u2019m also developing my first feature to direct, which I\u2019m really excited about.<\/p>\n

(\u00dcSFG)<\/strong> Any news on if there will be a season 2 yet?<\/p>\n

(DK)<\/strong> I\u2019d love to do a second season, I\u2019ve got a bunch of good ideas for where the story can go, and for how much deeper trouble my old friend Charlie can get into.<\/p>\n

Additional The Steps<\/em> Links:
\nThe Steps<\/em> Official Website<\/a>
\nThe Steps<\/em> on KoldCast<\/a>
\nThe Steps<\/em> on Facebook<\/a>
\nThe Steps<\/em> on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of being on set when some friends of mine shot the pilot for an upcoming web series. While there, I met a wonderful group of talented people, several of whom worked on a Chattanooga based web series called The Steps. While I usually watch sci-fi and fantasy shows, … Continue reading “Dylan Kussman on His Film Noir Web Series “The Steps””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8,190],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-multimedia","category-web-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/uberscifigeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}