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people across the generational spectrum. Fortunately, we know a few indie filmmakers who have actually make short episodic content, so we asked them. We bumped into Chris and Nicole Sobchack, aka Wraptastic Productions, a couple of years ago at Sundance where they premiered their 8-pisode comedy, “Please Tell Me I’m Adopted!” that has been widely viewed in more than 20 countries on Amazon. A second season is scheduled for release late this year. A lot of people who binged season 1 wanted season 2 right away but that’s a little tough when both Nikki and Chris wear so many hats. Nikki was working on the scripts, celebrity cameos, masterminding social media for the show, co-writing her first feature, and following her biggest passion as a working actress. Chris was flying around the globe handling his drum & percussion tech duties for Elton John while working on the pre-production for both the series their feature film debut, Lore Harbour. They’re keeping the new storylines and cast under wraps; but in the first series, they were honored to have Marion Ross, of “Happy Days” fame, star as the Mother of two of the leads in addition to a stellar supporting cast. “Casting is critical,” Nikki emphasized. “You need people who are like family and will help you sell and promote the project. Short-form episodics are a new art form that appeals to a young, hip, connected crowd; so you need tastemakers who can bring social media attention. To access traditional media, you need recognizable celebrities to get the mainstream publicity. “Each episode has to be a story idea that you can finish but will also support the series as a whole,” she continued. “Short-form episodics are a combination of a sitcom and Adult Swim style sketch comedy. Since it’s short content, it has to stand on its own against the funny cat, dumb kid stuff that floods the internet. The great thing is people appreciate great content when they see it and they want more regardless of length.” Chris emphasized that small budgets and short shoots put pressure on the cast and crew for time spent and footage shot. “In a comedy series, you need the reaction shots to sell the jokes,” he noted. “In season 1, Nikki actually repurposed shots from the trash and was glad we kept the camera rolling during outtakes to fill in gaps in our footage. “You break rules all the time,” he added. “There’s no long establishing shots. The viewer wants a fast, tight show header and credit roll because they want to focus on the story, get in, get out and move on. There is literally no time to waste!” Chris emphasized that knowledge is power when you’re on the clock and it’s your clock and your limited resources. “The piece may be short,” he noted, “but you have to give your team the time necessary to get everything done.” Chris learned every step of the post process and even learned tricks the developers didn’t know could be done with the Blackmagic tools. However, while it’s tempting to say, we’ll fix it in post, he found it’s much better to spend time in pre-production to do it right the first time on the day of the shoot. “Fixing footage at 30,000 feet or in a hotel room is a real pain,” he said. “With these lessons learned, we’re working hard on season 2 to shoot what we need properly and be set up for a quick post assembly.” Nikki agreed and emphasized that short-form episodics