So if you like dark comedies, slightly intoxicated Orson Welles, kickass complex female characters, and an edge of environmentalism, check-out Everything’s O.K.: Ten Years After Fracking. It is a new web series by writer/director Ace Salisbury (co-written by Joel Clark of The Exquisite Corpse Project), tackling New York City… after the apocalypse. Think of it as Brazil meets Gasland meets the best parts of Escape from New York. Right now it is in its Kickstarter backing phase and is looking for all the help it can get to bring this series to computer screens everywhere. I gave $30 earlier just to get a t-shirt and I got this delightful email thanking me for my contribution:

Dear Backer,

Thank you so much for your contribution! It’s people like you blah, blah, blah, the journey!

Sinsurly,

Respondo, the responding robot

I was thoroughly amused.

As described on its Kickstarter page,

In a world without drinking water, robots patrol what remains of Manhattan for the sole purpose of convincing rich people to remain in the ravaged metropolis. The East River is now the East River Gulch, a poisonous dried up ravine dotted with ramshackle shanty towns for the poor, dying, and exiled. ‘Everything’s O.K.’ is a dark comedy, environmental sci-fi web series chronicling the adventures of Orson Welles’ revived head in New York City ten years after fracking has triggered an ecocatastrophe.

The fracking element of Everything’s O.K. is what creates the story, but it isn’t a political/environmental diatribe. Chairperson Cassandra Nevers, played by Brooke Adams, is the antagonist of the series but not necessarily the villain. She is the head of Neverpeake Energy, the corporation held responsible for the downfall of New York.

What is great about the character is her complexities. It is reminiscent of corporate heads wanting to make money and claiming to be unaware of the impact they are having on the world around them, but at the same time personalizing the character. The story follows her daughter, Artemis, as she rebels against her mother’s influence, learns more about her past, and hangs out with her “nanny”, the revived head of Orson Welles (in his less attractive period), played Michael Brown. Other characters include Byron Cha Cha, international pop star turned mayoral candidate, and his political opponent Philharmon, played by monologuist Josh Kornbluth.



One of the most interesting aspects of the project by far is the artwork. The papercraft work used for the series is some of the most original set work I have seen.

Carrying over the green approach to the series, art director Christopher O'Connell uses only post-consumer materials to make each set.

“Since the show is about, in some respects, waste and garbage, we decided why not build all of these things out of waste and garbage.”

Each scene is filmed in miniature by first filming the actors on a green screen and then digitally inserting them into the papercraft sets. It is quite an ambitious endeavor which director Ace Salisbury does seamlessly.

The Kickstarter runs from today (October 20) until November 19. There are quite a few affordable tiers that still provide contributors with Everything’s O.K. merchandise, including t-shirts and digital art packs. The best deal by far is the $30 pledge, but generosity is rewarded as backers move up the financial tiers with rewards such as executive producer credit, your very own personalized Orson Welles voicemail, and even a mystery box personally curated by the project’s technical director.



If you have time, go to the Kickstarter (everythingsokshow.com) and check it out and maybe forego your Starbucks this week.



Full disclosure, I am a part of the social media team for EOK, but I don’t give out my approval all willy nilly for a resume line. But in case you are wondering, yes, those are my witty quips on the Twitter feed.