Episode Nineteen.... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

"Ragged Isle" episode 19, which is called "40," is up at The Entertainment Experiment web site. If you haven't already, go watch it now. After you've seen it, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary, which will (obviously, perhaps) include spoilers for this episode and previous episodes.

Way back when, when there were just the five of us (Barry and Karen Dodd, Rick Dalton, Jake Lear, and I) sitting around Barry and Karen's living room, plotting out story ideas, the way it worked was like so: Someone would think of a plot point or a character. If we all agreed, we'd jot it down on a notecard and tape it to a giant piece of cardboard that had once been the side of a refrigerator box. Gradually, we'd group collections of these notecards together to form a loose cluster of ideas for an episode. Then someone (often me, but not always) would then go home and write up an episode based on these notes, then send it out to the others for comments and revisions.

We knew very early on, from one of our first meetings, what the "original sin" of "Ragged Isle" was going to be -- lovers exiled to the sea many years ago, only to have one return and wreak havoc today. But we didn't really know when or how this would be revealed. Then, Jake said he'd like to write a "flashback" episode, and that's just what he did, turning in a 20 (or so)-page episode set entirely in the early '70s, telling the tragic story of George and Emma. It was quite beautiful, it really was.

I asked if I could take a pass over his draft because I had been thinking about who these characters were 40 years ago for the purposes of Vicki's conspiracy wall, which I was in the process of creating. So, I did a revision, fleshing out the characters I'd been thinking about and adding the business about the sardine factory, tying it into the factory fire story Rachel Moody tells the Sheriff in season one.

(George's early line to Emma, "Do you like sardines?", was one that Karen routinely deleted without comment when she made revisions and one I routinely re-inserted without comment when I got my hands back on a draft. It was a silent war I'm happy to have won.)

The episode was really shaping up to be something amazing, but there were some concerns: 1) As scripted, it would be long. Like, really long. Like, 25 minutes long. Too long for YouTube (or the attention span of the average internet user). And 2) Being set entirely in the past, it didn't feature an appearance by a single regular cast member. We worried that that might be confusing and off-putting to fans of the show.

So, the decision was made to incorporate contemporary scenes that would help anchor the flashbacks. This just made the episode longer, of course, so lots and lots of good material had to be cut. George and Emma's relationship, which evolved gradually on the page, now speeds right along, but I think we've retained the essence of their story, and we've tied it more explicitly to present-day events. I think it's a pretty special episode, one that resolves a giant piece of our mystery.

Some other thoughts:

1) Naming the episodes was one of the last things to happen in the scripting process, and (in case you haven't noticed) all our episode titles are also the names of U2 songs. I was so happy when I realized there was a U2 song called "40," since we'd already decided these events took place 40 years ago.

2) We've sent someone into the water every season. In season one, it was Dominic Lavoie as Mac, falling over the side of Paul's lobster boat. In season two, it was Meghan Benton as Vicki, knocked into the water by vengeful librarian Colleen Drake (Christine Louise Marshall). And this season, it was me. This scene was shot in September of 2011. Fortunately for me, it was a relatively warm day (MUCH warmer than the night Meghan went into the water). We only had one shot at it, since I didn't have a duplicate set of clothes. But that's fine. I was just as happy not to be tossed into the water repeatedly.

3) Michael Dix Thomas is so awesome in this episode, isn't he? He's a COMPLETELY different character.

4) Up until a few days before we started shooting season two, my character's name in the script was Greg Fishman. Too on the nose? Yes, we decided. The name we landed on, Dr. Hoffman, is a reference to Dr. Julia Hoffman in "Dark Shadows."

5) Please welcome new cast members! We've been sitting on these secret weapons for two years now, and we're so excited to finally unleash them. You've gotten glimpses of George (Kip Weeks) and (especially) Emma (Krystal Kenville) before now, but in this episode you get to meet them good and proper. In addition, this episode introduces Bob Greeley as Edwin Cutler ("Take my hand, George"), Shawn Reardon as young Harrison Shaw ("I could really go for a stone fence"), Michael Best as Phil Gerard ("I know what I saw. And so will the sheriff!"), Daniel Noel as Wilbur Henson ("Do what you feel you must, Phil"), Lynne Otto as Agnes Maguire ("What do you mean 'not yet'?"), Vince Shatto as Elmer Stringfellow ("We can write it up any way we want in the 'Star'"), Jill Koufman as Ruby Dusante ("How could you? With one of THEM?"), Sophia Reed as young Clelia (so THAT'S how she got the locket), and Allison Gray as young Rose Fuller ("Hello, Mr. Henson"). It's nice to have them all officially aboard the cast.

6) Even if you're a fan of the horror movie, "The Strangers," you might not recognize Kip Weeks (George), who played the creepy Man in the Mask in that movie. Check out his ax-wielding skills below:

7) This is crucial episode in the "Ragged Isle" mythology -- perhaps the most crucial episode in the entire series. Still, my favorite episode (from the standpoint of a writer and an actor) is the next one. I can't wait to share it with you (sometime in the new year).

8) Thank you sticking with us for this long. Happy new year!

Episode Eighteen.... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

Ragged Isle" episode 18, "Gone," is up at The Entertainment Experiment web site. If you haven't already, go watch it now. After you've seen it, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.  This will include spoilers for this episode (and previous episodes), so make sure you've seen it before you continue, okay? Okay.

So, the spit is really hitting the spam on Ragged Isle, isn't it? We're gearing up for the endgame, which means fewer and fewer secrets can be kept. Some random thoughts about the making of this episode:

1) That statue of the fisherman is in Eastport, Maine. It was constructed for the reality/game/mystery show"Murder in Small Town X," which aired from July through September 2001 on FOX. The statue remained long after the show closed up shop and it's become an Eastport landmark.  And now, it stands on Ragged Isle, at least in our little corner of the internet.

2) Those helicopters, like the helicopters in season two, were created by "Ragged Isle" cinematographer (and local filmmaker) Derek Kimball.  The man's got chops, folks.

3) That's my basement Paul's tied up in.  It required very little set decoration or lighting effects to make it look that creepy. It was fun having the cast and crew in my house, and we worked hard to keep my family in the dark about plot developments they wouldn't get to find out about for a couple of years. In the original scripts for the season, it took several more episodes to reveal Paul's fate/location after his abduction at the end of season two, but Barry (rightly) insisted that we needed to see Ian earlier, which resulted in a scene I quite like, with Vance torturing Paul with his boring old newspaperman stories. Some nice work here from Denis Fontaine and Ian Carlsen.

4) That's Doughty (just "Doughty") playing the dead Agent Griggs outside Gertie Kendrick's house. Somewhere, there's a blooper of him jumping in genuine startlement when I touched his neck.  Kind of blew the whole "dead" assertion.

5) The pre-opening-credits sequences have been much longer this season, I think.  I'm digging it.

6) That's Justin St. Louis lying on the floor as the murdered Trevor Stebbins (though he wasn't Trevor Stebbins anymore when he died, careful viewers will recall). Justin was a blast to work with, and his parents were generous enough to let their house stand in for Gertie's.  Thank you to the whole family!

7) The scenes in Gertie's house were some of the last we shot, on a very long last day of principal photography. It was quite late (like, dark outside) when we shot some of it, even though this scene is supposed to take place in the early morning.  But with some fine, last-minute lighting improvisation by Barry, we were able to shoot "night for day."

8) Meghan Benton does some of her finest work (imo) in this episode as a grieving Vicki. I was at that day's shoot and it was amazing to watch her turn the grief on and off for various takes.  It wasn't like a switch.  She had to work herself up to it, and then work herself back down.  It was quite extraordinary. Amie Marzen is also so good in this scene, as Julie isn't quite sure how to respond to what Vicki tells her.  Amie improvised her voicemail message to Deputy Dan, all in one take, and while it was great, it probably slowed down the episode too much to stay on her.  In a brilliant stroke, Barry placed it over the closing credits, where it creates even more suspense for the next episode.  (You're going to Rose's, Julie?  Were you not even listening to what Vicki told you?)

9) "Ragged Isle" co-writer/prop-maker/poster-designer Jacob Lear made my CDC identification (dubbing me "Brain Hoffman" -- ha!) and I got the badge at a Halloween store.  It's made of plastic and features an image of a waving policeman.  But it works well enough for this shot, doesn't it?

10) Michael Dix Thomas is so good playing an entirely new character.  One look at him and there's no doubt Vicki's brother Eric is no longer on the scene.

11) So... yeah.  Something's up with my character, huh?  I guess there are still a few more secrets left to uncover.

12) The score is by Richard de Costa and the closing song is "Marathon Caribou" by Jacob Augustine. I love the music on this show. It adds so much.

13) There's more I'd like to say about the scripting process, but I really need to wait a couple of episodes for some more plot to unfold.  Stay tuned.

14) Thanks for watching, and for reading this far.  If you like the show, please drop us a line in the comments section below or on our YouTube page's comments section.

Episode Sixteen.... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

The season two finale of "Ragged Isle," "Where Did It All Go Wrong," is here.  This is the last episode we'll be serving up until spring 2013, so savor it (though there will be some treats and surprises in the meantime).  Fortunately, we packed a lot for you to contemplate into this very short episode.  Watch it below, and after you've seen it, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.



Did you watch?  I'm about to start spoiling the episode, so turn back now if you haven't watched.  Fair warning.

Way back when we were shooting season one, we knew exactly where the series was going.  There were drafts of all ten episodes of the then-final season two.   But then in the spring of 2011, during the original broadcast of season one, we decided to split the final season into two seasons, adding two more episodes to make the second and third season six episodes apiece.

There was more to be done besides just splitting the seasons and writing two new episodes.  The structure of every episode had to be reworked, and new plots and characters had to be introduced.

The events on the boat, seen in this episode, originally occurred in episode thirteen, the first draft of which was written by Rick Dalton.  Rick's dialogue between Colleen and Paul remains largely intact (though I think Colleen was originally a man), but when we decided that this was where we would break the season, we reworked it as a cliffhanger.  In the first season, we sent Mac (Dominic Lavoie) into the water.  In the second, Vicki (Meghan Benton) takes the plunge.

Dominic had it (relatively) easier.  He went into the water at the end of August (2010), on a fairly warm night.  We shot Vicki's plunge in early September (2011) on a decidedly cooler night, after a very long day of shooting.  Immediately after Meghan went in, she surfaced and shouted, "Goddamn, this is cold!  Whatever you have to shoot, do it quick!"  That was the closest she came to a complaint, performing the scene with astonishing grace and professionalism (despite shivering uncontrollably and slowly turning blue).  It was amazing to watch, and my hat's forever off to Meghan for the most courageous thing I've ever seen an actor do.  Maybe she can be persuaded to weigh in about the experience in the comments, because after all that, she had to keep the whole thing secret for nearly a year.

(The underwater shots were captured in a pool.  I wasn't there for that shoot, but maybe Barry can also be persuaded to chime in with a comment or a blog post of his own, because I understand that it was no picnic.)

The final script for this episode clocked in at four pages, by far the shortest episode of the season (and maybe even the whole series).  The season one finale was also short on the page, but Barry managed to stretch it in editing with great music and cool lobster festival atmosphere (courtesy of footage from the Rockland Lobster Fest).

To stretch out the season two finale (and strengthen its impact), Barry conceived of Vicki's encounter in the water.  Careful "Ragged Isle" viewers will recognize the woman Vicki sees as Emma Dobson, whose picture hangs on the wall of The Glass Jaw, and whose story Rachel Moody told to Sheriff Dalton in episode seven, "The Unforgettable Fire."  Even more eagle-eyed fans will have seen Emma's picture in the locket Madame Clelia gave to Vicki, and in a newspaper article on Vicki's conspiracy wall.  Emma also appears in a snippet of enigmatic footage after the closing credits of the season one finale, and even more enigmatic footage at the beginning of this episode.  Are you starting to get the feeling that Emma is important to the mystery?  Go with that feeling.  I think maybe it will pay off in season three.  That's actress Krystal Kenville as Emma, and there's a good chance we'll hear more from Krystal fairly soon.

At the close of the season, I want to thank Barry for putting it all together, and Jake and Karen and Rick and our whole tremendous cast for a tremendous season.  That montage during the credits brought back a lot of memories of last summer's shoot.

I feel blessed to be a part of this project, and sad that it's going dark for so long (though I'm happy Barry will be getting a break at last).  But stay tuned to the blog and the Facebook page.  We may just have a few surprises up our sleeves in the months ahead.

Episode Fifteen.... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

"Ragged Isle" episode fifteen, "Moment of Surrender," is up. Check it out, and when you've seen it, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.



Have you seen it? This is where I start spoiling the episode, so if you haven't watched it, you should probably watch it, or come back later (after you've watched it).

Some of my favorite TV series are serialized, telling a long story via individual installments. But even the most heavily serialized shows occasionally present a stand-alone episode, one that advances the larger narrative but also tells a self-contained story. That's cool too. Last year, we had a nifty stand-alone episode in the form of the Ragged Isle talent show, which was really Barry and Karen's brainchild. Next year, we've got a doozy of a stand-alone (just you wait!) with a core concept that sprang from the mind of co-writer/prop maker/poster designer Jake Lear. This year's stand-alone (well, mostly) tells the story of Gertie Kendrick, and came out of an idea I had long before we had cracked the story for the rest of the season.  I wrote the Gertie scenes very early on in the scripting process, before we even knew where they would fit.

The Gertie scenes tell a macabre short story by themselves, but they also open up our understanding of the mysterious drowning deaths that have plagued the island.  As the newspaper articles on Vicki's conspiracy wall broadly hinted last week, certain entities (whatever they are) are passing their consciousnesses from one Ragged Isle citizen to another, usually from mentor to protege, leaving behind "drowned" corpses in their wake.  This is the first time we've gotten a good look at this process, though we've certainly seen glimpses (and the aftermath, obviously).  I wanted to convey just how seriously these creatures (whatever they are) take it.  Jumping from one body to another is not something they do lightly, or often, and like Native Americans with their kills, they observe certain somber rituals of gratitude when they do make the jump.

Except one of them is not like the others, and is plowing through Ragged Isle residents as if they were items in an all-you-can-eat buffet.  I expect we'll find out what's behind that at some point, just maybe not soon.  We'll see.

The were some character gender changes in the revision process of this episode (and the last).  Dr. Monroe was originally a man, but then I decided there was no reason that character had to be male, and I wanted every episode to at the very least pass the Bechdel Test, if possible.  There's a shortage of strong female characters in movies and TV, especially strong female characters who don't serve exclusively as love interests to the central male characters.  I think it was important to all of the writers plotting out the story (Barry, Karen, Rick, Jake, and myself) that we have a wide variety of interesting women on the show.  Also, the great Cathy Counts really delivers in this role, both as the kindly doctor and as the vengeful whatever-it-is.

On the other hand, Gertie's assistant was originally a woman. But then, pretty late in the scripting process, I got the idea that the dynamic between Gertie and her protege was too similar to the dynamic between Rose and Julie, so we made a swap, and were lucky enough to land Justin C. St. Louis for the role of the doomed Trevor Stebbins.

As I mentioned last week,we shot the Gertie scenes on the very last day of principal photography for "Ragged Isle," as our "summer" shoot lingered into the end of November, 2011.  These were some of the scenes I was most excited about (and also some of the scenes I had written earliest), so it was a long, long wait to see them play out.  But boy was it worth it.  As I've mentioned on this blog once or twice (or three times), it was such a joy watching actress Suzanne Rankin perform as Gertie, and everyone she shares a scene with in this episode really shines as well:  Beth Saufler as Rose, Denis Fontaine as Vance, and the aforementioned Justin C. St. Louis as Trevor.  I love everything about this storyline, including the grisly surprise ending.  (At least, I hope it was a surprise.  Last week, the doctor rang the doorbell.  This week, she knocked.  That was your clue that she was a "changed" woman.)

But the Gertie scenes are not the only scenes in this episode, so there's more to talk about.  After the success of last year's scuba diver monologue, I felt a little bolder this year placing longer speeches in the mouths of our characters.  Hence, Agent Thorne's monologue about lies and poker, Rose's monologue about Gertie's many life experiences, and even my mini-monologue about the grieving process.  As always, I'd rather not spend a lot of time lingering on my acting, but I'm quite pleased with how Kathryn Perry and Beth Saufler delivered Agent Thorne's and Rose's monologues, respectively.

Way back when, Rick wrote an early draft (the first draft, in fact) of episode eleven, the first episode of the second season (back when we thought there were only going to be two seasons).  Rick's draft dealt almost exclusively with the meeting between the sheriff and Dr. Hoffman (my character).  It was pretty great, but it had to be pared down extensively when we revamped our plans for the season and introduced new plot threads and characters (like Agent Thorne).  The exchange in episode fifteen (this one) between Rick and myself emerged out of Rick's old episode eleven draft, and I like that we can still see the lingering effects of the sheriff's grief.  We saw how devastated he was in the first episode of the season, but he has been pretty much all business since, even cracking a few jokes (good ones too: "Control the lobsters, control the world!").  In this episode, we can see that the sheriff's grief is still there, just pushed beneath the surface so he can do his job.

The ending of this episode is just about the grisliest thing we've seen since Harrison Shaw's death way back in episode five. And so, another one of these creatures (whatever they are) appears to have met its end. Who (or what) are they, and why is someone or something (whatever it is) going around carving them up?

The answers to those questions will have to wait for another day.

Episode Fourteen.... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

"Ragged Isle" episode fourteen, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," is up.  Check it out, and when you've seen it, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.



Have you seen it? Don't read any further if you haven't seen it, because, seriously, I'm going to be spoiling the episode like crazy in just a couple more sentences. Are we cool? Cool.

Again, I'm pleased with how well a U2 song title fits with the themes of the episode, which features several characters trying to make tentative connections with the people around them.  Vicki finally lets her brother in on her secret investigation.  Paul seeks help from Colleen.  The reviled Agent Thorne lets her guard down around Deputy Dan.  And Gertie shares a vulnerable moment with her doctor.  No one in this episode wants to move forward on their own.  They all need a little help.

When I wrote the scene of Vicki examining the newspaper articles on her wall, I was aware that this (or something very much like it) is something that people have seen before, in movies about obsessive conspiracy theorists, movies about obsessive serial killers, movies about obsessive stalkers, and movies about plain old run-of-the-mill obsessives. I wanted to do something a little different, and not have the scene be about ratcheting up the paranoia, but rather a warm brother-sister moment in which Vicki and Erik share a memory and a confidence. Michael Dix Thomas and Meghan Benton do some nice subtle work here, I think. Also, we slipped into this scene a reference to Steve Silverman's hilarious web series, "Pretty." Did you catch it? If not, you should probably start watching "Pretty."  Just sayin'.

It was also important to me that the articles on the wall be as authentic as possible, even if the audience only sees them for a few fleeting moments. I got kind of obsessive about this myself, composing all of the articles, trying to match the prose style, typeface, and newsprint consistency to the era from which each one was supposedly written. (It was also necessary to map out in my own mind certain aspects of the island's history going back about 150 years.)

If you'd like a closer look at these articles, I've set up an interactive "conspiracy wall" that you can peruse to your heart's content. Check it out, and let's hear some of your theories in the comments section.

One of the many things that delights me about season one of "Ragged Isle" is that we were able to seed the crowd scenes with ringers -- terrific actors who populated the background and nothing more, but who would get cool scenes spotlighting their talents in seasons two and three. Christine Louise Marshall, who plays island librarian Colleen Drake, was one of these secret weapons. She appears in five episodes of season one, but only speaks one single line all season. Now here she is in season two, delivering the goods in a great scene with Ian Carlsen as Paul.  Check out that cocked eyebrow.  That's gold!

I'll tell you something else about the scene with Ian and Christine: We shot that in Harpswell, and we must have done about twenty takes. Wide shots, two-shots, close-ups, over-the-shoulders, medium shots, and on and on. The idea was that Barry would edit the scene together in a traditional way, cutting back and forth between different shots. But the scene you see in the final cut is a single take. Ian and Christine were just so fantastic in that one take, it would have been artistic malpractice to cut away.  After calling "Cut" on that take, Barry turned to me with a huge grin on his face and said, "I think we just got everything we needed right there."  He was right.  I love this scene.

Okay, now we come to the scene between Agent Thorne and Deputy Dan. This is a pretty important scene for Agent Thorne's character, who up until this point has been a real hardass. Kathryn Perry has been playing the hell out of the character, and even my mom (who's a real tough cookie herself) is terrified of her. Meanwhile, the gals at Indie Intertube have been screaming for her blood, because she's been such a... well, pretty mean anyway... to everyone we know and love on the island.

But nothing is simple on Ragged Isle, and there aren't always clear-cut heroes and villains (not yet, anyway), so it was crucial that we get a scene in which we see the softer side of Agent Thorne. True, even the softer side has a sarcastic streak ("What is this, Sesame Street?"), but we see here that Agent Thorne is human after all, and capable of moments of warmth and friendship. I know I keep saying this over and over again on the blog, but the actors really deliver in this scene too.  Kudos to Kathryn and Erik!

Another ringer we brought in in season one was Suzanne Rankin, who plays Gertie Kendrick, a best-selling author dying of cancer.  She  didn't have a single line last season, but she showed up at the town meeting in episode four, and at a secret meeting in the woods (also in episode four) surreptitiously photographed by Vicki.  Ms. Rankin  was unbelievably gracious and generous when we shot those scenes in season one. She had read the entire season, and she told us repeatedly how much she loved the script. She didn't get to read the second season, but I promised her then that she would have some nice moments to play. The scene in this episode between her and Cathy Counts (as Dr. Gail Monroe) was one of the moments I promised her. We shot this on the very last day of principal photography on "Ragged Isle," so it was already a pretty emotional day. And then she delivered the seagull speech, and I was just blown away.  That scene could come across as a little corny or overwritten (which would be my fault), but she completely sells it, I think.  What a talented, classy lady.

The final scene, on Paul's boat, was also shot in Harpswell, on a very, very long shooting day (the same day, in fact, as the Paul-Colleen scene). This was one of the last daylight scenes of the shoot (we had some night scenes to shoot after this), and the light here is absolutely gorgeous. The problem with light like this is that it's incredibly fleeting, so we really had to hustle. We got two takes of the last exchange between Vicki and Paul ("Do you really think you can trust her?" "No."), the sun getting lower and lower every second, before it was too dark to proceed. Luckily, Ian and Meghan nailed it.

A show like "Ragged Isle" is, by necessity, paced in such a way that each episode ends on a moment of suspense or tension or general cliffhangeriness.

My favorite episode ending is probably episode seven, when Sheriff Dalton and Deputy Dan are driving Louis back to the sheriff's office, but then the sheriff pulls over to the side of the road when Louis is less than forthcoming about something. Louis finally admits that he had been motivated by something Madame Clelia told him, and Deputy Dan and the sheriff look at each other in surprise, because they have, by sheer coincidence, pulled over directly in front of of Madame Clelia's place. Just as they're realizing that, Clelia herself knocks on the passenger window and says, "Good, you're finally here. You better come in," and turns back into the darkness. The sheriff and deputy stare after her.  Cut to black, and Robber & Thief's "Brothers" kicks in on the soundtrack. The whole moment I've just described takes only a couple of seconds, but I think it's just tremendous.

I love the ending of this episode too, cutting to black on Paul's simple answer of "No," and "Unlucky Friend" by the Portland-based band Plains playing on the soundtrack.  Nice.

Speaking of the soundtrack, musician Richard DeCosta, who recorded a version of "Flight of the Bumblebee" for Louis's magic act in the talent show episode of season one, has joined "Ragged Isle" in a major way this season, scoring the individual episodes.  His work has helped take us to the next level, elevating the quality and increasing the emotional impact of each installment. We're lucky to have him aboard.

I was recently talking to "Ragged Isle" director Barry Dodd about this season, and he recalled the days more than a year ago, before we'd shot any of this season, when I'd talk to him excitedly about what I was writing -- the new characters, the raised stakes, the crazier situations, the increase in seagull monologues.  He'd always nod with cautious enthusiasm at my excited proclamations, mostly because Barry's always been more interested in the quieter, "in between" moments.  The pauses between lines of dialogue, the word-free interludes between scenes, the beautiful (sometimes lonely, sometimes ominous) shots of Maine's outdoors.  Don't get me wrong.  I love those things too, and as Barry says, they complement the gaudier mayhem I had in mind.

If you want to know what I mean by "gaudier mayhem," just you wait.  In the meantime, I'm having a great time enjoying the scenery.

Episode Thirteen... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

"Ragged Isle" episode thirteen, "Drowning Man," is up.  Check it out, and when you're done, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.



Have you watched it?  Because there will spoilers in the rest of this post, for this episode and everything that came before.  Fair warning

You know what my favorite thing about this episode is?  I got to take a power drill and drill a hole in Sebastian Carlsen.  Hell, yes!

(Okay, maybe that's not my favorite thing.  But it's pretty damned awesome.)

This episode endured a number of rewrites, many due to logistical concerns, though all the changes ultimately benefited the show, I think.  (One of the rewrites -- of season two as a whole -- actually conjured this episode into existence.  More on that in a moment.)

For example, as scripted, the first scene, between Paul, Eric, and Louis, originally took place in a big office that had belonged to Louis's mentor, Harrison Shaw (played in season one by Todd Manter), the idea being that Louis would look very small behind Shaw's enormous desk, which he has inherited.  But we couldn't secure a decent office location (or a big enough desk), and the scene was moved outside, which I believe works much better.  First of all it looks great, showing off once again Maine's beautiful outdoors.  Plus it puts Paul and Eric in an environment in which they're pretty comfortable (but Louis isn't), and it gives us another glimpse of the island blockade, reminding us of this season's raised stakes.  There's some nice work from all three actors in this scene.

The second scene, between Rose and Julie, originally took place in the grocery store.  But we had too many scenes set in the grocery store, which had to remain open while we were shooting, and we just couldn't cover them all in the limited time we had available.  So the scene was moved to Rose's kitchen, and it ends up being a much more intimate setting for Julie and Rose to discuss Julie's interrogation.  I'm in love with all of the acting in this episode.  Beth Saufler and Amie Marzen serve up a nice snapshot of the intimacy between Rose and Julie, as well as some barriers that still exist between them.

The autopsy scene never changed locations, but there was a lot of back-and-forth about what exactly the audience would see.  Barry really wanted us to have a "Twin Peaks moment," like when Agent Cooper stuck the tweezers deep beneath a dead Laura Palmer's fingernail to retrieve a clue.  For our scene, Barry envisioned a close-up of oversized cotton swab being slowly pulled from a hole in a victim's chest.  (We even discussed -- at length -- just how much blood and other bodily goo should be clinging to the swab as it is pulled out.)  I did some research into tests for drowning, and came up with the diatom test, which compares bacteria found in the victim's lung to bacteria found in the local water supply.  The lung isn't usually reached with a power drill of course, but I figured that on an island without a lab, locked down and with few available facilities, the doctor would have to improvise a bit.  This may be wildly unsound, but I'm keen on the effect of the drill and the cotton swab.  And let me tell you something, that drill was fun to wield.  Our special effects wizard, Eric Anderson, rigged up a rubber torso, and poor Sebastian had to crouch at the end of the table, leaning his head way back to complete the illusion.  There was a Styrofoam cup full of fake blood directly beneath the spot I had to drill (and dip the swab).  I hope we achieved the "ick" factor we were going for without being too stomach-churning.

This sequence also features the first face-to-face encounter between Sheriff Dalton and Agent Thorne (something that fans have been anticipating since the season began), and it does not disappoint.  The sheriff's great line, "Control the lobsters, control the world!" came directly from the mind of Rick Dalton, and I love love love the way he delivers it.  We also get to meet the great Cathy Counts as Ragged Isle resident doctor Gail Monroe.  We'll see more of her.

In this episode, we see more of Vicki's investigation, as she digs up old archived Ragged Isle Star articles—which I like to imagine were scanned somewhat haphazardly over the years by Vance Trundle, who probably didn't catalog or cross-reference his work very thoroughly.  So Vicki's search for relevant stories probably amounts to sifting through tons and tons of fine sand in the hopes of turning up the occasional gold nugget.  Which is the definition of good journalism, come to think of it.  We'll see more of the fruits of her investigation very soon.

If you freeze-frame on Vicki's computer screen, you might be able to read the text of the two articles  Vicki has pulled up -- one an archived story from 1937 about the death of a factory heiress, and one a contemporary story Vicki's working on about the island lobstering ban.  The first one's a clue, obviously, more of Vicki's investigation into what exactly's going on.

Again, I love the acting in this scene, as the tension just rises and rises.  Oh, and  Vance's line, "You're a good man, sister," is a direct lift from "The Maltese Falcon" -- a little present for people who love that movie (as I do).

After season one aired, the decision was made to split the already written ten-episode second season into two separate seasons of six episodes apiece, which meant writing two new episodes and tearing apart all of the existing episodes, and pasting them back together in ways that made sense.  Episode thirteen was one of the "new" episodes (though it contains scenes that had been in earlier drafts of season two).  After my first pass on the episode, it was running a bit short, but I realized we didn't have enough Madame Clelia in this season.  So I added the scene on the street, which is a nice showcase for Kathryn Coccyx and further illustrates how divided the island has become.  It's a nice showcase for Louis too, as he takes control of a situation in a way we haven't seen before.

In case it hasn't become obvious by now, the title of every episode of "Ragged Isle" is also the title of a U2 song.  I'm particularly fond of how well this title, "Drowning Man," fits with this episode, which features Louis drowning in his new responsibilities, Sebastian apparently dead by drowning, and Vance Trundle drowning in a sea of Homeland Security questions.  Each of these characters is, in his own way, the drowning man of the title.

I like the camera perspective we get at the beginning of the interrogation scene, which gives a different flavor from the Julie interrogation scene of the last episode.  Still, Agent Thorne continues to prove her badassery.  Her cold stare at Vance Trundle after he attempts to cut the interview short is a joy to behold.

The interrogation scene and the evidence room were both shot at the Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham, Maine (where we shot the library scene in episode six last season).  They were unbelievably gracious and generous letting us use their facility, and the payoff for us is an incredibly cool-looking, authentic set.  We are so grateful to them.

That's actor Benjamin Row as the agent who answers the phone in the evidence room when Thorne is looking for Griggs.  Ben was one of the people who showed up when we put out a call for extras to play agents.  And then he kept showing up, helping out in about a thousand different ways.  Whenever we needed an agent extra, Ben was there.  Whenever we needed something else, Ben was there.  He became such a fixture on the set that we started giving him lines.  "You've got Murphy," and his mispronunciation of "Katsarakis" last week.

Ben's also a stage actor, and during a recent run of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," he wore his Ragged Isle t-shirt every night on stage.  He is a "Ragged Isle" hero.  Thanks, Ben!

Have I covered everybody?  Probably not.  But I want to say again that all the actors in this episode brought their A-game, and Barry brought his A-game to shooting and cutting it.

And the music!  Again:  So, so good.

I love this episode.

Episode Twelve... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

"Ragged Isle" episode twelve, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," is up.  Check it out, and when you're done, read on for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.



Are you done? OK, there will spoilers in the rest of the post, for this episode and everything that came before.

One early idea was for there to be parallel investigations into what has happened on the island -- an "official" one that doesn't consider a supernatural explanation, and an unofficial one that does.  What emerged in writing season two were actually three investigations.  The official one is now being led by Homeland Security Agent Allison Thorne, who's being assisted by Deputy Dan, who last season was assisting Sheriff Dalton, who this season seems to have shifted the focus of his investigation to include the possibility of the supernatural.  Somewhere in between are Vicki and Paul, who are willing to go wherever the evidence leads.  It will be fun to watch these investigations ping-pong off each other as this season (not to mention next season) progresses.  And the lucky audience will be privy to what everybody uncovers, even if the different investigators don't share with each other.

So, Deputy Dan's unanswered question to Julie about Rose:  That's interesting, no?  When we were shooting the lobster festival massacre two summers ago, Barry somewhat spontaneously asked actress Beth Saufler (who plays Rose) to whisper in the ear of Amie E Marzen (who plays Julie).  "What's she whispering?" I asked him, which, as the head writer, I thought was a fair question.  Barry grinned mischievously and said, "I dunno.  But it's always cool to have people whispering."  When the episode aired in May, 2011, I don't think anybody had any idea what Rose was supposed to be whispering, but Barry was right.  It was cool.

So, when it came time to rewrite season two, that whisper was on my mind.  Julie's account to Deputy Dan is what I came up with.  What do you think?  And what do you think it means?  How did Rose know something bad was about to happen?  Feel free to speculate in the comments section.

The interrogation scene between Julie Katsarakis and Agent Thorne boasts terrific acting from both actresses and features a reveal that's been a long, long time coming:  the secret sordid history of Julie Katsarakis.  We've had that one in our back pocket from the very beginning (yes, Amie too), and it's been a delight watching Amie's performance as the always-upbeat Julie, knowing that there was more to that character than meets the eye.  I believe Barry had Amie play the scene many wildly different ways, then cut various takes together for a jarring, unsettling effect.  Very cool, dude.

While I was writing episodes this season, one note I had for my character (Dr. Hoffman) is that he and Sheriff Dalton should each consider the other man his sidekick.  I imagined Dr. Hoffman thinking of himself as a fearless investigator, poking into strange and mysterious goings-on around Maine, and the sheriff would be his local guide on the island.  Meanwhile, Sheriff Dalton would see himself as the lead investigator on the case, with Dr. Hoffman brought on as an outside consultant.

I still think this is a funny idea, but there are a couple of problems:  1) I don't think I ever managed to fully execute the idea on the page, and 2) Rick Dalton is such an impressive, imposing figure (in real life and on the screen), it's hard to imagine anyone thinking of him as just a sidekick.  However, I think there are still traces of the idea to be found in this episode.  Like Hoffman's skepticism at Madame Clelia's, or his taking over the questioning of Gus Hendershot at the grocery store.  It's not much, but there are hints that each man secretly thinks he's in charge.  I just wish I'd been able to push it further.

The CDC identification I flash for Gus was created by co-writer/poster-designer/bean-can-maker/graphics-guru/all-around-swell-guy Jacob Lear.  Fun fact:  He spelled Brian Hoffman's first name, "Brain."  Ha!

During shooting of the first season, I was notorious for knowing every single line by heart, and for gently (I hope) correcting actors when they strayed too far from the path.  I wasn't on set behind the camera as much this season, and when I was in front of the camera, I was usually more focused on my lines than anyone else's, but Rick tells me that in the scene outside Madame Clelia's, I was silently mouthing his lines along with him.  He said the effect was somewhat disconcerting, but I had no idea I had been doing it.  It wasn't caught on camera in that scene, and I hope to God I didn't do it on camera anywhere else.  I can just imagine Barry pulling his hair out trying to cut together a scene without revealing my Rain Man-like capacity for / obsession with knowing everyone else's lines.

OK, enough from the writer/actor.  Here are some stray observations from a fan:

1) Man, does Barry Dodd know how to shoot (and cut) a scene or what?  That kiss between Vicky and Paul is epic!  The acting, the lighting, the music -- everything.  Holy cow!

2) And the tail-end of that scene, the very last second, when the wind blows Vicki's hair out of her face, and then we get a matching cut of the sheriff sweeping Madame Clelia's curtains aside?  Nicely done, Barry.

3) It's always great to see Kathryn Coccyx as Madame Clelia.  She just bring something special to the role.  And yes, that's her house (with minimal set decoration) standing in for Madame Clelia's home.

4) Farewell, Sebastian Carlsen (a.k.a. Sea Bass), played by Sebastian Carlsen (a.k.a. Sea Bass).  Thanks for being on the island with us.  Sorry we had to kill you.

Episode Eleven... and behind-the-scenes writer's commentary

The "Ragged Isle" season two premiere, "A Sort of Homecoming," is up.  Check it out, and when you're done, come on back for a behind-the-scenes writer's commentary.





Are you done? OK, there will spoilers for the episode in the rest of the post, which (fair warning) promises to be quite long.  It's been awhile, and I have a lot to say.

I can't believe season two is finally here. It's been more than two years since Barry asked me to join this project, and more than a year since our season one finale aired. For the last few (okay, twelve) months, I've been fairly bursting with anticipation, and I can't tell you how thrilling it is to have fresh "Ragged" on my computer.

At our first writers meeting, way back in January 2010, there were five of us breaking ideas for the series. It was Barry Dodd, his wife Karen Dodd, Rick Dalton, Jacob Lear, and myself. Out of the group, I only really knew Barry, and was meeting Rick and Jake for the first time. Amazingly, we gelled very quickly, developing what Rick liked to call a "hive mind," building off each other's ideas to construct the strongest story possible.  We filled up notecards with character ideas and plot points and taped them to a giant piece of cardboard that had once been part of a refrigerator box.  (I believe that notecard-laden piece of cardboard still exists somewhere at Barry and Karen's house, but I think it's been pretty well torn up by their many, many cats.)

One of the first notions I brought to the table, even before that meeting, was for a CDC agent to come to Ragged Isle to investigate a mysterious illness, sealing off the entire island in the process. At that first meeting, Rick (who we already knew would be playing a sheriff) began raising objections about this hypothetical CDC agent's authority on the island, and I argued back with him about what this CDC agent would and wouldn't be able to do.  The sheriff's line, "Don't be stupid.  You can't seal off shit in a place where everyone has a boat," comes directly out of that argument, as does my line, "Nobody's getting off the island"

In the middle of our debate, Barry looked at me in wonder and said, "You've got to play this part."

I was pretty resistant to that idea. I'm no actor, and tend to panic in performance situations. Once, while reading a short story in front of an open mic audience, I literally began to go blind, blackness engulfing everything in front of me except for a tiny, word-sized pinpoint of sight on the page I was reading, zipping along as I read, highlighting one word at a time.  I remember feeling terrified that that pinpoint of sight would close up, and I wouldn't be able to see anything.  Yeah, that's some pretty bad stage fright.

Barry finally convinced me to take the role, but (for story reasons) we delayed my character's arrival to the start of the second season, which gave me a year to pysch myself up. During that year, I grew the beard, so my face would have something to hide behind when I was on camera. Okay, let's not talk about my acting anymore.

Before we shot a single frame of footage, we knew how the series was going to end. At one of our early writers meetings, Jake threw out an idea that stopped everybody cold. That's it, we said. That's our ending -- and we've been moving towards it ever since.

As we were finalizing the season one scripts, I was also plugging away on season two (which at that point was going to be our final season). By then, Barry and Karen were rightfully focusing all of their energy and attention on season one, which was about to start shooting, and any time I expressed enthusiasm about the next season, Barry would trepidatiously warn me that there would come a day when he might want to revamp some or all of the season-two episodes I was so excited about.

"I'm just happy we have more story to tell," I would assure him. "If that story ends up changing, so be it." (I'll let you in on a little secret: I loved writing "Ragged Isle" episodes, and it didn't really matter to me how many major or minor revisions any particular episode might require. And no matter how many different permutations an episode went through, the final permutation always seemed to me like the inevitable path, the story thread that was preordained.)

Sure enough, a month or so before we had to cast season two, I met with Barry and Karen, who wanted changes, big and small. They wanted the investigation into the lobster festival deaths to be bigger, with a federal presence and helicopters and government boats and lots of agents in black suits. They asked me if we could take the existing ten-episode season (which finished our story) and split it into two seasons of six episodes apiece.

"No, problem," I told them, with more confidence than I felt, and over the next two weeks, that's exactly what I did, weaving together what had already been written with new plot threads, new episodes, and new characters, including Homeland Security Agent Allison Thorne, awesomely played by Kathryn Perry.  Her character was an extremely late addition to the story, but now I can't imagine the show without her.

Which brings us to episode eleven -- you know, the episode this blog post is purportedly about?

I love the dialogue-free opening montage, which features so many familiar faces, as well as some new ones we will meet in this and later episodes.  I dig the tweak of our opening credits.  And the opening narration, written (as always) by Karen Dodd, once again deftly captures that Dark Shadows vibe.

But I'd like to start at the end of the episode and work our way back, scene by scene.  You may notice the credit, "Story by Barry Dodd, Karen Dodd, Rick Dalton, Jacob Lear, and Greg Tulonen," but another credit that reads, "Screenplay by Greg Tulonen."

This is accurate, but incomplete.

It's true that the five of us collectively broke the major story points and it's true that I wrote (and/or heavily revised) all of the season-two episodes, but the story doesn't end there.  Because it's also true that everyone took stabs at the scripts after the first drafts were written -- either through feedback or direct revision.  (And there were many, many drafts of some of the episodes.)  And Rick originated a couple of crackerjack episodes, which required major revisions and reshuffling after we decided to revamp (though I retained as much of Rick's dialogue as possible -- sometimes sprinkling it into other episodes). Later, actors came in with their own ideas, and lines were tweaked and adjusted on set.  (Rick's "Go arrest yourself" was an on-the-set improvisation.)  "Ragged Isle" was an amazingly, wonderfully collaborative project.

Okay, still working backwards:  That last shot:  Holy cow!  When I wrote the blockade into the script, I had no idea how we were going to shoot it, but I wanted to let the audience know that this was a whole new ballgame.  The boats and helicopters are post-production magic courtesy of scarily talented Portland filmmaker (and Ragged Isle camera operator) Derek Kimball,  and I think they effectively convey the second season's raised stakes.

OK, moving on (or back):  As much as I don't want to talk about my own acting, I'm happy to talk about Rick's:  I think Rick completely nails the scene, capturing the sheriff's exhaustion and emotional devastation.

Hey, that's Brent Askari (who was so great in the web series "Willard Beach") as grocery store owner Gus Hendersot. Brent was one of several ringers we planted in the background last season, knowing they'd be important later.  You can spot Brent at the lobster festival in episode ten, and it's terrific to have him aboard the series proper.  And poor Sebastian (the former "comic genius"), last seen flailing helplessly in his Lobster of Ceremonies costume during the Ragged Isle Lobster Festival tragedy (or shuffling slowly away from the camera in that creepy season two trailer).  Something is obviously up with him.

Regarding Dr. Hoffman and Sheriff Dalton's conversation in Dalton's kitchen (their first full scene together), the mysterious cases they reference in regard to Hoffman's "hobby" contain a few winks and shout-outs. The "Bismuth Beast" mentioned by the sheriff is a nod to my friend Corwin Ericson's hilarious novel, Swell, which takes place on the fictional Maine island of Bismuth. The "Willard Beach Incident" that my character mentions is a reference to the aforementioned Maine web series starring Brent Askari. And Loren Coleman, who Dr. Hoffman indicates is a rival in the field, is a real guy, probably the most preeminent cryptozoologist in the world, and proprietor of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. You should stop by and ask him about Bigfoot.

The opening scene on the dock was shot on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. We put out a call for people in black suits to show up at the ferry terminal in Portland, and we were lucky enough to get a whole bunch of folks we'd never met before, many of them fans of the show.  After we were done shooting that day, we explored the island, used a very kind gentelman's bathroom, and caught the ferry back to the mainland. The same ferry had been by the island earlier, while we were in the middle of shooting, and some of the tourists onboard were extremely curious about what we were up to. They asked us when we boarded, and after we told them, they revealed that they had been speculating all afternoon, and had decided that we were either:  a) scattering a friend's ashes or b) Mormons.

Which just goes to show, there's more than one reason for a bunch of people to get together and wear suits.

Party!

The Ragged Isle season two premiere party, held Friday night, was absolutely amazing.  I'm still flying.

I can't do the night justice with a straightforward description, so I'll just offer some random observations:

1) Our actors are so talented and so gracious and so kind.  So many of them thanked me for their characters, and for the chance to be a part of "Ragged Isle."  None of them seemed to realize that I should be the one thanking them.  Like, on-my-knees thanking them.

2) The Maine web series "Haunt ME," "No Refund for Content," and "Vacationlanders" all showcased awesome teaser trailers.  It's so unbelievably cool to be a part of a growing and thriving web series community in Maine.

3) Why isn't Doug Porter world famous?

4) Everybody loved my tie, which is one of a kind.  (Photos, left and below, courtesy of The Amazing Bobbie Lindsey.)

5) Barry has a heart the size of Texas, and he wears it on his sleeve.

6) Rick Dalton knocked his "Over the Rainbow"/"What a Wonderful World" mashup out of the park.

7) Barry and Karen started to dance.  The dance floor cleared and the whole place went bananas.

8) Jacob Lear's poster and t-shirt designs are out of this world.

9) Amie E. Marzen is the host with the most.

10) Oh yeah, the episode:  So, so, so, so, so good.  We're on a whole new level this season.

11) I can't wait for May 30, when we can share this episode with the rest of the world.

12) I can't wait for June 6, when I get to see the NEXT new episode.

Awesome news

Our wonderful donors will begin to see their packages delivered starting Monday!  All of us at the Entertainment Experiment are so thankful for your support and patience as we get these out to you.  As some of you may already know we would have gotten these out sooner but a mixup in the DVD creating phase made us have to re-build and burn them all twice.  Took more time and money than we had planned on but I am proud to say they are packaged up and ready for delivery!  What a thrill and relief it is to get these items sent out to our friends and supporters!!

I can never thank you enough.  You gave us seasons 2 and 3.  Enjoy your gifts!  We'll see you back on the island soon.

-Barry

Random Ragged 4/19

Random Ragged 4/5/12

Eric Burke (Michael Dix Thomas) and Paul Soucey (Ian Carlsen)

Teaser Alert

The last episode of Ragged Isle airs this Wednesday at 9pEST on http://www.sfntv.com/. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure to tune in. If you have seen it, well, at the end there may be a bit more than you have seen before. Dare I say, TEASER?! You don't want to miss this.

Season Two premiers at Geno's in Portland, Maine (just Episode One) on May 11. We are having a party and other Maine web series will also be there to show you some stuff and tell us all what they are up to. If you are in the area, stop on by. The party starts at 8p.

Season Two premiers on The SFN on May 30.

It's getting really close and we are so excited to show Season Two!

I Have Seen the Future

Last night, a group of "Ragged Isle" actors and crew gathered at Barry and Karen Dodd's house to watch the SFN broadcast of the Third Annual Indie Soap Awards ceremony, an event that took place last month in New York City (and is described in more detail here). Even knowing the outcome (spoiler alert: We won!), it was fun and exciting to watch.



Afterward, Barry, drunk on victory and hard lemonade, opened up his (normally super-secret) vault and shared with us select raw footage from the first five episodes of season two. On my Facebook page, I wrote my five-word reaction to what I saw: Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Don't get me wrong: I love season one. But from the footage Barry showed us last night, in terms of acting (myself excluded) and cinematography and story, it looks like season two will leave the first season in the dust. Wow. I can't wait to see the finished product. I can't wait to share the finished product with the world.

Wow.

Winners Circle

It's midnight and I'm at New York City's Flaming Saddles, where well-muscled men strut along the bartop and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I think) plays silently on giant screens behind the bar. I'm rocking a rented tuxedo and clutching a trophy and dancing with Pretty the Series' awesome, scene-stealing Dee Freeman, who knows all the words to "Don't Stop Believin'," and the whole bar is going apeshit, because even in a country-western gay bar in Hell's Kitchen, everyone goes apeshit when "Don't Stop Believin'" comes on. And I feel like a rock star because the trophy in my hand says that Ragged Isle has been named Best Web Series (Drama) at the Third Annual Indie Soap Awards, which I've just attended with a bunch of Ragged Isle pals, and where we (and by "we," I mean Barry Dodd) also won Best Director (Drama) and Best Cinematography. And everything and everyone is awesome, and the party is far, far from over.

Wait. Let me back up.

In January, we learned that Ragged Isle had been nominated for eight Indie Soap Awards, placing us in such prestigious company as Aidan 5, DeVanity, Out With Dad, Thurston, Anacostia, Sundays, California Heaven, and Pretty, to name but a few of the amazing series up for recognition.

Which is how Best Actor nominee Rick Dalton, Best Director (and Cinematography) nominee Barry Dodd, Best Series nominee Karen Dodd, and Best Writing nominee, um, me (along with everyone else in the car, as well as Jacob Lear) ended up piled into a car together to drive from Maine to New York City for the awards ceremony. On the way down, Barry and I somehow got it into our heads that it would be hilarious if we were to sing the old Gatorade jingle as an acceptance speech, which led to us to belting out in the car (many, many times) "Gatorade is thirst aid / For that deep down body thirst!", to the ongoing delight of our car-mates. Barry made me promise to sing it if we won for Best Writing, which we did not (probably fortunately, now that I think about it).

The venue for the Indie Soap Awards was snazzy and swank, complete with a genuine red carpet and paparazzi and microphones and questions from the entertainment press, including, predictably, "Who are you wearing?", to which I could only reply, "Strictly Formal, Auburn, Maine."

Mingling around the open bar were soap stars of TV and the web, including the aforementioned Dee Freeman, whom Barry very much wanted to tell that she was his favorite actor on the Internet, but shyness held him back until we pushed him into it -- and I'm glad we did, because she ended up presenting the award for Best Director to him, and partly because of their earlier interaction, he got to hold her in a long, long hug before delivering his acceptance speech.

But I'm getting ahead of myself again. The ceremony proper kicked off with a musical number performed by soap star Colleen Zenk, who flubbed a line a few seconds into the song and gutsily (and charmingly) insisted on starting over. After the ceremony, I got to tell her how brave I thought that was, and she couldn't have been more gracious and delightful.

The first three awards we were up for (Best Writing, Best Ensemble, Fans' Choice), we didn't win, and with each non-win, I could feel each of us, introverts all, relax a little bit -- especially Barry. But then Dee Freeman announced Barry for Best Director and it felt like my chest would explode with joy. That's when Barry got up and hugged Dee, and hugged her and hugged her and hugged her until her co-presenter pried them apart. A visibly moved Barry then delivered a charming and humble speech, thanking the people we had written down on a piece of cardboard moments before the ceremony. He then started to walk away from the podium, but quickly raced back when he realized he hadn't yet thanked his wife, Ragged Isle producer and assistant director Karen Dodd. It was quite cute and I can't wait to share the moment once the ceremony shows up on video.

When Barry won again for Best Cinematography, he got up there and said, "First of all, I'd like to thank my wife, Karen Dodd," which (deservedly) got a huge laugh.

Finally, it was down to the last award of the night, Best Web Series (Drama), presented by soap star Michael O'Leary (Dr. Rick Bauer on Guiding Light). And then he said, "Ragged Isle," and I thought to myself, "Did he just say 'Ragged Isle'?", but I was also screaming and jumping around, so part of me knew he had. As all of us raced down to the stage, Barry whispered to me that I would have to speak, because he was acceptance-speeched out. But when we got to the stage, I saw that my awesomely cool and talented friend Rick Dalton was already at the podium, thank God, because words were no longer forming in my head. The cast and crew in attendance milled behind Rick, grinning stupidly and exchanging hugs, as Rick said something that none of us (including him) can remember. But I'm sure it was awesome. And I'm also sure it was NOT, "Gatorade is thirst aid / For that deep down body thirst!"

After the awards, it was on to the after-party at Flaming Saddles, which went on and on and on and included much, much dancing and drinking and dancing and celebrating and dancing and singing ("Don't Stop Believin'") and dancing and hugging and hugging and hugging. All of the other web series makers in attendance were incredibly awesome and gracious and friendly and welcoming and smart and fun, and when the bar closed at 4 a.m., the "Ragged Isle" crew wasn't quite ready to call it a night, carrying the celebration over to an all-night diner.

At 4:30 a.m., it was finally time for me to head downtown to where I was staying (thanks, Kate!). When I lived in the city years ago, there were many late nights in which I would wait forever for a subway to arrive. But the moment I stepped onto the platform, the train was pulling into the station. I sauntered aboard, still decked out in my tux and still clutching the award.

"It's that kind of night," I thought to myself.

Everything changes Tuesday

Tomorrow morning Greg and Rick will stop by our house and we will all drive together to NYC for The Indie Soap Awards for which we have received 8 nominations.  Rick is going to present one of the awards!!! This is all so surreal and I'm going to try my best to not blink so I don't miss a moment.  None of this would have been possible without the love and support from our fans.  I am forever grateful for them all.  Win or lose, this is the ultimate frosting on our season one cake.  If I were any more proud of our cast and crew I'd explode.

Worthy of Comment

I just got back from a recording session for the "Ragged Isle" episode one audio commentary, featuring Barry Dodd, Rick Dalton, Ian Carlsen, Michael Dix Thomas, April Joy Purinton, Meghan Benton, and myself. So cool. So fun.

Rick Dalton, champion of the universe, organized the event and handled recording duties, and I can't wait to see/hear how it comes out when put together with the episode.

We're planning on doing these for every episode of season one, which is relaunching on SFN TV next week. So if you watched "Ragged Isle" last year, this will be a chance to get something new out of the experience. And then, before you know it, season two will be launching.

Like I said, I can't wait.

Update 1/24/12

Exciting times are coming up for all of us involved with and enjoying Ragged Isle.  As you may know we've been nominated for 8 Indie Soap Awards from We Love Soaps.net.  Many of us are going to make the trip down to NYC for the gala next month and it will be such a wonderful way to wrap up all our hard work on season one before we really dig in to season two.  One of the awards we are up for is "Indie Soap of the Year."  What makes this award so special is that the fans choose who wins.  You are allowed to vote daily in order to really get the most bang for your vote.  Share this link with your friends so they can help us too.  If you'd like to see us come home with a win, it's up to all of you to make it happen.

Ian Carlsen and Rick Dalton were on Good Day Maine on FOX23 this morning getting the word out.


We've also got the re-launch of season one over at our new home The SFN.  Stewart and Todd are doing a fantastic job sharing our show and cultivating more interest in our little Maine secret.  Rick recently was interviewed on SFN's the update and claimed his title as an "SFNelebrity!"

CLICK HERE TO WATCH INTERVIEW

I've been cutting together season 2 as fast as I can.  I think this season is going to really surprise people.  Everything has been taken to the next level.  The visuals, the acting, the story.  Just wow.  I can't wait to share this with you all.  For now just know that I am very very happy with what I am seeing.

Last, and most importantly, I am getting closer and closer to getting the DVD's done for our donors.  I'd say by the end of this week I'll be able to start putting together packages to send out to you wonderful and generous people.  I wish we were a big business and could have tons of people making and shipping all these items but know that we have not forgotten you. We're putting this all together by hand and we apologize in advance for any cat hair getting on your items.  The boys like to help out when they aren't napping.

Thanks for sticking with us!

Barry

Random image 1/19/12

Random Image 1/13/12