In a wave of online media streaming, Tim Kashani and Pamela Winslow Kashani hope to bring the theatrical musical experience right to your screen with ‘No One Called Ahead’.
The dark, musical rom-com, No One Called Ahead, follows a young artist, Ben, whose world turns upside down over the course of one evening, when he is visited by five memorable women from the great beyond and reshapes what it means to love and create while alive.
This theatrical and film hybrid introduces the piece directly to audience, that’s different from just setting up a few cameras in the back of the house.
“Filming it completely, even though it’s on a stage as a theatrical piece but the actors are giving a naturalistic performance while on stage,” said producer Tom Polum. “This way, you’re in the best seat of the house because the camera will eventually be right up there on stage, right in their face, and what we did with Emma last year was that we introduced this piece to the world through the internet and that’s what we want to do with future shows going forward.”
For producer Judy Manocherian, her involvement in the redefined movie-musical runs deep.
“I got involved in this because I have a standing date with my mother every Wednesday and a few years ago she became ill and was unable to go out, but there is an aging theatre audience, so what better way to bring new theatre to people who are homebound? So, this was a personal choice for me,” added Manocherian.
“It’s kind of hard to explain to people unless you see what it is, because you say ‘well we’re making a movie, but it’s really a musical, but it’s on the stage, but it’s not really supposed to be on stage, and you’re going to see the lights and the microphones,” joked Polum.
Polum previously worked on a similar concept with the filmed musical Emma, which primarily appealed to older audiences. With No One Called Ahead, the team hopes to appeal to a younger, more contemporary crowd of musical fans, and eventually extend the release to platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu.
Most on- and off-Broadway productions can cost around 2 million dollars, but according to Polum, the cast and crew have been working tirelessly to film the production and release it, while keeping budgets low and a tight schedule to appeal to investors.
“It’s a compressed schedule, which is already a challenge, and for Justin, he never leaves the stage, so he’s there the entire time,” said Polum. “So, for him, it’s a mind thing and requires so much focus when people are coming in and coming out and everything is happening all around him and these cameras and cookies [laughs]. It’s good! We treat the actors well; we feed them!”
“It’s been a real joy to work on. It’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely going in the right direction,” Polum added.
The was trailer released today for No One Called Ahead, coming to your favorite device on June 13, 2019. Filmed as a hybrid between film and stage, No One Called Ahead launches for streaming June 13th at NoOneCalledAhead.com, where you can also currently view the trailer.