The “multiformis” director
Today we interview Jaques Smit, an incredible man. Just read all his current positions: Managing Director at MindNova Advertising Pty (Ltd), Marketing Director at Inland Kitesurfing Pty (Ltd), CEO at Avonstorm Entertainment, Producer at Avonstorm Pictures Pty (Ltd), Technical Director at Blo-Tant Pty (Ltd).
Here is the interview and I initially ask about Cereal, his new project/show:
MM: “Cereal is the perfect example of how an Idea can be developed despite the obstacles, can you explain briefly what is Cereal?”
JS: “The title “Cereal” is a play on words as the show is a pseudo-parody of the serials of old. Serials were the old fashioned, Saturday afternoon cliffhanger matinees, complete with dashing heroes, damsels in distress and fiendish villains… Not to mention the ol’ ‘conquer the universe’ plot motif.
Instead of trying to remake the classics of old, “Cereal” uses footage from original television shows; kicking off the first half of the first season is “Radar Men from the Moon!”
“Cereal” does follow a coherent plot and does feature reappearing characters as a regular show would, but the visuals are all that remain from the originals. The sound effects, music and voices are rerecorded and rewritten by the actors and creators behind “Cereal” to create an offbeat blend of old and new and produces hysterical results in doing so.
Cereal is aimed at a broad audience and sets out to create a get away from every day stresses. The show is runs with the plot of commander Cody that must save the world form strange aliens that are destroying the railroad lines for some unforeseen evil intent (revealed in episode 5 ;-P). Commander Cody and his heroic band of miss fits light up the show with witty comments and questionable lines.
The first episode “A sale at Penny’s” introduces the hero’s to the audience and sets the mood for the under lying joke that will run throughout the first season.”
MM: “I know you encountered obstacles…”
JS: “Creating the series was easy as it came natural to the well trained staff we had at our disposal. But upon completion of the pilot episode the next step was the hardest. Finding a TV station willing to broadcast something as revolutionary as Cereal. We approached all the large stations we could get a hold of and after being kept waiting on answers for excessive periods of time we finally decided to use the Web as a broadcasting platform instead.”
MM: “So the show runs online like web series. Are you having success?”
JS: “We started posting the series on the web one week ago with no advertisement backing other than word of mouth. The results have been astonishing. We went from ten friends viewing the show to give us support to an average one hundred viewers a day within a seven day period. We have received raving reviews from fans that have started quoting the show in every day conversations.
Our next step was to start searching for sponsoring companies willing to advertize on the site in order for us to keep developing the show. Our first sponsor came from the faithful directors on one of my other companies called Inland Kitesurfing. We are still searching for more sponsors but thanks to our fantastic fans we will have no problem there at all.”
MM: “What are your next projects?”
JS: “Avonstorm Entertainment is a group of young entrepreneurs that have come together to make their dreams a reality. Our first two projects were Avonstorm Gaming and Avonstorm Motion Pictures. As Avonstorm Gaming we are launching our first MMO-Cell phone game in January 2008 called Wappet.
As for Avonstorm Motion Pictures, we have been working on another more conventional television series that we are trying to raise funds for. In the true spirit of our organization we will stick to great comedy as we send two forgetful Hungarian spy’s into a suburban community to complete a mission they have forgot about in a land they know nothing of. The preliminary scripts are hilarious and are living up to all the ideals we set out to meet.”
Thank you, sir, what else to say?
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