Bryan

(Laughs.) And hopefully we’ll all like each other by the end of the first season.

Søren

Yeah, that is a huge factor. So whether or not this series does well, is this the type of storytelling you’d want to do in the future? Maybe with a different couple, or series, but in the same vein?

Bryan

Well like I said, I’m continuing to work on the craft and getting better at writing and directing. I would love to do a feature film, so that’s something I  –

Søren

Hopefully in your future?

Bryan

Yeah, at some point. I could possibly move on to that. But different topics, not necessarily the same topic.

Søren

Sure. And on “different topics,” you mentioned the deaf community. I know that’s something you’re very interested in. Your Kickstarter video even has captions on it, which isn’t something I’ve seen before! How does that play into your filmmaking style and the topics you want to address in your projects?

Bryan

I would love to do a feature film collaborating with a deaf director or a deaf producer, with a really good script that has content with deaf characters. Because it’s such a rich – I mean, the deaf community and deaf culture is vibrant. There are so many important stories that deaf people need to tell, and there isn’t the same level of access for deaf people to make films.

There are a lot of great deaf independent filmmakers now who are working their way out more into the mainstream. But yeah, that would be fabulous. Actually, the character of Nelson in the webseries is going to be a sign language interpreter. So in that way, I’m working in deaf family members, deaf characters who are going to be interacting with these guys. That’s something I’m really excited about because there’s a lot of fertile territory there.

Søren

Talking to Mike, he’s often interested in things like that when they show up in films and stuff. And it’s not often – you have Four Weddings and a Funeral, which has the deaf brother, or Fargo that has a deaf character. But there’s not a lot out there, so that dimension of the greater community is lost. And the other piece is the accessibility of these films to the deaf community. So I think that’s a valuable thing to pursue.

Bryan

I also really like to encourage film festivals to be accessible. There are so few on the circuit that made the effort to get open-captioned films. It was really disheartening knowing that there’s a lot of deaf people out there who would love to go to festivals, but can’t. I would love to see a standard set for making films that you automatically have a version that’s open-captioned as an option for film festivals to show. There’s a couple of festivals that made sure [to do that] – like ImageOut, in Rochester.

Søren

I think it’s safe to say that Spooners: The Webseries will have subtitles?

Bryan

Oh yeah. And it’s great – I don’t know if people are aware of this, but Youtube has the ability to put in captions pretty easily.

Søren

Yeah, it’s easy to put them in, and easy to turn them on or off as you want.

Bryan

It’s pretty awesome.

Søren

Yeah, it’s phenomenal. So to conclude, and I know it’s kind of a broad question, but I’ve talked to quite a few indie directors who have crowdfunded their projects, but not quite on this scale. How do you feel about the web-based model for filmmaking? What sort of freedoms has that allowed you? And how viable do you think it is for production?

Bryan

We wouldn’t have been able to make [the original] Spooners without Kickstarter. It was just too much of a high-concept production to be able to afford it, unless I’d saved money for years and years and years. So I think it’s fantastic. Everyone giving a little bit and hopefully feeling like what they’ve given is worthwhile in the end.

And I hope we’re doing that with Spooners. The caliber of films that are able to be made with a variety of voices and perspectives wouldn’t happen without this. So I’m all for it. And the way we’re doing this season is with crowdfunding, as well.

Søren

How do you think this affecting the industry? Do you think this is going to give more voices to communities that might not have had that soapbox before?