Candace Hopkins, who played Maggie in the show, has passed away. It seems so unreal, as we were just shooting episodes with her six weeks ago. She has been fighting her battle with cancer for years. I’ve been amazed at her strength and perseverance over her ordeal. But, even more amazing - her enthusiastic embracing of life. The days with her on the set echoed with her infectious laughter and upbeat spirit.

What many people didn’t know was that she has been going through chemo the past few years, and was in such pain. I kept saying to her - “Candace, you don’t have to come to the shoot, seriously! I can write around you.” But she wouldn’t have it. In fact, as the show progressed, she was in the show just as much as before she was sick. Most times, because of her upbeat attitude, it was easy to forget the hell she had been going through. Only brief moments, small signs and hints of pain would show themselves, after a particularly long take standing up for instance. It was at these times I tried to get her to sit down. She said, “I want to be here.” She was enjoying herself so.

Candace said the most amazing part of watching the show as they were released, was seeing her physical transformation as the show progressed. To see her weight loss, and then see her as she battled cancer. It’s easy to forgot how much time as passed. A running joke with all of the cast members over the years has been the duration of the shoot. (On and off, for two and a half years) I kept saying to everyone, “We’re almost done, we’re almost done! Keep at it!” I think Candace was glad that she was able to finish out shooting the series. I am proud to have had those moments working with her.

I am saddened today. I feel privileged to have worked with her these past few years on the show. And I am inspired by her strength.

She will be missed.

It’s been a few weeks now since we wrapped up Season 2. Strange to have a Wednesday go by not releasing episodes. But not to worry, “Meet the Mayfarers” will return. Season 3 will be double sized, bigger than season 1 & 2 combined. My initial goal was to release the show every week for a full year, uninterrupted, but in thinking it over, I eventually decided to take a step back, spend time editing all of season 3, and then come back in the fall with another full batch of episodes.

That’s not to say the show, or our site will be taking a break. Starting next month, we’ll have sketches, shorts, and bloopers released on a regular basis. They won’t be episodes, but hopefully they’ll be able to have little bites of the Mayfarers Madness, to hold you over until the full course this fall.

I’ll be posting more details about the summer schedule as the weeks go back. Thanks so much for watching the show!

We’re shooting new episodes of “Meet the Mayfarers” all weekend.

It’s great being back on set - with all the actors and crew. Everyone knows their characters, and is already “in the groove.” Also - we’re having a few new additional characters as well. So far its been a lot of fun.

The nature of our show’s release pattern is strange. We’ve been laughing about the fact that the episodes we’re shooting today won’t “air” for another year - and that the episode that’s up this week we shot a year and a half ago.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

I’ve been saying for a while now that this weekend is the “final Mayfarers” shoot - and, for the most part, it probably will be. Once you see how the show ends - you’ll see there’s a lot of possibilities for spin offs about individual characters - so, who knows what the future will bring.

But one thing is certain, this will be the last time the family will be back together, shooting our shows in a cottage by the sea…

So Season 2 of “Meet the Mayfarers” launches today.

Of course, this being on the web, there’s really no pressing need for “Seasons.” The only time it really matters is if say, a show is launched for a few episodes, then they stop for a long period of time, get new funding or ad sponsorships, and then come back.  But this being the web - there can be all sorts of different approaches.

I set out to show “a year in the life of the family” and I shot a year’s worth of content. So then really, why did break I it up? Shouldn’t Season 2 be “Year 2″ of the family - after they do, or don’t, get the money?

To be honest I’m just trying to test this out.

For my part, I know that I always feel I miss something if I jump into a show late into the game. Even if I know the characters and plot, when I see the number 16 or 20 it always makes me think I should start from episode 1. And then there’s never enough time to watch all the episodes, they keep piling up and soon you find yourself never watching that show. So some web shows I never get around to watching simply because they have episode numbers in the hundreds. I feel as if I will never catch up.

I don’t want this to happen to Mayfarers, so I decided to reboot - and start episode 1 of season 2. My thinking is that it would be easier for new people to jump on seeing “Episode 1″ in the title rather than “Episode 24.” But I could be wrong. This whole online releasing shows thing is overall an experiment.

The other thing I’m trying this season are smaller story arcs. So by the end of the season instead of being on episode 16 again, they will be smaller arcs - it will only go to episode 8 or so, with the rest being three or four part stories.  Again - this is all experimenting. What methods do you like?

In anycase, however you watch it, I hope you check out season 2 of “Meet the Mayfarers.”

And really, if you are totally crammed for time - you don’t need to watch season one. The plot’s simple really. If you haven’t seen the show, all you need to know is that the family is forced to be together for a year to get an inheritance - and my character, the son, had a one night stand with his dead grandfather’s fiancee, on the day he died - which she uses to blackmail him……..

hmmm………

On second thought…that does sound fairly wrong. Maybe you should just watch the Recap.

2010 has me really excited. There’s new shows to release, new shows to shoot, new friends to meet, and experiences to have. 2010 is the year that web video is really going to break out.

This week I’m in the final stages of editing Season 2 of “Meet the Mayfarers.” I’m excited to launch the new episodes. I hope you’ll join us for the ride. Here’s a pic of the Mayfarers clan, from a future episode.

Thanks for all your support!

I thought I wasn’t going to be one of those people who start a blog and then let it drift into the netherworld. However, here we are and its been quite a while since I’ve posted. All for good reason - I’ve been very busy on some exciting new projects.

And now - the year is winding down, as is “Season 1″ of “Meet the Mayfarers.” Of course, the gap between seasons won’t be that long. We’ll be back up and running next month, with a new episode every Wednesday. Season 2 of the show will be bigger, with  more guest stars, crazier situations, even stranger animal mascot costumes, and a few surprising revelations.

Thank you to everyone who has watched and supported us over these past few months.

Happy Holidays!

Today “Meet the Mayfarers” moves in a new direction. This is our first Holiday Episode - “A Very Maryfarers Halloween.” Given that the show takes place over a whole year I wanted to showcase the various milestones and holidays the family would encounter. I was inspired by the many cartoon holiday specials I had seen growing up - from Charlie Brown to the Simpsons.

A key thing to remember is that these episodes really have nothing to do with the chronology of the story. Even though the show veers towards the fairly bizarre, I wanted to have a group of episodes where I had the freedom to pretty much do anything. And as you’ll see as the holidays progress, the shows definitely do not take place in any kind of real world. This is a point of key importance when we get to the Thanksgiving special. In some cases they blatantly ignore some of the chronology, especially parts of the Halloween episode.

And as an added bonus, they are usually doubled sized episodes - really their own short films. So sit back and enjoy the show. And keep posted for other holiday themed “Mayfarers”episodes down the line!

So “Meet the Mayfarers” moves in a new direction today. The story so far has been one continuous ensemble of the family struggling to live together to get the inheritance.

Every few months or so however, we focus on one of the characters in their own story outside of the main plot.  This first one, “The Penguin Chronicles” showcases Nick’s struggles in the entertainment business, made even more difficult now that he’s living at home.

Since the show has been shooting on a fairly regular basis now for over a year and a half, I wanted to make sure we’d be able to film even if we couldn’t get the entire family cast together. That was the genesis of these “Solo” episodes. Even though they are stand alone pieces,  a lot of the plots and characters introduced here are woven into the main ensemble episodes down the road.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little narrative detour in the show.

One question I get asked constantly is why I created a show with a name so similar to a feature film I directed a few years ago. Many people assume that one must be a sequel to the other, or they take place in the same word, or that I simply just ran out of family name ideas.

The truth of the matter is a little more subtle than that. But to answer the questions: a) No, they don’t take place in the same world b) No, one is not a sequel to the other.

“The Wayfarers” was a comedy/drama feature film I shot a few years ago. It was the story of a family who are reunited when the dying matriarch of the family wants to stage a “remembrance ceremony” for herself before she passes away. The story veers from comedy to seriousness throughout the film. Tonally it is completely different from my current show. While there is absurd stuff going on, for the most part I tried to ground the film in reality.  It is a “slice of life” character study which is as much a study of the seaside villages of New England and the fishing life as it is the character dynamics.

Making “The Wayfarers” was a special time. I had been writing commercial spec screenplays for a number of years and came to a point where I wanted to do something that was straight from the heart, that was totally “me.” The story is not autobiographical, though there are many true to life and autobiographical elements in certain situations, and character colorings.

Even years later I look back at the eleven days we shot that film as one of the highlights of my life. I was doing what I loved to do, and the cast and crew truly bonded as a family in a magical seaside town.

Cut to a few years later and I was coming off of directing a film that was not close to my heart. I had been dealing with the hassles of distribution and bureaucracy of the film business. Most of all, I wasn’t having fun. When I decided to make a web show, I wanted to do a project for me, once again. But this time, being on the web, I knew that instead of embracing a “heartfelt” type of screenwriting, I decided to embrace my inner absurdity. I wanted to take the experience I had on “The Wayfarers” and put it in a fun, funny and comically bizarre context. Whereas “Wayfarers” was grounded in the real world, “Meet the Mayfarers” would be totally absurd, with a deliberate lack of logic. Unlike the film before it, the characters would not be people you would care for - they’d be utterly irredeemable. If I felt like the story zigging one off the wall way - well sure, why not? The point was to do something and have a blast shooting it.

And the reason I wanted to do a story about a family, even in a bizarre setting, was because I had so much fun on “The Wayfarers.” I wanted to return to the fun and sense of satisfaction I had on that shoot. I wanted to do something right off the bat that would be a “good luck charm.” That would ensure that the web show experience would be as good as the film.

So what did I do?

I flipped the W.

And there we go. Two totally different projects. While some of the foundation of them are the same, they are miles apart, both because they are each made for different mediums, and because their goals are different.

And, while I am a huge fan of crossovers - there won’t be any for these projects.

At least…not yet.

Tonight I’m screening a double feature for the cast and crew - of both “Meet the Mayfarers” and my feature film, “The Wayfarers.” I’m excited to see so many friends I’ve made over the past few years with these projects. On both ventures, the cast and crew bonded together and became like a family.

On “The Wayfarers” it was over the course of a compressed focused period of time. A time where all of us lived in a seaside village, on a kind of film making vacation. On “Meet the Mayfarers” it was over the course of a year and a half, as we would gather together for fun weekends of shooting, an island of joy in our schedules where we could hang out and have a blast.

I think to an anecdote I heard about a filmmaker who is known for his semi-low budget movies. He met with a producer who kept telling him to hire all these other “professional” people. To which he replied, “If you’re not working with your friends, what’s the point?”

Well said.

I’m really looking forward to the screenings tonight. A great time to catch up with friends, reminisce about old times, and plan for future film making adventures.