With the 14-episode first season of the Standard Action web series now behind her, creator-producer-writer-actor Joanna Gaskell readily admits that she had no idea what she was getting herself into back in November 2010. It was then that she first donned the pointy ears and battle garb that transformed her into Edda (an elf barbarian) and, accompanied by other underemployed actors and crew, embarked on a quest for additional exposure.
We just kind of went out into the woods and decided that wed film as much as we could film in a day and cut it together. It ended up being 12 minutes and incredibly popular, she recalls of the informal process that spawned the teaser episode of the fantasy-comedy series. We had no idea of the scale. We had no idea the money involved. I had no idea how much of my life Id be pouring into it. It has completely consumed my life for a year and a half.
A long-time Star Trek nerd who only gravitated to Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing games about six years ago, Gaskell expected that the series directed by Rob Hunt and co-starring Edwin Perez, Daniel S. Johnston, and Tara Pratt would find a following amongst tabletop gamers, video gamers, and RPG players. After all, the frequent references to D&D terminology and game mechanics and clever twists on fantasy tropes seem tailor-made for those sets.
That suspicion was confirmed with a vengeance last August when Standard Action found themselves on a panel at Seattles 70,000-attendee PAX Prime convention, the Holy Grail of conventions for nerds. Gaskell marvels, It was incredible to see people come to the largest convention of gamers on the West Coast and come to see us. To see our stuff.
However, the web series also connected with more unexpected viewers. We started gaining a following amongst kids. Ive had people writing to me saying that their four-year-old daughter loves watching it, she reveals. We also got a bunch of people from the feminist crowd. They said that the writing is balanced. For once, were seeing a show that has four leads in it: two of them are men; two of them are women. The women talk about things that arent just men. The women talk to each other. They were really pleased to see that in a genre show.
Thats one thing that people have said about our series versus other series.... We write our characters so that you can invest in them, she continues. I wrote my characters out of people in my life who are nerds and are taken advantage of. For a lot of people that resonates because they grew up in a situation like that.
Standard Actions audience have also proven willing to put their money where their emotional investment is. After bankrolling the first season herself, Gaskell decided to crowdsource some funds for Season 2. Knowing that they wanted to construct a new set and redesign costumes, she established an ambitious donations target of $10,000. She then watched in awe as $13,115 flooded in.
We were so thrilled that there were people out there who loved it as much as we did, she says. When we started, we were doing it for us. The fact that people came forward and gave and wanted us to keep going... It kind of just left me without words.
That said, it also left her with an additional sense of responsibility as she readies Season 2 for production. As she explains, It also changed the attitude in that, suddenly, we had $13,000 worth of people watching. The pressure definitely went up.
Standard Action can be seen at WatchStandardAction. Meet the cast and crew at Fan Expo Vancouver on April 21 and 22.
