The House Between Mark II

The Lulu Show (my production company...) is gearing up at warp speed for the much-anticipated re-launch of The House Between - my low-budget, independently crafted web sci-fi series. The first new episode, "Returned" goes live on Friday January 25, 2008 and in anticipation of that date, there's a whole lot of activity going on.

Foremost among these, our web-page has been re-designed and looks gorgeous. The new site features links to Season One episodes, but also to a new section of highly-detailed cast-and-crew interviews. I've enjoyed reading these, and think you might too. Here are some entertaining snippets.

This is from Rick Coulter's interview. He's my DP and Sociology expert:

RICK: "...THB is about earth and the humans that occupy it, but it's about these things seen through the filters of television and film. Some days the house is a comedy; some days it's a horror show or sci-fi episode, and other moments are straight drama. (Many of the TV and film references are beyond me). Arlo/John who has lived inside this place for a very long time has gradually come to realize that culture, either THB culture, or media culture can be manipulated. (See season 2.)

John has admitted that the five characters are all aspects of his own personality; a personality that is surely the product of media socialization. The characters are never seen entering the house and they never leave the house, they just manifest inside this box and the story begins. The male characters representing Capitalism and Science/Objectivity and the female characters representing Religion and Mysticism/subjectivity do not define John; in fact, none of these things would be associated with any part of his core personality.

These are only subjects that come through the grid and which he dissects, manipulates, critiques, or uses in the analysis of his primary interest- media studies. Arlo, the androgynous character, represents chaos, youthful energy, imagination, and creation. Arlo, who's been in the house the longest, is John. He has positioned himself in the kitchen, the only room with electrical appliances. In fact, one of these appliances actually gives birth to Arlo (the oven). The incubator that nurtured John is obviously the TV..."

Here's my Lighting Co-Director Kevin Flanagan's assessment of the meaning behind the show:

KEVIN: "It is an alternative to a lot of the things that recent sci-fi series and shows have done or still do...which is to say, it feels like a reaction to a lot of what circulates as contemporary sci-fi. It is independent, talky, lo-fi...private, and slightly amorphous. It won't give you any easy moral idioms or fortune-cookie answers. Then again, it has a heart and soul to it, but I think that the heart and soul are identified by the viewer, and not necessarily fixed by the producers."

And here my producer, Joseph Maddrey describes Season Two:

JOE: The more time we spend with these characters, the deeper we see into them. Season two is gut-check time. While the most reprehensible actions of the characters in season one could be attributed to knee-jerk impulsiveness, the violence of season two reveals these characters at their most basic, primal levels... suffice it to say, it's not always pretty. Season two is season one's bigger, badder, older brother who came here to do two things: chew bubblegum and kick ass.

There are funny stories, exciting factoids and other goodies in these interviews, so I hope you'll dig deep into the web site and check everything out in anticipation of Season Two.

The trailer for the The House Between 2.0 will be up shortly...