Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

An Interview with Andrew Y. Park, Co-Creator of The Hayley Project

by Mike Haberfelner

February 2008

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Andrew Y.Park

Currently, you are in the process of releasing your webseries The Hayley Project on the net. Could you tell us in a few phrases what the series is about?

 

Co-creator Jato Smith

The Hayley Project is about misfit college sophomore Hayley Winters (Rachel Risen) who investigates the murder of her best friend Keira (Michelle Vanegas). The cops label Keira’s case a suicide, but Hayley refuses to believe Keira would take her own life. So Hayley takes it upon herself to track down the murderer. Only catch is, she doesn’t have a lot of real-world friends and she knows she can’t solve the case by herself. So she flips on her webcam, and video blogs to the world, asking anybody watching to help her solve the murder case.

 

The series was co-created by Andrew Y. Park and Jato Smith, produced by Dave Evans, Paolo De Dios, Andrew Y. Park, and Jato Smith, and stars Rachel Risen

 

The series' website, YouTube, whatever else?

 

The main site for interaction is at http://www.youtube.com/user/hayleywinters. However, we recently signed a deal with KoldCast.TV (http://www.koldcast.tv) so the series is playing there, as well as TiVo and iTunes. We also have a facebook fan page that everyone should join, http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hayley-Project/28423917915?ref=ts

 

The investigator:

Rachel Risen as Hayley

On the website, you call The Hayley Project an interactive series. How much influence can the viewer have on the series' plot and how much is already mapped out by you?

 

We filmed everything ahead of time so the main plot is already mapped out, and a viewer won’t be able to change the course of the plot. However, there are two ways in which the series is interactive. First, we filmed several versions of Hayley’s video blog, so that she is able to react and comment back to viewers based on what they are saying in the comments section. In addition, there is a lot of interactivity on the YouTube comment boards, where Hayley (and other characters) responds to the community. While I love the concept of making a true choose your own adventure, the logistics of making that work is very difficult, especially with limited budget and resources.

 

The victim:

Michelle Vanegas as Keira

Where did the inspiration for the series come from?

 

I loved this concept: What if someone who had no real-world friends had to turn for help to an anonymous community on the web to solve a crime? And what if not everybody in that community could be trusted?

That was the kernel of the idea that really became The Hayley Project. Hayley Winters is an abrasive character with few real-world friends. Quite frankly, some of the web community had a hard time rooting for her early on. But what’s exciting is we get to see her change over time as she learns to embrace the community backing her, and subsequently, learns to work with others in the series who will eventually become her allies.

In terms of other elements of the series, we really wanted to develop a show that was original for the web category. In this case, there was little out on the web that had the tone of a dramedy (comedic elements in a dramatic premise). On top of that, we wanted to create a series that skewed younger and female. Our YouTube numbers show that approximately 70% of our viewers are female, and about 70% of our viewing audience is 13-24. So we feel we did a good job creating a show for a targeted audience.

 

The cast of

The Hayley Project

A few words about your principal cast and especially your lead Rachel Risen?

 

Our cast is great. We had so much fun filming the series and each actor brought their own style to the project.

Rachel Risen

Our main actress is Rachel Risen, who does a wonderful job playing Hayley Winters. She’s fantastic. We always joked that she sort of looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar and that’s why we cast her. But truthfully, she was really perfect for the role and by the time production was underway, she really shaped the Hayley character.

 

Why did you choose to make The Hayley Project a web-series rather than a feature film, and what do you think are the advantages (and disadvantages) of filming for the web?

 

The Hayley Project was always only going to be a web-series. The inspiration to create a series was based on the opportunity we saw on the web. And the premise about a girl using an audience to support her investigation was a core element of the story, so we never even considered this for a feature.

In my opinion, the biggest advantage of the web is that filmmakers can reach their audience and get real-time feedback from their viewers. Before webseries were popular, filmmakers had to get noticed by going through the film festival circuit. The problem is that the chances of a film getting 1) into a noticeable festival and 2) getting actual distribution through theaters or TV was near impossible. So the web really opened up the ability to directly distribute to an audience. The downside right now is that the web isn’t significantly monetizable for the most part. Most filmmakers should be looking at their web series as a loss leader for future engagements, and not to make a quick buck. Another downside of the web is that with little barriers to entry, there’s a lot of clutter and competition.

 

The roommate:

Jessica Warner as Lexi

In the past few years, the internet has become a breeding place for highly original series of all sorts. Do you at all watch other webseries, and which are your favourites?

 

I’m certainly a fan of other webseries. However, I’ve been so busy with The Hayley Project and my job that I haven’t had as much time to explore. But I am a big fan of The Guild. And I’ve enjoyed the parts I’ve seen of LG15, The All-For-Nots, and Drawn By Pain.

 

At its heart, The Hayley Project is a murder mystery. Why did you choose that genre for your series, and is the murder mystery a genre dear to you?

 

I’m certainly a fan of murder mysterisa. Who doesn’t like a good twisted story? But I’ll admit that part of the reason this genre was picked was because it was perfect for interactivity. We wanted the audience to interact with Hayley and give her their thoughts on who they thought the killer was and why.

 

Phillip Andre Botello as Stalkerboy

Despite its very serious topic (murder), The Hayley Project also seems to have spots of humour all over. Would you like to talk about that aspect of the show?

 

When Jato and I talked about the tone of the series during preproduction, we agreed to create a dramedy, where the premise was dramatic, but comedy was infused throughout. I’m not a fan of pure drama. I find it boring most of the time without enough highs and lows. For me, my favorite shows are able to integrate both dramatic and comedic elements and switch between the two genres seamlessly. It’s not an easy task but you have to have light moments to make the dark moment darker.

 

You have co-directed, co-written and co-produced The Hayley Project - which part of filmmaking do you like best?

 

I think after this experience, I realize that I’m more of a writer at heart. I certainly enjoyed all aspects of filmmaking, but I really love the creative process of developing a story and characters.

 

Any movies and TV-shows that were direct influences on The Hayley Project?

 

I think Veronica Mars and Buffy to some degree. I’m a fan of strong female lead characters, and I also really like the idea of diverse characters coming together to solve a mystery. I think the tone of Buffy is what we aspired to be most similar to.

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Andrew Y. Park
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Andrew Y. Park here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Something naughty?
(Must be over 18 to go there!)

x-rated  find Andrew Y. Park at adultvideouniverse.com

Your filmmaking experiences prior to The Hayley Project?

 

I had done a number of shorts and a couple of really bad features when I was younger. Let’s not talk about that ;)   

 

The Hayley Project is scheduled for 37 episodes. Would you ever consider doing a sequel/second season?

 

I would love to do a second season but only under the right circumstances. Jato and I funded the first series for relatively cheap, but it took an incredibly long time to execute. For a second season, we’d need to have sponsorship and more dedicated resources to make it worthwhile. The Hayley Project season 1 was a long journey and incredibly rewarding, but we really need to pay the people who work for us the second time around. I do hope that we have a second season though. I really believe the character pieces are in place to have a very fun second season, and I already even have the main premise in mind. It’s “killer” ;)

 

Any future projects after Hayley has found her killer?

 

Future projects for me or for Hayley? I’m sure Hayley will be busy with school work!

 

Directors and writers who have influenced you?

 

I’d say a web series is more along the lines of a TV series in terms of character and story development than movies. In this case, I’ve always been big fans of Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams. They’re on top of their game in TV.

 

Your favourite movies ...?

 

Fight Club, Braveheart, Se7en, Swingers, Donnie Darko.

 

... and some movies you didn't like at all?

 

No Country For Old Men. I just don’t get the Coen Bros. No offense to them. It’s just not my style.

 

Anything else I've forgotten to ask and you are dying to tell us?

 

Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/hayleywinters - it’s a perfect time to catch up on the series. We’re really getting deep into the investigation and there’s going to be some really exciting and darker episodes coming up. Definitely check us out and join the facebook fan page. We’d love all the support we can get. 

Thanks, Michael, for the interview.

 

Thank you for the interview!

 

 

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


Legal note: (re)Search my Trash cannot
and shall not be held responsible for
content of sites from a third party.




Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!