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PA woman hopes web series will fuel TV show

Oct 15, 2013 | 11:42 AM

A Prince Albert woman is creating a science fiction web series that will have some home roots flair.

Marjorie Roden, now a student at the University of Manitoba, is currently working on a six-episode web series called Preflight Launch that is set to premiere Nov. 11.

“It’s set about 200 years into the future and it shows how corporations in the future would be kind of interfering with people’s lives and making decisions for them,” she said about the plot.

“The whole idea was to make it as a TV series and the first thing I did was I wrote this pilot episode … There are people who read the script and [said] ‘ya ya we really like this. Now what’s the back story of these two characters?’ And I thought the best way to show that would be in the web series.”

Roden said they will release an episode once every three weeks on her YouTube channel @moviemouse and the pilot takes place a few months after the last webisode. She hopes the pilot will be picked up within the next year.

“The web series is a jumping off point for the main series, of course if we get this going and we get a lot of followers for it that’ll kind of be more fuel in our engines so to speak to get the actually TV series made,” she said.

As for which networks have looked over the series, Roden is staying pretty tight-lipped.

“I’d rather not [say] at this point. I don’t want to jinx anything,” she said. “There are a couple of networks that I’ve talked to that are interested, but nothing has been put in writing so I’m hesitant to say at this point which ones.”

However, if the series does take flight Roden said it will mean more jobs in filmmaking for some Saskatchewan talent.

“I know it’s in Winnipeg, but there’s a lot of people who worked in the film industry here in Saskatchewan who are moving out there now … because there is more work,” she said, adding she would like to see Saskatchewan’s film tax credit come back.

“I’m from [Prince Albert] and I’d like to do some work in my home province and secondly in the web series if you’re paying attention to some of the geographical references I make, a lot of [them] take place in Saskatchewan,” she said laughing as she pointed out things like the Diefenbaker Bridge that will be mentioned in the series.

Preflight Launch reaches out

The web series will wrap up filming by the end of the month and Roden said she has already begun the editing process.

However, she said production is in need of some funds to help pay for all the costs they’ve incurred since the start of the project.

They’ve kicked off a third fundraiser on Indiegogo for the public to donate to. The previous fundraiser didn’t nearly get the support she had hoped. She would like to see this one bring in between $1,500 and $2,000 to cover the costs of equipment, costumes and supplies.

“I’ll just be happy to pay the bills I’ve already incurred,” she said.

Roden said she’s also willing to take on producers who will receive credits at the end of every episode of the web series.

For more information on Preflight Launch visit their Facebook page.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84