Review Fix Exclusive: Q & A With Shelf Life Directors Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthal

Review Fix chats with “Shelf Life” Directors Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthal, who, via e-mail,discuss the series, its booming fan base and what fans and newcomers alike can expect in the future.

Review Fix: How is Shelf Life different from every other web series online?

Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthal: We haven’t seen every other web series online, but feel SL stands apart thanks to high production value, great writing, and the ability to get in and out before the joke gets old, unlike many of the other shows out there. Of course, this only makes it different from MOST other web series online… What makes it truly distinguishable is that there are no other irreverent comic web series featuring live-action action figures that just raised over 100% fan funding to shoot season 4. That we know of.

Review Fix: Over the course of the series, you’ve gotten some big names to direct, what do you think that says about the show?

Platt and Lowenthal: We think there are several things that draw talent to our show, in the directing, writing, and acting, as well as the music and pretty much every other department. One is our track record of turning out quality material, and, maybe even more importantly, finishing what we start. A lot of people talk big out there but then have trouble following through. When people come to our show, they know their excitement and efforts won’t come to naught. Also, the show is fun, both in concept and to work on. Ask anyone who’s been on our set!

Review Fix: How important is your fan base to the success of the show?

Platt and Lowenthal: Well no one wants to play to an empty house. After a while that can get demoralizing. We’re not out here only to make ourselves laugh (although that is key to our process), so we’re definitely paying attention to what the fans are responding to. But you can’t start out a show by guessing what the fans want and trying to appeal to everyone. You have to do what works for you and hopefully someone, somewhere will also respond to it. So, to answer your question, they’re crucial to the long life of the show, because we can’t fund the show out-of-pocket forever, and making you and your closest friends laugh is only entertaining for so long.

Review Fix: What do you think the show needs to do in order to get the mainstream attention it needs to truly thrive?

Platt and Lowenthal: Exposure. Coverage. A giant neon sign pointing people to it. With as many things as are out there on the Web to watch, it’s naive to think that just putting something good out there is enough. “Build it and they will come” is a nice idea, but they have to know it’s there, first. We’ve won some awards and the people who dig the show are rabid about it. I think we just need to get it in front of more eyeballs. Every day we get notes from people exclaiming, “How did I not know about this? This is amazing.” So clearly it is still being discovered.

Review Fix: How did it feel to be nominated for an IAWTV Award this year?

Platt and Lowenthal: It’s an honor to be recognized by our peers. And all of the festivals and nominations are exciting and humbling. But much with any accolade, you have to let it roll off your back, or as our good friend Dallas Travers says, you have to take the good with the bad, so you can only invest in the positive response as far as you are willing to buy into the negative. In other words, keep plugging away and doing the best job you can regardless of other people are saying about it. That said, we’re thrilled to have been nominated, especially if it brings more eyes to the show!

Review Fix: What’s your favorite element of the show?

Platt and Lowenthal: It always starts with the writing. Does it keep us laughing, before we get started, on set and throughout the post process? Then we know it’s good. But that’s only effective with a cast that’s willing to play and have fun. And they can only be supported by a crew that’s crazy enough to go along with a show like this. It’s a tough question to answer. Who hasn’t imagined the secret life of their toys when we’re not looking? In the end, one of the things that we really feel makes the show work is that, sure, these are action figures on a shelf, but they’re also a platform to comment on sex, politics, religion and relationships. We can tell almost any kind of story with this show! As long as it includes ball-punching.

Review Fix: How is the fourth season different from previous ones?

Platt and Lowenthal: Thanks to our successful crowd-funding we were able to take the fourth season off the shelf. Up until then the previous seasons have pretty much all taken place on the shelf in the young boy’s room, which was actually good, because we’ve really gotten to know these characters. But even our most die-hard fans have fantasized the characters in other parts of the house, and the fourth season will give them that. For us, that meant actually building sets, getting more props and adding a slew of new characters into the mix to fill in the rest of the world. Also the episodes will each be a little longer and we have new and improved costumes! Storywise, this season will now have individual episode arcs for the characters as well as plotlines that take an entire season to unfold, rather than the stand-alone episode feel the show has had.

Review Fix: How would you sell the show to someone who hasn’t seen it?

Platt and Lowenthal: Yuri would say it’s “Toy Story only we say f*ck a lot more.” But Tara would argue that it is an epic series of miniature proportions. The logline will tell you that it’s about four action figures on a young boy’s shelf, but it’s bigger than that. The show deals with everyday and taboo topics in an irreverent and whimsical way.

Review Fix: What can longtime fans expect from the show moving forward?

Platt and Lowenthal: Well our hope would be to place the show on a more well-trafficked channel so that more views equals more support equals more episodes. There are so many ideas for where the characters can go, but taking a show like this, which is high in production value, but small on budget, you can only go so far (even with a successful crowd-funding campaign). We have epic plans for a fifth season already mapped out, but who knows where it might be able to go with the right team behind it. The fans will at least get an exciting Season 4, off-the-shelf, with fun storylines, kooky new characters and journeys for their beloved Hero Man, Hero Lass, Bug Boy and Samurai Snake.

Review Fix: How do you want the series to be remembered?

Platt and Lowenthal: By unabashed laughter broken occasionally with moments of deep thought. By people quoting it in their daily lives and laughing when they do. We want it to bring light to people in their darkest moments. We want to save lives with shiny costumes and fart jokes.

Check out the series pilot below: