Vampires have always been a popular part of entertainment throughout the years, going all the way back to the various filmed adaptations of Bram Stoker’s classic novel DRACULA, and countless other films relating to the subject. It’s a subgenre that has enjoyed its biggest success in recent years, primarily due to the popular TWILIGHT series of teen novels and movies. Along with the countless amounts of books, movies and TV shows that have revolved around the world of vampires, web series have also put their own distinctive spin on that subgenre. Now approaching its third season, the reality-based comedy/mockumentary CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM is a key example of that trend.
Created by, and starring the brother/sister duo of Richard and Rosella Weigand, the series follows the day to day lives of sibling vampires Vladmir Christoph Von Stoker (played by Richard) and Vestucia Musette Von Stoker (played by Rosella), whose adventures in the human world are documented by filmmaker Lisa Reed (also played by Rosella). Together, Vlad and Vestucia experience the many ups and downs of life, resulting in some memorable and hilarious moments along the way.
Two seasons of nine episodes have already aired, and its third season premiere is set to air this Halloween (Thursday) exclusively on its official Blip.TV and Youtube pages (see links below). 13 episodes are scheduled for the third season, while the series’ past two seasons are also slated to air on the Roku streaming channel Get Scared TV.
CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM was developed as a result of Richard’s fascination with the world of vampires, and also grew out of a desire to create a distinctively original series that featured a fresh, comedic spin on the popular horror subgenre. “I’ve been interested in vampires for awhile. When we started, there were lots of vampire shows already, but I was looking for a more original take on vampires. The idea of vampires living in our world and living like humans seemed funny to me. I wanted to try to do the show realistically, as well as, have it be entertaining. I also wanted to do a show that is mostly relied on improvisation,” he says.
While both Richard and Rosella (and the characters they portray in CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM) remain a constant, a lot has changed over the past two seasons in terms of its production. “For the first two seasons, we would outline and write the scripts closer to shooting days and film from March to April, then air the episodes in May. But this time around, we had the script outlined earlier this year but ended up delaying production due to a family member emergency. We began filming the third season in September. Another difference would be that this upcoming season is more scripted than the earlier ones are,” Rosella says.
“One of the reasons we had to write more for season 3 is (that) we’re dealing with more of the interconnected stories that relate to all seasons. Same characters. Same locations. And a central storyline that links them all together,” says Richard. As a result of the change of approach to its scripts, the show’s filming schedule has become longer, and as of this writing production is still underway on the remaining episodes of CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM’s third season.
Despite those changes, viewers can expect much more of its trademark brand of humor as the third season begins. “All original cast members are back. There are more moments with Vlad and Vestucia than ever before. Lisa Reed, the documentarian, gets to be more involved in their lives and has a bigger part than just being the one who always introduces each topic. This season features some new important characters. A lot of the plot points that were briefly mentioned or introduced in the first two seasons will now be further addressed and resolved. Questions that have been previously asked will now be answered. Not all questions, but most,” Rosella says.
CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM has already been a hit with its viewers, with its first season now available on DVD (see link below), and while both Richard and Rosella hope to use the proceeds from DVD sales toward future projects, they’ve already made quite an impression with their one of a kind take on the vampire subgenre. “Our partially scripted, partially improvised show is a unique blend of humor, heart, intrigue, and vampires. While it is a staged documentary/reality-based series, we try to make it as real as possible,” says Rosella, who also believes that the show’s viewers are perhaps the biggest inspiration for her and Richard as filmmakers.
“CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM already has a small but loyal fan base. People who know of Vlad and Vestucia love these two vampires and enjoy watching them and learning more about them throughout each season. We want viewers to embrace the original content we’re creating with these off-the-wall characters and laugh from beginning to middle to end while watching. By making a show with a tiny shoestring budget, our goal is to prove that so much can actually be done with so little,” she says.
(Note: the series is not currently closed-captioned, but Rosella says that she and Richard hope to gain more viewers any way they can.)
ON THE WEB: www.weigandfilms.com/curveyourvampirism.html
BLIP.tv: www.blip.tv/curveyourvampirism
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/rawprojex
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/CurveYourVampirism
TWITTER: @Curve_Vampirism
To order the DVD of season 1 of CURVE YOUR VAMPIRISM, please visit:
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