Everyday life can often bring about the most awkward and hilarious moments, as perfectly demonstrated by the popular, long running ‘90s NBC series SEINFELD. Now, a new web series proves that maxim as it takes a humorous, lighthearted and sometimes dramatic look at life as seen through the eyes of a guy named Warren. Premiering December 1st on its official Youtube and Vimeo pages, and with its official web site to be launched soon, the upcoming web series WARREN stars Warren Mitchell in the titular role of a kind, knowledgeable and responsible young collegian at LSU (Louisiana State University) who experiences the many ups and downs of life and tries his best to make sense of those moments.

Warren shares an apartment with five of his fellow students, all of whom are credited by their real names: Matthew (played by Matthew Reed), Warren’s best friend and the group’s resident slacker, plus Nicole (played by Nicole Prunty), the lone female among the five and someone who enjoys watching a ball game just as much as her male roommates. (Note: while there is no definitive time and date for future episodes nor is there any exact amount that will air, production of the next five shows will begin soon.)

Rounding out the cast is Jon Cefalu as the fun loving, funny and swag obsessed Jon, and Nathaniel Hearn as Nate, whose awkwardness often belies a more sensitive, romantic side. While viewers will get to see the adventures of both Warren and his roommates, Mitchell says that they shouldn’t expect to see them all at once when the series debuts – at least not yet. “The first episode is just me and another person, who was willing to volunteer on this project. I’ll begin to introduce one character in episode 2, then another one in episode 3, and another one in episode 4, and then you’ll see all 5 of us in the fifth episode,” Mitchell says. Filmed entirely in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (site of the campus of LSU), Mitchell collaborated with a network of local filmmakers assembled through both the LSU Film Club and via social media outreach on several Facebook groups. He also had little difficulty finding his cast of performers (more on that later).

Developed out of a “moment of despair” according to Mitchell, WARREN originally started as a short film. However, as is sometimes the case with indie filmmaking, outside circumstances interfere with the production process, and Mitchell’s experience is one case in point. “The first episode was supposed to be a short film called ‘Catch a Ride’. We had 3 or 4 scenes done, but then production got delayed too many times. It conflicted with so many schedules, and some people backed out midway. I didn’t feel like recasting again, but I didn’t want to abandon the project. I hate having to hype people up so much and put nothing out, so I tried to use the footage we already got and make something out of it. The idea of the show just manifested into its own concept from there,” he says.

That concept, as Mitchell explains, is both simple and quite unique for a web series: a distinctively real look at life itself, and all the funny, sad and unexpected moments that come with it; events that impact the show’s characters in powerful and meaningful ways that everyone can relate to as part of growing up. “It ties in with my own life as well as those who are involved on this web series. It relates to real life as it’s happening in that moment. When you watch this show, you’ll see a lot of honesty in the script, the story, and the characters. We are acting as ourselves the whole time.”

Another key moment in the development of WARREN occurred when Mitchell volunteered at this past year’s Louisiana International Film Festival in Baton Rouge. It was there that he got both the chance to meet other filmmakers and to gain valuable insight from them. One such encounter was with Alev Aydin, the star and producer of the award-winning film LONELY BOY. “(Aydin) told me the first thing to do is to make short films first before feature films. So I went online to observe short films, and how they turn out, and how much effort goes into that. Making a web series of shorts is like the same thing. So I observed old Disney cartoons, Charlie Chaplin shorts, short films online, and I began to draw my own ideas off of that,” Mitchell says.

Given the enormously talented students that attend LSU’s Film Club and study in its Theatre Department, finding actors who would make up the show’s cast was easy. “As an LSU student, I spread the word out to all my classmates and all of the members of the LSU Film Club. I also reach out to the LSU Theatre Department. I’m not in that department, but I took a few theatre classes in college, and I go there a lot to watch this eclectic mix of people, who are very active when it comes to acting. From there, I picked the friends that I’m close with and have a lot of free time available,” Mitchell says.

What wasn’t as easy was the actual process of filming each episode, and both Mitchell plus his cast and crew would learn the hard way that simply putting on a show doesn’t come without preparation. “The first episode was not the easiest. What I learned not to do during the project was improvise your own script. Organization was sloppy, and on top of that, everyone’s schedules needed to align with each other’s, including my own. I fought with setting up the film schedule on my own time, which filled up all of my time along with other commitments. After that, when I finally found the free time for myself, I took a breather and figured out a better approach to working on it. With the next episodes about to be filmed, I think I got the hang of it now,” he recalls.

As a filmmaker, Mitchell not only seeks to tell stories, but also to expand his creative horizons across many genres, as did two of Hollywood’s most acclaimed directors. “I was beginning to realize what I wanted to do in my senior year of high school when I noticed that there are many stories that I wanted to tell, and I knew that film was the best way for me to share these stories with everyone. I’m mostly interested in comedy, but I want to do more than one genre with my career. I want to be the rare filmmaker that is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to genre. Steven Spielberg was a director of action movies in the beginning of his career, and then he branched over into sci-fi, and then to dramas. Robert Zemeckis directed the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy, FORREST GUMP, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, and CAST AWAY, each of which has its own classification. I’m willing to do any genre that my story wants to become.”

Heavily inspired by classic and current TV sitcoms, especially the offbeat and relatable humor of shows like SEINFELD, Mitchell hopes to achieve greater success as a filmmaker through WARREN. While he seeks to use the series as a launching pad for his career and his own production company (Warren World Productions), his most important mission with WARREN is to bring viewers a refreshingly genuine, true to life story that all people can relate to no matter if they’re young – or young at heart. “I want this web series to relate to twenty-somethings like myself, as well as other age groups. I want to tell a story that a lot of people have experienced themselves, captivate an audience, and introduce this guy (Warren) that wants to be a part of the world. This web series will allow me to spread my wings and become the person I dream of becoming.”

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/warrensmitchell

VIMEO: http://vimeo.com/warrenworld

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/warrenworldproductions

TWITTER: @WarrenWorldFilm