When Karen Eve, her actor/filmmaker son Luke Eve (Low Life, High Life) and Luke’s soon-to-be wife Maria Albiñana (star of Spanish language web series Todos queriamos matar al Presidente, Sin vida propia) arrived in the picturesque city of Valencia, Spain this past March, Karen hoped that Luke and Maria would come home from their brief excursion to the Mediterranean as newlyweds.
When the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic devastated Spain, the nation shut itself down accordingly. The wedding that Luke, Maria, Karen, and their families and friends had planned to celebrate was immediately called off. Luke and Maria’s careers were also put on hold. Worst of all, neither the Eves nor Albiñana could leave their temporary residence because of Spain’s restrictions on outside travel.
While anyone would understandably find being stuck in one space to be too much of a burden, Luke and Maria instead considered it to be an opportunity for them to use their creative ingenuity. Thus comes their latest partnership, the 10 episode first season of the new dramedy web series Cancelled.
Filmed in Valencia during the lockdown, the series (exclusively streaming on its Facebook page, link below) co-stars Luke, Maria and Karen (in her acting debut) as dramatized yet highly realistic representations of their real personas. Just like the actors who portray them, all three of Cancelled‘s characters (literally named Luke, Maria and Karen) struggle in each episode with the heartbreak of a delayed wedding day, the frustration and fears of life during a once-in-a-lifetime health crisis, and the uncertain futures they face because of COVID-19.
L-R: CANCELLED co-stars/co-creators Luke Eve and Maria Albiñana.
Co-created by Eve and Albiñana and shot entirely on a mobile phone, Cancelled blends comedy and drama in storylines that mostly stay true to the cast’s memories of their humorous and tear-jerking experiences during the lockdown, though some of the show’s plot points are completely original.
As Eve reports, Cancelled‘s authentic storytelling and characters are two of the biggest reasons why over a million viewers on the show’s Facebook page (according to Eve) have given Cancelled their own stamp of approval.
Yet as Eve tells Snobby Robot, however, filming Cancelled was not just an instance of doing more with less resource-wise on the filmmaking side. When production of Cancelled concluded, Luke found the experience of making the series with his mother and fiancee to be just as unifying as the love he shares with them.
SR: Discuss how Cancelled came together, and how its storyline, characters and comedy were influenced by your experiences being stuck in lockdown in Valencia, Spain with your fiancee Maria (who you were about to marry) and your mother Karen.
Luke Eve (co-star/co-creator/co-writer/director, Cancelled): (During) the first month of lockdown, we were just sort of flailing about trying to make sense of it all. Arriving in Spain and then having to cancel our wedding two days before the big date was emotional madness. We had people coming in from all around the world too – some of whom had made it or got trapped halfway – so it was pure chaos.
Then the lockdown was announced – and here it was very sudden and is very strict. A lot of people don’t quite understand how severe the lockdown here was. For months it was illegal to leave the house unless for food or medical. Police cars would patrol the neighborhood and helicopters would circle overhead and enforce the lockdown. We didn’t leave the house for nearly two months. It was incredibly intense.
A week or so in, Maria and I both lost work and my film, I Met A Girl, got its release cancelled. So it really was just blow after blow for a couple of weeks there. It kind of took us about a month to pick ourselves up and to start thinking about work and what might lay ahead.
Then I turned to Maria one day and said “we have a pretty unique situation here. I think it would make for a great series.” She agreed. I pitched it to Screen Australia and suddenly we were in business! Maria and I then wrote furiously and started production two weeks later. So the turnaround time since that day has been insane.
L-R: Luke Eve co-stars with his real life mother Karen (in her acting debut) in CANCELLED.
SR: Are the characters you all play based on your real selves, or are they comically exaggerated versions of those personas?
LE: It’s pretty personal. It’s kind of scary to be honest. The idea stemmed directly from our situation and many of the events, little moments and themes are all things we personally experienced.
We obviously dramatized things a little for added drama or comedy and we have reshaped certain moments – mostly for structure more than anything – but it’s all there. Warts and all. It’s pretty confronting. At times we really just went there and put ourselves out there. We didn’t even bother giving our characters other names. They’re Luke and Maria and Karen.
SR: Given the restrictions you had to work with – both in terms of the COVID-19 lockdown and the parameters you set in making Cancelled – what was the production process like for each episode?
LE: It was crazy. We felt very strongly that the show had to be made under lockdown and released during lockdown. And as I mentioned – here it was very strict – no going outside. We didn’t want to make a show that was about Zoom communication – I knew there would be millions of those.
We wanted to try and shoot a scripted drama in our house with the people and gear that we had. We had me, as a director, but I’d never acted, and we had Maria, who is an awesome actress, but she’d never filmed, and we had (my) mum (Karen Eve) who had done neither. So the challenges were very real!
The biggest challenges were really the logistics of having three people in a scene who were also shooting and doing sound. So who would hold the camera and where would we place it? Often the other actor in the scene is holding the camera as well so most times we were acting against the other person who wasn’t even there. So we had to fake eyelines all the time. That was really hard for my mum and I. Maria was fine with it, but all of that stuff had to be planned.
When I did scene breakdowns I had to think about how I wanted to shoot (the scenes) with limited hands, but I loved the restrictions. Shooting on a mobile phone was actually very cool. It offered a lot of freedom! We’ve placed the phone in tiny spaces where we could never get a normal camera. We got shots from inside cupboards, fridges, bathroom floors, outside windows. It’s been amazing for moves and angles. I’ve loved being behind the camera as well as in front of it.
Luke Eve directs a scene from CANCELLED, as his mother Karen looks on in the background.
SR: How did those restrictions influence/inspire you when preparing the show’s season-long story and character arcs?
LE: To be honest, I don’t recall really thinking about the restrictions when plotting. We knew we had a story set during lockdown and that was it. We knew that it would all be shot inside on a mobile phone between three people so only certain things were possible, but we knew what our story was. It was a relationship drama set inside a house.
The restrictions were more physical and logical rather than narrative or dramatic. The only logistical worry – in terms of story and arc – was the episode where Mum left. At the time of writing, we had only just booked her flight and we had no idea how we were going to film that and if we would even be allowed outside, etc.
SR: What has the experience of making Cancelled taught you about making a web series within limitations – both imposed (due to the lockdown) and created (filming with a digital phone, released weekly while the lockdown was going on, and filmed with only two other people)?
LE: I’ve been directing for over 15 years and I have to say that I’ve learned more on this production than any other. I didn’t have other people to rely on so I had to really sharpen up my filmmaking skills to get us over the line. I had to act and direct myself and direct my mum so it took a lot of time and effort. I learned so much about acting and about craft and (making Cancelled) just further enforced my long held belief that the most important element in any production is story and character. You get those right and you don’t need a lot of money.
SR: Based on that experience, and considering that the COVID-19 pandemic is already having a resurgence in several countries, what tips do you have for filmmakers/actors who will probably end up being forced to work under the same conditions you did in making Cancelled?
LE: Just go for it, but make sure you have a story that has a hook – something that makes it stand out. At the end of the day, if you tell a story that is truthful and authentic it will strike a chord with people. People will identify.
SR: In terms of comedy, who do you think would like to watch Cancelled and in what ways do you feel people will identify with its story and humor?
LE: To be honest, the show is not really a comedy. It’s what I would call a comedy but it’s what others would classify as a drama! If you like Marriage Story or Lost in Translation or Before Sunrise and you dig (the films of director) Noah Baumbach, you’ll love Cancelled. What we are finding is that people are strongly identifying with each of us and our scenario because we decided to be very authentic and truthful with the scripting and acting.
SR: Compared to other comedies that have used the pandemic as a backdrop/plot point for their storylines, what do you think makes Cancelled unique from those?
LE: As I mentioned, I think ours is unique in that it is a scripted show shot entirely within a house, not over Zoom or Skype, and our comedy is raw and brutal and really honest. We’ve seen a few shows being made that have made light of the pandemic – and that’s totally fine because we need comedy to get through sad moments in life. I know I do.
But our story was sad and emotional and f*cking tragic at times, so we treated it accordingly. Maria and I said to each other that we didn’t want to make a comedy while thousands of people were dying – we wanted to make something that reflected the times we were living and at times that was hysterically funny and at other times it was painfully sad.
SR: What are your hopes for Cancelled‘s success, and what do you hope viewers take away from watching it?
LE: In many ways, our hopes for the show have already been surpassed. Each episode has racked up over 100,000 views all around the world and we receive hundreds of comments every week from viewers saying that we have captured exactly how they feel despite living in different parts of the world. People feel like we have let them into our world but somehow (have) also reflected theirs.
Many have commented that we have touched them, made them laugh, made them cry and helped them make sense of what has been happening. As a filmmaker, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m incredibly proud of this show. Making it with Maria and my mum and promoting it around the world online has been one of the most wonderful and joyous experiences of my life.
NOTE: Eve says that all 10 episodes of Cancelled are closed-captioned/subtitled.
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