Organized crime becomes a family affair as a group of clumsy gangsters recruit their nephew to join the “family business” in the new comedy web series BAD SEEDS, created by Ari Jampolsky, Sylvesta Stuart, and co-star Nelson Leis.
The show, with three episodes now airing on Youtube, with the full six episode season to debut in the fall on various platforms, including Koldcast, stars Leis as Steve, a young, naive, and love-struck young man, barely in his twenties, who after a scary encounter with the wrong girl in a small county, makes a clean break for the city, where he meets his Uncle Ray (Bruce Dawson), a local florist who is wise, caring and pleasant on the outside, but beneath his cuddly exterior lies a ruthless, vengeful mobster, hell-bent on destroying his main rival, Japanese restaurant owner Ed Kashahari (Phil Granger). Uncle Ray hopes to retire, leaving Steve to fight for the family’s honor – if only he can keep his raging hormones in check.
Jampolsky and Stuart created BAD SEEDS at a time when sci-fi was the dominant form of web series programming, especially among males, but they also knew that two big draws among that key audience would be the only way they could stand out from the crowd. “Looking at what was very successful on the internet – sex, and what genre always did well in any market – action, it made sense to us that if we had those two elements we could possibly find a large audience. So with that as our frame work we developed the situation. Sylvesta is a stuntman, so he could bring a lot of action to the table. From there we just developed the story to fit with that mold.”
To that end, the show prides itself on its high production values, especially its dramatic and thrilling action sequences, key elements of the show that Jampolsky compares to such popular web series as CLUTCH and THE WRONG GUYS FOR THE JOB, all made possible despite a limited production budget, and an even more limited production schedule. “I always say it was like running from wolves,” Jampolsky says, recalling each episode’s filming. “We had 20 pages to shoot in 3 days with very little money. So we used very little lighting, kept locations to a minimum and worked fast. We were very lucky that the actors we cast were well-prepared professionals.”
While Jampolsky and the rest of his production team have high hopes for the show’s success, he also hopes that he and his talented cast will be rewarded for their hard work, not only by their peers (the show won honors for outstanding special effects at this year’s LA WebFest, in addition to being selected to this year’s HollyWebFest and the Marseille Web Fest), but also in a financial sense. “Financially, I would like to be able to pay my actors and crew a living wage. Everyone working with us is a professional and deserves to paid like one. I never thought we would get rich from this idea, but it would be nice to make something for the effort.” BAD SEEDS will appeal to those who enjoy exciting action, mixed with unsophisticated comedy. “Anyone with an irreverent sense of humor would enjoy the show. We aspire to have sex and violence in every episode, but they are always presented with a comedic flair.”
ON THE WEB: www.badseeds.tv
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/badseedstvshow
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/BAD-SeEDS/147245692061252
TWITTER: @BadSeeds