In a complex, dangerous world, a group of teenagers possess powers that not only change their lives, but also put them at risk. The new web series EDGE OF NORMAL, written, directed and created by Amanda Overton, follows a set of young women who use their extraordinary new abilities to save a friend from her powerful father. Yet, with great power comes great responsibility, and the six girls who make up the nucleus of the show’s storyline learn that their unique superpowers can often come with deadly results.

EDGE OF NORMAL’s talented ensemble cast features Nik Isbelle as Kris, the group’s “radiant transducer” who generates powerful rays of energy that can adversely effect all those who come in her path, plus Anna Rubley portrays Gretchen, who’s blessed with a photographic memory and the power to control electronic devices through biology – but who also has an estranged father with a violent streak.

The series also features Katie Orr as shapeshifter Riley, plus Devin Brooke as Natalie, whose telepathic skills not only give her the ability to read minds, but to read memories. Rounding out the cast are Sarah Colbert as the mysterious Evey, and Allie Shea as the youngest member of the group, Kimmi, who has an uncanny ability to see the future. As she grows, so do her powers. The show’s first season of six episodes began on July 16th, and wrapped with its season finale on August 20th on the female-centric video platform Wonderly (also available through Youtube, see links below).

Originally developed by Overton as her graduate thesis film at USC (University of Southern California), and also inspired by her love of popular comics and films like X-MEN and THE DARK KNIGHT, EDGE OF NORMAL is a unique blend of sci-fi and superhero elements in the traditional serialized format. Yet, she says, there’s one element that sets it apart from many similar shows: “Genre-wise, this is a very female-centric show. I did this intentionally because I love superhero comics and movies, but, especially in the mainstream, there just aren’t a lot of female heroes. It was important to me to make something girls could identify with and look up to in the superhero genre. I think boys and people of all ages will still relate to the characters and the universal themes of the show, but I do hope it will bring a new and different kind of reliability to the genre.”

Overton also became intrigued with the opportunities that short form serialized storytelling provided, beginning when she watched the 2007 web series GIRLTRASH!. “I love serialized stories. The opportunity to spread a characters emotional journey and arc over a longer format, like television or comic books, and the bond that viewers can form with these characters, is amazing to me. I also love how cinematic and real video games are becoming. Series like MASS EFFECT and THE LAST OF US are the new long format story! I see web series as the beginning of a new type of long format. Even though the episodes are short, you can still create additional content across multiple platforms and engage with your audience in a way that creates a bigger, interactive, long-form universe,” she says.

To that end, Overton has also created supplemental content along with the six episodes of the series proper, including director diaries (featuring Overton discussing all facets of the show’s production), character video blogs (or “vlogs”), and additional bonus content still to be released on Wonderly.

Another key factor that sets EDGE OF NORMAL apart is its production style. The show’s incredible digital effects were donated by Modern VideoFilm, the company responsible for creating the on-screen atmosphere in James Cameron’s AVATAR. Just as vision is crucial to the success of a movie or TV series, so is the aural element. The series’ original music was composed by talented newcomer Giona Ostinelli, with additional music by the new rock band Life Down Here. The show’s sound design was provided by Soundelux, a studio known for its work on such blockbusters as THE HUNGER GAMES, STAR TREK and the latest James Bond film, SKYFALL.

Even the show’s online experience is top notch, with its video player provided by Coincident TV (who created the Emmy-nominated ‘Glee Superfan Player’ and ‘New Girl Talk Player’), and as Overton explains, that platform does a lot more than simply provide viewers with a place to watch the series. “This player helps us weave together the branching narrative in a slick way. It was important to me to make this show a web-based experience and this player lets me explore new options for telling stories that are web series specific,” she says.

With a series that will appeal to audiences both young, old, male and female alike, primarily due to the superhero element – and especially through the story’s universal theme of understanding differences in people, Overton hopes that EDGE OF NORMAL will not only thrive as a web series, but will also provide viewers with a very important lesson, one demonstrated through its powerful – yet unique – group of young women, whose differences not only define them, but also bring them together for the common good. “EDGE OF NORMAL challenges what it means to be “normal” and uses superpowers as a metaphor to explore themes of difference, friendship and family. The overall message is, ‘it’s okay to be different,’ which I believe is a very poignant coming of age theme that still has political implications for viewers of all ages,” she says.

WONDERLY: http://wonderly.com/edge-of-normal-webseries/

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4HJ3QDQL7ObTvTyRJiIrn8CabSeRBMiO

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

TWITTER: @WeAreWonderly, #EdgeOfNormal