PASSENGER - Al Galvez

Posted by Steve on 22 April 2011 | 0 Comments

Tell us about your sci-fi web series.

PASSENGER follows the lives of many different characters on several planes of existence and realities. It's set in several different time periods on earth from thousands of years back to the present and future, as well as in the dream world, heaven, hell, and other planets. It's the collision and marriage of spirituality and science. Our main anti-hero Michael is deep in the trenches of a final war front on earth, between heaven's armies and his brother Lucifer's dark angels. PASSENGER is a type of Film-noir, or cinematic series, with an avant-garde, modern-day musical approach, in the style of Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Where did the idea/concept for your web series come from?

In short, I couldn't get much more than an audition for the role of a waiter on a mainstream TV show, so I decided to make one of my own, haha!

I realized I had to create the opportunities I wanted for myself on my own and to my fullest creative potential, and the right business would follow. And this format is ideal for that, not just as an actor, but as a visual artist, musician, writer and director as well. So Initially I set out to write and produce a scene as a demo reel which I felt best represented who I was about overall. Then my imagination and excitement for the project went full throttle, and before long it had grown as a concept for a mini series on the web.

You have to carve out a voice for yourself amidst the clutter and static, so I've created a vehicle of my own to carry what I want to say without asking for permission or dealing with too many politics, or agendas. The underlying message of PASSENGER is just that, a creative rebel yell-a war cry to one self, to unleash your full potential, assume responsibility, and push the envelope of what's possible. To brake away from the system, challenge the establishment and the powers that be, and stop doing what's expected of you but rather what you need and want to. My character of Michael on PASSENGER is the embodiment of that idea, as an Archangel who has been demoted and sent out on exile to earth indefinitely, for following his heart. We've all faced that purgatory time in our lives, where we're neither here or there, but almost in suspended animation, trying hard to wake up and find our place in the world. This show also serves as a great opportunity for me to tie in my work in different mediums, which has always been very thematic overall, into a unified vision.

Name some of your sci-fi influences. Any favorite movies, TV shows, novels?

Some novels which have influenced my writing overall are Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World. Movie-wise I'm a big Stanley Kubrick fan, Blade Runner really spoke to me. The Thing, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dune, Gattaca, Contact, Stargate, and of course the original Star Wars trilogy. My brother and I collected every single action figure when we were kids.

Tell us about the technical production of your show. What camera equipment did you use? Editing software & hardware? For visual effects, etc?

I wanted to raise the production value bar of independent programming overall, and bring my work to a competitive level with current mainstream cable channel programming, not merely as a concept, but in its execution as well. So I thought why not just go all the way and do a pilot for a one hour television show, and stream it online first as a web series? For that I needed to shoot in a format which not only works for the internet but is also broadcast ready for future programming on cable, so we shot it on the Red Camera, and film. We edit on Final Cut, and use After Effects for most special effects. Now we are in production for the first full season of thirteen one hour episodes which should wrap principal photography by the end of this year. And we are currently streaming the first chapters' episodes online, as six to seven minute mini-episodes through our online channels, and the show's official site www.passengershow.com.

Can you tell us any interesting facts or trivia about your show? Any funny stories? 

I wanted my character to drive a Jeep in the pilot, but I soon learned that Jeeps are almost impossible to rent in Los Angeles, for some odd reason. Suddenly it was the night before the shooting day when we were gonna need it, and nobody could find me one. So I approached this sketchy used Jeep dealer the morning of, but he only sold his cars, not rent them. When I approached his lot, he was using chewing gum to hold a car's side spoiler, that should have been a clue, but I had ran out of options. So I found the perfect '89 Jeep, but he wasn't gonna let me take it unless I bought it. We came to an agreement that if I returned it within 24 hours, he would cancel the sale and charge me a re-stocking fee as a rental. So after hours of credit checks and a phone book size amount of paper work, the old car was finally mine. So, I'm already late to my own shoot and production is calling me freaking out, but the calls keep dropping cause our set was in near desert Santa Clarita. I jump on the car, turn the ignition... and nothing happens. So then the dealer admits the car hasn't been started in years and he calls his mechanic to come down. The mechanic checks the batteries, changes spark plugs, etc, trying out all sorts of things, until the engine finally turns on. And then he tells me: "If I were you, I wouldn't turn it off until you get there, cause it probably won't turn on again." So I jump in, and its a stick shift, which I knew how to drive but hadn't really done so in years. And this cars gears were brutally rough at best, and as I start inching and sputtering off the lot, it keeps wanting to shut down on me. I don't know how, but I made it onto the highway, and up and up deserted mountains towards our location. By this time I had no reception or way to get in contact with my crew, and if the car stalled, my show would probably go down the toilet. And then I felt this amazing feeling I'd never had before, this euphoric thrill of the insaneness of the whole situation, of putting all of my money into this huge gamble. And suddenly I was laughing my ass off, enjoying the feeling of this type of empowering freedom, of going after what I want no matter what. It was one of the best days of my life.

PASSENGER can be found online, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

PASSENGER - SciFinal Page

More behind the scenes from PASSENGER below:

Al Galvez directing on location.

Riding in the famous Jeep.

Al Galvez prepping a scene.

Passenger on set.

Don Swayze and Kadyr Gutierrez on set.

Al Galvez directing a scene.