New Anti-Bullying Web Musical "The Hinterlands" is Outstanding; Former Soap Star Michelle Stafford Has a Winner in "The Stafford Project" - Ed Martin's Watercooler Video

quotThe HinterlandsquotThere are more homemade and professional video series on the Internet than anyone could ever hope to count let alone watch Some of them are instructional informative and educational Many more are terrifically entertaining depending on one39s taste But few of them have the potential to save lives while also entertaining and educating their viewersOne new video series debuted last week that can claim to potentially do all of those things I imagine by the time you read this you will have already heard mention of it somewhere because in addition to being an important effort it is an outstanding production It39s a sixpart musical drama series titled quotThe Hinterlandsquot and while it39s directly targeted to teenagers who are bullied for whatever reason there is something in it for everyone It is wellacted and smartly written with production values that are of television or movie quality And to judge from the first episode the musical sequences which enhance but do not detract from or overpower the story are both catchy and deeply moving As such The Hinterlands resembles the best parts of Glee without all the snarky junk that surrounds themThe central character in The Hinterlands is Paul Connor Russell a gay sixteen year old who lives in the middle of nowhere He describes himself as quotmassively into theoretical physicsquot says his hero is Stephen Hawking admits he has no friends though the first episode suggests otherwise and is certain he is going to flunk gym Described on the series39 Web site as a quotscrawny gay science nerdquot Paul says that when he39s in school quotwalking down the hall is like wearing a steak shirt while swimming with sharksquot Apparently the harassment Paul suffers as the series progresses will lead him to contemplate suicide though I can39t believe the character is going to go there since he39s the one with whom troubled or bullied young viewers are intended to identifyThe Hinterlands was written directed and produced by Michelle Elliott and Danny Larsen two hugely talented young people with very promising careers ahead of them in musical theater and television On their Web site Elliott and Larsen explain that they chose to produce this project as a Web musical rather than a staged production because quotkids in the real hinterlands are the most in need of a project like this as some communities are highly intolerant of gay lesbian bisexual and transgender kidsquotLargely funded via Indiegogo the first episode of The Hinterlands was posted last week Five more will debut throughout November and DecemberquotThe Stafford ProjectquotThe rise of Webbased programming in recent years has coincided with the decline and neardisappearance of daytime dramas on the broadcast networks Dozens of soap opera stars who have suddenly found themselves out of work have joined Web soaps which seem to represent an exciting new frontier for serialized storytelling A few of them most notably quotVenicequot have stood out from the rest primarily because of their production values But the overall future of such productions remains uncertainOne soap star recently decided to embrace Web programming without joining an existing Internet serial Michelle Stafford a twotime Emmy winner during her sixteen year run on CBS39 The Young and the Restless last summer left her role as sexy schemer Phyllis Summers Romalotti Abbott Newman and almost immediately launched her own Web series The Stafford Project Stafford says it39s a comedy loosely based on her life as a fortysomething singlemother and actress looking for love and work in Hollywood while a camera crew documents her every move In the series Stafford is taking tentative steps into reality television on the advice of her management team quotNo more of you being the mother of a 20 year old who was just born last monthquot her agent assertsIn many ways The Stafford Project is a much better vehicle for Stafford than a role in one of the many overcrowded Web soaps currently available online in that she is largely front and center throughout each of the episodes which average 812 minutes I always enjoyed her work on YampampR which was unfailingly sexy and sometimes lighthearted but more often than not extremely dramatic Stafford Project gives her a chance to show off her controlled comic timing and she doesn39t miss a beat In more than one episode I found myself thinking of her as a younger Diane Keaton In fact after watching this series I can see her playing Keaton39s kid sister in a movie something that never crossed my mind during her entire time on YampampRamp160Joshua Morrow Thorsten Kaye and Brandon Beemer three actors known primarily for their work on daytime dramas have appeared as guest stars on The Stafford Project and like Stafford each has revealed a heretofore unseen gift for grand comic delivery and selfdeprecation I would imagine many of Stafford39s soap acquaintances must be champing at the bit to appear on her series and give fans and the industry a chance to see them do something differentClearly it might make more sense for soap opera actors or any actors for that matter to consider producing this kind of a show on their own as an excellent promotional platform and to keep themselves on the industry39s radar It39s also a great way for them to keep fans engagedSome episodes of The Stafford Project feel a little too long but most of them are just right The eighth and most recent installment was posted this week on wwwmichellestaffordcom and on YouTubeCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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New Anti-Bullying Web Musical "The Hinterlands" is Outstanding; Former Soap Star Michelle Stafford Has a Winner in "The Stafford Project" - Ed Martin's Watercooler Video

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