Since The Bannen Way leapt into our monthly webisodes chart and was nominated for several Streamy Awards, we decided it would be a good idea to find out what the fuss is about.
We caught up with The Bannen Way’s executive producer and star Mark Gantt — who co-created the project with director Jesse Warren — to discuss the drama, the deal, and the next steps for Bannen.
Since its January 6 premiere, the action web series The Bannen Way has raked in more than 13 million streams, making it the fastest growing property on Sony’s Crackle digital video network. Loaded with crime, gadgets, sexy cars, salacious scenarios and high production costs, the 16-episode series is intended as a vehicle for Crackle to reach a demographic of men 18-34 years old.
“We were tired of waiting for agents to give us a call,” said Gantt. “The web allowed us to stretch the boundaries. We got to create a cool show that we wanted to be in that could allow studios to recoup their money.”
The show’s producers opted to shoot each seven-minute episode with a high-end RED camera to set a new bar for quality production in the web video revolution. But at the end of the day, all that gloss and glitter would go wasted without strong story lines and compelling characters.
The Partnership and the Protagonist
Like many Hollywood matches made in heaven, Gantt and Warren met in acting class, where Warren told Gantt that he was developing a character who bared a striking resemblance to Gantt. Over time, the two discussed making a short film, but ultimately the way of the web became clear.
“We decided to make webisodes, where potentially millions of people could see our work versus the 40 or so people who would see our work at a film festival,” said Gantt. “We took some of my personal life and merged it with this character, who’s a thief that wants to quit committing crime but doesn’t know how. He wants to quit smoking, yet you see him smoking in a nicotine anonymous meeting.”
The Premise
Enter Neal Bannen: the smooth-talking flagrantly flawed tragic hero whom audiences love to root for, women love to pounce, and thugs love to pound. Possessing the same exceptional ability to attract women as David Duchovny’s Hank Moody in Californication, Bannen is jam-packed with addictions that include gambling, alcohol and sex.
The series begins with Bannen wanting to leave his laborious life of crime for good. However, like most high rollers he’s unable to get up from underneath himself, mostly because he owes the infamous prison gangster Sonny Carr (Ski Carr) $150,000. With only $50,000 in his possession, Bannen decides to put all his cards on the table in a game of poker, which renders him penniless. So he heads off into the great abyss to do one last job for his mobster employer and uncle Mr. B (Robert Forster).
With his own geek/hacker Zeke (Gabriel Tigerman — think quirky male version of Jack Bauer’s Chloe) in his ear and watching his every move, Bannen discloses his weakness for beautiful women and loses focus of the task at hand.
Gantt says he and Warren wanted to make Bannen as flawed as possible “so that that people could relate to him.”
After Bannen pulls off the job, Mr. B makes him an enticing offer – a million dollars to procure a special box from The Mensch (Michael Lerner). Bannen’s aspirations of leaving his criminal lifestyle behind quickly become a thing of the past, and several more episodes display his unraveling.
Squeezing that much plot and staging into seven-minute increments is no easy feat. Narration by Gantt, some backwards and forwards editing effects, dual screens and tight dialogue help package the product.
The Production and the Pretty People
Gantt would not disclose production costs, but he did say the series was made for “much less than $1 million.” So how did Gantt and Warren execute such high production quality before Sony entered the picture?
“We used credit cards to make it happen,” explained Gantt. “Actually, we used Jesse’s credit card and contacts and friends I made when I used to work in production.”
Gantt said it took the filmmakers five to six months to complete the pilot with satisfactory color correction, sound design and editing. The time, teamwork, and sacrifice paid off, and Gantt and Warren landed a deal with Sony, which helped them score some top Hollywood talent.
“It came to the point when we realized having names in the project was necessary to recoup the money,” said Gantt. “So a casting director with Sony helped us create a list of actors that would be good fits. We realized that one of our producers knew Robert Forster. Our agent at the time knew Vanessa Marcil and Michael Lerner. We went through Sony’s casting department and we pitched the show to them.”
Gantt says that in addition to helping The Bannen Way attract well-known actors, the executives at Sony are interested in developing the show into a television series.
“If it’s up to us, we’ll have a web presence to accompany the TV show,” said Gantt. “We want to do this new kind of trans media and cross storytelling with the web, iPhone apps, the whole nine yards.”
In the meantime, The Bannen Way has already been made into a full feature. Sony is working on selling a 93-minute version in foreign markets, while an 84-minute rendition is already set to air on TV. The DVD of the feature will be released when the movie is broadcast on the small screen. A network has not yet been chosen.
The Praise
Nominated for seven Streamy Awards including Best New Web Series, Best Drama, Best Directing, Best Writing, and Best Actor The Bannen Way team has much to strive for and celebrate this year. Gantt says he and Warren joke around that they want to be the “Project Greenlight of the web,” hoping to do for web video what Jon Favreau and Vince Vaugn did for independent film with Swingers.
As for recognition from their peers, Gantt says he and Warren have had it in sight for some time. “We went to the Streamys last year while we were in talks with Sony, and we thought, ‘Aww man, wouldn’t it be great to be here next year?’” shared Gantt.
Looks like The Bannen Way is a good way to come full circle. It’s also an example of what people have been saying is possible for web-based television. If The Bannen Way and series like it are successful, we’ll have proof that YouTube clowns like Fred aren’t the only viable products.
Reviews: Crackle, YouTube, iPhone
Tags: crackle, sony, the bannen way, visible measures, web series
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