Casually procrastinating for an essay I desperately needed to write, I stumbled upon Postponed. It’s a hilarious webshow set around Wesleyan University created by Future House Pix, a production crew made up of recent grads. No, you haven’t accidentally come to the Wesleyan Her Campus page. (There isn’t one at the time of this article’s publication.) I found the show just so entertaining and relatable that I had to share it with all of you. I talked to a few members of the awesome crew at Future House Pix all about Postponed, life after college, and the tough yet rewarding world of production. Be sure to check out the embedded series below the interview for maximum lol-age and Like them on Facebook to get updates on new episodes. The season finale is out on May 15th so look out for it!
What is Future House Pix?
Ian Park: Future House is a creative collective, involving young, intelligent, talented individuals who have the hustle of someone not expecting any handouts, concentrating on telling stories in a variety of mediums.
How did it get started?
Chris Correa: I started the company my senior year of Wesleyan. It was an idea born out of necessity. The previous summer I spent living in Brooklyn with Robby Hardesty unable to find steady work in an unforgiving economy. Starting Future House was my response to that experience. If I wanted to work in the entertainment industry, why not make my own work; why not begin building my resume?
After producing two episodes of Enrolled (you can see it on our YouTube channel), my initial team, which still involved Robby, went their separate ways. Graduation came along, and I took an unfulfilling job at an admissions officer in NYC. All the while, I continued working, though with a new crew, on trying to produce a new web series.
A year passed. Future House was stuck in the mud because I was stuck in a job I hated. So I did what I had to do- I quit and looked for freelance production work for TV shows in NYC.
Robby, who had gone to Seattle for a year, planned on moving back to the East Coast to finish up his final year of school. We began talking and came up with an idea for a new web series based very much on our experiences with the real world. Brian and Ian were already in New York and I was working with them on separate creative endeavors. I pitched the idea to them and they got on board.
Now, here we are.
When did you start acting / shooting… ?
Chris: I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was six years old. My focus was acting for stage and directing for theater until high school, when I started dabbling in video. However, I still graduated from Wes with a BFA in Theater.
The first thing I ever shot was a short movie I shot on an old camera (it recorded to VHS) that was an adventure movie. It took place in my kitchen and I was eight years old. My sister, Maria, was my star actress. The movie never made it to theaters.
I’ve been writing as long as I’ve been acting. I wrote my first screenplay when I was eleven years old. It’s called “Retrospect” and it follows a hit job gone wrong. It plays out in reverse. It makes very little sense after fifteen pages. Those first fifteen pages are still something I will go back to in the future.
Ian: I consider my first video to be the one that I shot and edited in the 10th grade. It’s a comical narrative about making coffee.
I started writing and cinematography in college, working on film theses every year. I’m a neuroscience major so I couldn’t do as many classes as I’d like.
Brian Velsor: I started making short movies when I was in high school, usually just as school projects with my friends. They were usually just projects for school. I started writing screenplays around the same time once I realized that movies were so much fun to make. I was a film studies major at Wesleyan, so writing, shooting, and editing films continued for me there. I got involved with Future House when Chris contacted me about working together on some projects after he saw and liked my senior thesis film.
How would you describe Postponed and its humor?
Chris: Postponed doesn’t try to stick to one type of humor. My favorite shows have something for everyone. Some of the comedy is based in the back and forth between characters, while some of it is slapstick, or absurd (Chris finding a full cake in a dumpster). My scripts try to incorporate a wide range of comedy.
However, I don’t believe comedy works without drama. Some of my favorite moments of the show are dark or “real.” Postponed aims to speak to a generation of graduates that are forced to put off their dreams because of the bills. I’ve never had anything handed to me (I received scholarships to go to independent schools since 7th grade), but once you get to college, there’s this feeling that after four years, things will be pretty good. You’ll at least get a pretty good job- you think. I’m not saying that’s the RIGHT view, but it’s a feeling I had, for one. What happens when the rug is pulled out from underneath you?
Postponed wants to look at that real struggle with a heavy dose of comedy and satire.
Ian: There’s humor for everyone. If you’re not into ass-jokes, then there’s a movie-reference for you, or if you don’t like movie-reference humor, you have dating humor, etc. We have something for everyone. But at the same time, the entire show is tinged with this dark, and very real premise of postponing your dreams, something that not only our generation experiences, but something most people have experienced at one point or another.
The best way to describe it might be that it’s humor based on a real feeling…not based on “reality” (we sometimes escape reality in the show).
Brian: Postponed is the story of two college grads, Robby and Chris, who can’t get jobs, so they decide to put things on hold and go back to school. They live in a van in the parking lot, posing as students. First and foremost it’s a comedy. We’re definitely trying to make people laugh and put the characters in some pretty crazy situations. But there’s a serious undercurrent to the show where we’re trying to draw attention to the idea of postponing your dreams, or the actual life that you want to live, because you can’t get a job, or afford to live where you want and things like that. The humor in the show comes from a lot of the quick dialogue that Chris writes, as well as the improv that we let happen between him, Robby and the others. They’re all really talented comedians so we’re never short on the funny stuff.
Where is the show going?
Chris: It would dishonest to say that I know for sure. I have many ideas for a second season and I’m sure Ian, Brian, and Robby do to, but for now, after our season finale, my focus will be on pushing it out there, getting it to more and more campuses and sites like Her Campus. I’ve funded this beast mostly out of my own pocket, which isn’t deep as a freelance Production Assistant/ Coordinator.
After episode 7 releases on May 15, it’s time to see if I can fill those pockets through Kick Starter and other efforts to produce a season 2.
Ian: Postponed is going to continue to build to larger scales and bigger, character-expanding story lines. But even more than that, the Postponed Project is going to expand to tell an additional two stories. One is the flip side of the postponed story, which is the Unpostponed Story. It’ll outline how we in Future House, these recent graduates, are trying to figure out the real world in this economy and job-climate, and make things happen for ourselves. And the last story will be that of our audience. Are you postponed? Are you unpostponing? What are you going through? Tell us. We want to tell your story.
Postponed, Unpostponed, and Your Story—three levels, one story.
What’s the writing process like? How do you decide where the show is going? Do you have books/ movies/ shows that inspire you?
Chris: I write the scripts and have come up with the arc of the season. Robby, Ian, Brian, and even Andrew Santiago (the Theater Professor) will help hammer/ flesh out an idea, but their focuses, for now, are in directing, editing, or acting.
When we’re on set, I want a creative atmosphere so everyone puts in his or her ideas. Sometimes the written line changes because an actor or the director or the person holding a light came up with a better one. I admire Judd Apatow and how he cultivates a comedic environment on set. I aspire to achieve that environment.
My favorite show is “Community.” It doesn’t like to play it safe. It will consistently challenge its audience and that’s what I hope Postponed does or ends up doing.
Brian: Chris writes the episodes, but all of us usually have some input on where the story is going. Ian and I have been the ones working most closely with Chris on the direction of the show. We have weekly meetings in NYC where we all get together and talk about where we’re at and what’s coming up next. In terms of inspiration I can’t speak for everyone, but I know the overall style of “Community” is something we all have in our minds, as well as the super quick editing of movies by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). We also hate “Glee,” so that explains episode 4.
Would you say Postponed is an accurate representation of your alma mater?
Chris: I love Wesleyan University. My time there was great. I write what I know, and what I know is Wesleyan. Postponed takes place in Middleton, but it certainly reflects an idea of Wesleyan, however, a very heightened- skewed idea of Wesleyan.
Ian: The spirit of the show and the spirit of the production process very much represents our alma mater because I think Wesleyan has affected our lives in many ways. But the actual characters in Postponed? I don’t think people are that stupid or douchey. But I’ve been wrong before.
Brian: I wouldn’t say that we’re trying to reference Wesleyan particularly when we’re making the show. I mean sure we shoot it there so it can’t help but feel like Wesleyan, but I think we’re going for a more universal college feel. We’ve tried to touch on a lot of stuff, albeit briefly. For example, Chris trying to dress like a hipster in episode 2, the crazy party and focus on drinking in episode 3, a douchey frat presence. Things like that.
How long does it take to create each show?
Chris: About a year ago, the first idea for “Postponed” came to life. We’ve been shooting since October though. Each episode takes about a month to produce. Some time got swallowed up with Wesleyan’s winter break and Spring break. We like to produce with a campus full of students.
Where can people continue following Postponed by Future House Pix?
Brian: To follow the show, people can go to out website futurehousepix.com, or our youtube channel FutureHousePictures. We also have a tumblr called “un-postponed” which is full of behind the scenes content, following our company as we make the show.