*By Florian Bardou
Ted Tremper won a Vimeo Award in 2010 for his amazing Series Break Ups. Now he is part of the jury for this category and this is what we talked about with him.
After winning the award for Best Original Series my views went from about 2,000 to about 200,000 in a week. It was amazing. The larger effect was a large validation of the work I was trying to complete — thoughtful, emotional work that showcased improvisation as an artform. I received an email from a management company in New York who I have been working with since to develop a few projects. I used the exposure to get more actors to perform in my new series Shrink.
The most important ingredients for a great original series (or any piece of art for that matter), are honesty, originality and creativity. I know these are pretty abstract terms, but I view them very precisely.
The questions I often ask myself are: “Does what the character is experiencing in this scenario feel true within the context of the scene?”, “Are they presenting a specific point of view that draws attention to the actor’s abilities and experiences?” and lastly “What visual techniques am I using to help heighten how the actors are improvising?”.
My favorite series right now is Shrink which is kind of unfair to say because I created it. It’s another fully improvised series that follows the larger overarching narrative of a young doctor performing therapy sessions to get a license to become a therapist. Outside of that, I am a big fan of Drunk History and Between Two Ferns w/ Zach Galifianakis.