"The Big Bang Theory" star, Simon Helberg, talks about his new film!
"The Big Bang Theory" star, Simon Helberg, talks about his new film!
Thursday, 06 January 2011
By Frederic Germay
Actor Simon Helberg stars in the Thursday night comedy smash hit, “The Big Bang Theory,” as the lovable nerd, Howard Wolowitz. Before “Big Bang,” Simon has had roles in critically acclaimed television series, such as Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” and he’s been a season regular on the popular late night sketch comedy series, “MADtv.” In 2008, Simon played the villianous sidekick, Moist, in cult icon Joss Whedon’s, Emmy-Award winning “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” internet series. “Dr. Horrible” won numerous awards, including People’s Choice Award for ‘Favorite Online Sensation,” and it ranked at #15 for TIME’s 50 Top Inventions of 2008.
Simon recently took the time out of his busy shooting schedule to talk with MediaBlvd Magazine about his new independent film, “I am I.” Simon’s film is being produced by the rising film & arts website, www.KickStarter.com. Kickstarter features the revolutionary concept of allowing the online community to finance, produce, and become more involved with films, rather than going the often destructive route of big studios and production companies.
MediaBlvd> Now you’re currently in the midst of making an independent film, “I am I,” in association with the crowd-funding website, www.Kickstarter.com. Tell us a little bit about how Kickstarter works and why you’ve chosen to implement this site to help fund your film.
Simon> Ah, well it basically started as a launching pad for things having to do with the arts. It has films, bands, it also has fashion - and I think we’re kind of on the brink of it really exploding. It’s really unbelievable - you get to try out your product, and get to skip the “corporate element,” and seeing if there’s actually an audience for your project, again whether it’s a piece of jewelry or a film. In terms of independence films, it’s really in terms of getting back to the original concept of it, which is that it’s a real community effort. We’re basically making the fans the studio - we’re saying if is this something you want to see, and if it is - become a part of it with us. Invest in it emotionally, and donate to the project, so [that we] can get it made with your help.
[With Kickstarter] we’re really connecting with a fanbase, and basically making the fans producers on the movie. So, yeah, it’s a pretty incredible website, it really feels like we’re on the cusp of something revolutionary in the terms of making art and distributing it out into the world.
MediaBlvd> Excellent! I’ve heard a lot about directors who’ve implemented Kickstarter successfully in the past.
Simon> Yeah, definitely!
MediaBlvd> Let’s talk about your film - “I am I.” I believe you’re working on it with your wife? Tell us a little bit about it.
Simon> Well, yeah, my wife wrote it and [she’s] directing it, and she’s going to star in it. I’m going to be in it as well as actor Jason Ritter. The story is basically a girl who never knew her father, [and she] runs into him at her mother’s funeral. He is suffering from a form of retrograde amnesia, it’s an actual disorder called Korsakoff’s Syndrome - he thinks he’s 30 years old perpetually - that’s where he stopped remembering. He sees his daughter and he mistakes her for her mother as a young woman, and she kind of puts it together that he’s the dad that she never knew. And she decides to allow him to love her, playing along as she is her own mother and allowing her father to win her love, and that’s how she gets to know him, basically through this sort of twisted love story. It’s dark and funny and heartbreaking. It’s an unbelievable script.
[As for] Kickstarter, we’ve raised, last I checked, around 86,000 dollars - we’re trying to get to 100,000 dollars, and we have close to 800 backers. We have until Saturday morning [to reach 100,000], and if we don’t reach our goal by Saturday morning, the money goes back to the donators. So it’s very scam-proof - you can’t just take a little money and make a crappy movie, you have to get all of it. To entice people, we have incentives. You can see all this by going to www.IamIthefilm.com, and it’ll put you on the Kickstarter link. [Incentives:] If you donate 10 dollars, I’ll do a ringtone for you, and it’ll be my voice saying something either irritating or whatever. If you donate 100 dollars, you become an actual associate producer on the movie, and you’ll get a credit at the end. At 1,000 dollars, you get a walk-on role. At 10,000 dollars, we’ll come to your house and bother you, knock on your door, and scream it for you. [laughs].
There’s all these different incentives - we’ve had people we don’t know give 10,000, we’ve had people give a dollar. It’s just been incredible that people are responding to this story, and I think people are responding to this video we made that’s sort of this exclusive little video just for Kickstarter. It’s like a 4 ½ minute video done in one shot, and it sort of explains the concept of how the movie came to be, how we’re going to make it, and it gives the vibe of the movie. You get to see me with my shirt off in the bath tub [laughs]. It’s a really fun thing, and we’ve sort of pulled out the stops and done this in a really grassroots, indie kind of way.
www.KickStarter.com
www.IamIthefilm.com
In the rest of Simon's interview, he discusses working on "The Big Bang Theory," his history in sketch comedy, and he dishes the dirt on the possible "Dr. Horrible" sequel!
Check out MediaBlvd Magazine next week for the rest of this fascinating interview!
Source - Media Blvd Magazine
Thursday, 06 January 2011
By Frederic Germay
Actor Simon Helberg stars in the Thursday night comedy smash hit, “The Big Bang Theory,” as the lovable nerd, Howard Wolowitz. Before “Big Bang,” Simon has had roles in critically acclaimed television series, such as Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” and he’s been a season regular on the popular late night sketch comedy series, “MADtv.” In 2008, Simon played the villianous sidekick, Moist, in cult icon Joss Whedon’s, Emmy-Award winning “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” internet series. “Dr. Horrible” won numerous awards, including People’s Choice Award for ‘Favorite Online Sensation,” and it ranked at #15 for TIME’s 50 Top Inventions of 2008.
Simon recently took the time out of his busy shooting schedule to talk with MediaBlvd Magazine about his new independent film, “I am I.” Simon’s film is being produced by the rising film & arts website, www.KickStarter.com. Kickstarter features the revolutionary concept of allowing the online community to finance, produce, and become more involved with films, rather than going the often destructive route of big studios and production companies.
MediaBlvd> Now you’re currently in the midst of making an independent film, “I am I,” in association with the crowd-funding website, www.Kickstarter.com. Tell us a little bit about how Kickstarter works and why you’ve chosen to implement this site to help fund your film.
Simon> Ah, well it basically started as a launching pad for things having to do with the arts. It has films, bands, it also has fashion - and I think we’re kind of on the brink of it really exploding. It’s really unbelievable - you get to try out your product, and get to skip the “corporate element,” and seeing if there’s actually an audience for your project, again whether it’s a piece of jewelry or a film. In terms of independence films, it’s really in terms of getting back to the original concept of it, which is that it’s a real community effort. We’re basically making the fans the studio - we’re saying if is this something you want to see, and if it is - become a part of it with us. Invest in it emotionally, and donate to the project, so [that we] can get it made with your help.
[With Kickstarter] we’re really connecting with a fanbase, and basically making the fans producers on the movie. So, yeah, it’s a pretty incredible website, it really feels like we’re on the cusp of something revolutionary in the terms of making art and distributing it out into the world.
MediaBlvd> Excellent! I’ve heard a lot about directors who’ve implemented Kickstarter successfully in the past.
Simon> Yeah, definitely!
MediaBlvd> Let’s talk about your film - “I am I.” I believe you’re working on it with your wife? Tell us a little bit about it.
Simon> Well, yeah, my wife wrote it and [she’s] directing it, and she’s going to star in it. I’m going to be in it as well as actor Jason Ritter. The story is basically a girl who never knew her father, [and she] runs into him at her mother’s funeral. He is suffering from a form of retrograde amnesia, it’s an actual disorder called Korsakoff’s Syndrome - he thinks he’s 30 years old perpetually - that’s where he stopped remembering. He sees his daughter and he mistakes her for her mother as a young woman, and she kind of puts it together that he’s the dad that she never knew. And she decides to allow him to love her, playing along as she is her own mother and allowing her father to win her love, and that’s how she gets to know him, basically through this sort of twisted love story. It’s dark and funny and heartbreaking. It’s an unbelievable script.
[As for] Kickstarter, we’ve raised, last I checked, around 86,000 dollars - we’re trying to get to 100,000 dollars, and we have close to 800 backers. We have until Saturday morning [to reach 100,000], and if we don’t reach our goal by Saturday morning, the money goes back to the donators. So it’s very scam-proof - you can’t just take a little money and make a crappy movie, you have to get all of it. To entice people, we have incentives. You can see all this by going to www.IamIthefilm.com, and it’ll put you on the Kickstarter link. [Incentives:] If you donate 10 dollars, I’ll do a ringtone for you, and it’ll be my voice saying something either irritating or whatever. If you donate 100 dollars, you become an actual associate producer on the movie, and you’ll get a credit at the end. At 1,000 dollars, you get a walk-on role. At 10,000 dollars, we’ll come to your house and bother you, knock on your door, and scream it for you. [laughs].
There’s all these different incentives - we’ve had people we don’t know give 10,000, we’ve had people give a dollar. It’s just been incredible that people are responding to this story, and I think people are responding to this video we made that’s sort of this exclusive little video just for Kickstarter. It’s like a 4 ½ minute video done in one shot, and it sort of explains the concept of how the movie came to be, how we’re going to make it, and it gives the vibe of the movie. You get to see me with my shirt off in the bath tub [laughs]. It’s a really fun thing, and we’ve sort of pulled out the stops and done this in a really grassroots, indie kind of way.
www.KickStarter.com
www.IamIthefilm.com
In the rest of Simon's interview, he discusses working on "The Big Bang Theory," his history in sketch comedy, and he dishes the dirt on the possible "Dr. Horrible" sequel!
Check out MediaBlvd Magazine next week for the rest of this fascinating interview!
Source - Media Blvd Magazine