Doctor What

WE ARE A NON-PROFIT PARODY.  ANY AND ALL FUNDING WILL BE USED TO COVER PRODUCTION/INTERNSHIP COSTS! YAY!

What’s What?

We all know that there's only one Gallifreyan left in the universe. But what if that wasn't the case? What if the Doctor wasn't as rare as we thought? What if another Time Lord had been banished to Earth long before the Time War, waiting out his sentence? And what if that Time Lord wasn't as ... heroic ... as our Doctor? What if, instead of saving the Earth, he wanted to escape the Earth? What if, instead of asking "Doctor Who?" we asked "Doctor -- WHAT???"

This loving parody of Doctor Who is a web series made by true Who fans.  So true, in fact, that Lead Producer Alex Hluch has staked his entire grad degree on it.  This project is doubling as Alex's internship and thesis that he must complete to graduate. 

Why What?

When lead producer Alex Hluch first came across the BBC treasure that is Doctor Who, it literally inspired him to take his creative work to another level. Alex’s second MFA (this one from the University of Central Florida) requires students to secure an internship in acting. Rather than perform summer stock in the middle of Indiana for 10 weeks, Alex had a better idea: why not put his entire degree/reputation/finances/well-being on the line and try to produce an entire series? Brilliant! He collected a few classmates, colleagues, and fellow Whovians, and preproduction began. Over a year later, we have scripts for a six-episode season of hijinks and hilarity.

Doctor What is more than just a fanfic devoted to the Who-niverse; it is our first endeavor to create a fully-funded, independent production utilizing the amalgamation of skills that we have amassed over our careers acting and experimenting with filmmaking. As the production team, we will do everything we can to make this the best project possible with the goal of entering Doctor What into the 8th annual Independent Television Festival in 2013. Funding this project is not just funding another web series, it's funding a fellow Whovian's dream of creating his passion project while simultaneously finishing his graduate education.

We want our time in academia to include practice as research, and this is our attempt to synthesize education and experience.

However, we simply cannot do it without your support. After years of producing no-budget fare, we can safely state that we will not be able to accomplish our goals without financial assistance. In addition, Alex's internship parameters dictate that a specific amount must be raised in order for the internship to be valid.  This project is too broad in scale and too grandiose to not entail at least the most minuscule budget ($10,000 to create a series is next to nothing, but we know we can make an excellent web series for this price!).  We have large aspirations for our project, and while we do have a very talented crew with equipment of our own, there are still purchases that will need to be made, actors that will need to be fed, and sets that will need to be built. This is why we’re looking to everyone in the community for help!

Why Who?

As I type this I am watching the first episode of Matt Smith's run as the good Doctor. Doctor Who was introduced to me at a pivotal moment in my life, when I had completely given up on television, filmmaking, and creativity as a whole. Far too many vapid, trite, pointless reality TV shows were monopolizing the already-scarce time slots that are simply afforded to the highest ratings-grabbers of every season. Further, every series with an actual script to it either entailed a cliché forensics teamor some terrible, grumbling group of 20-somethings that are supposed to pass as teens in an angsty high-school drama. I had concluded that all was lost, and that entertainment in general had spiraled into a talentless freak show for America to gawk at in between shoveling spoonfuls of KFC failure bowls into their mouths. (It is safe to say that I have dabbled in cynicism.)

Then a friend showed me what would quickly become my absolute favorite television series of all time. As we sat in her apartment in Inglewood, between the sounds of gunfire and sirens outside, I went on a marathon spree of watching every episode of David Tennant's first season. From there I would occasionally catch episodes of Number 11, and eventually, after I made it through all of Smith's first season, I went back to the beginning of the modern run and watched Eccleston's episodes. I have never, in my life, been more inspired by a series.

All that to say that my team and I are SUPER Who fans.

We are making this web series to pay tribute to our favorite physician and his timey-wimey confederates, and we'll be throwing in some familiar literary references along the way, as well (spoilers!). We have been producing short films, sketches, music videos, and features for years and have finally begun the process of creating this passion project that has lingered in my mind. Please help by joining us on this endeavor to create a fully-funded Whovian adventure!

- Alex Hluch

How Much to What?

We are needy, there's no question about that. The provisions of the project ask for certain ... particulars, which are:

• Craft services for actors (unfortunately the silly vermin need to eat)
• Working DeLorean (spoilers!)
• Costumes (fezzes are cool)
• Full-body alien prosthetics for 6 characters (plus the make-up artists to attach said prosthetics)
• Materials for building multiple complete sets (we have a full-blown, professional sound stage at our disposal, but building the sets ON the sound stage is an entirely different financial matter)
• Festival entry fees
• Equipment (ideally, we would want to employ the use of multiple tracks, cranes, lights, and FX programs which we currently do not have)

Why Me? and How?!?

We have options to give at all levels, starting out at $1. But if you can’t give monetarily or if you want to contribute even further, we would love to have you join our Bowtie Brigade!

Whether you're a die-hard fan or a Who-noob who has great talent and is interested in becoming part of a fun project, we would love to have you. We need social media experts, tumblrs, redditors, special FX editors and FX make-up artists immediately! If this is something you enjoy doing, we want you on our crew! Send us an email at doctorwhatwebseries@gmail.com to learn how to help.

If you are excited about this project but don't have a lot of time to spare, please forward this site on to your friends so they can learn about it. We are doing this because we love Who, and we appreciate your support!