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We have reached our goal, but our campaign is far from over.
Our little web series reached its goal in an astounding 50 hours. $1,000 dollars was our low-end goal amount. Now we've managed to double that goal. We are gearing up to shoot now. Principle photography begins on the 4th of December. We have our final rehearsal on Wednesday the 1st of December. Everyone is excited. Everyone is nervous. But it's almost go time. Any dollar amount we raise more can help offset some of the marketing costs and web hosting costs we anticipate. We've already been able to order one more episode to our episode order. Which is fantastic. We are in the final hours. Let's do it.
What is this?
This is a brand new web series about the ups and downs of collegiate a cappella! Think Glee with a twist - larger than life music and humor, but with more believable, relatable college scenarios... and no accompanying instruments.
We'll follow co-ed a cappella group Bass Instinct (check out their website) and witness the tension, drama, and love between its members as they get through college (with all of the humor and heartbreak that comes with the territory).
Like Glee, the show will be character centric, and will use music performed by the cast to advance the drama. Unlike Glee, nobody's getting slushied - more likely drunk.
Who's involved?
The show is created and written by Executive Producer Matt Watkajtys and Producers Robert Dietz and Ariel Arbisser.
Matt Watkajtys is a senior at Ithaca College in upstate New York where he is on track to receive a degree in Cinema Production. He began exploring film and video in 2004 where he started a video production company that focused on Professional Paintball. Since, he's moved into cinema production where he's produced and directed a slew of independent productions. Matt has also worked as an Assistant Director on a multitude of shows in both Los Angeles and upstate New York, interned at Warner Bros. in their Theatrical Marketing department, and worked for thestreet.com on Wall Street in their video department.
Robert Dietz is a recent graduate of Ithaca College in upstate New York where he received a dual major in music and business. He began singing in high school when he founded the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) winning male quintet, Ascending Height. During his time at Ithaca College, Robert had the pleasure of performing with and conducting Ithaca Colleges only all male a cappella group, Ithacappella. Along with Ithacappella, Robert had the honor of twice advancing to the finals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCAs), as well as sharing the stage with the internationally renowned rock band, Incubus. In addition to his CARA awards and nominations, Robert also holds three ICCA awards for outstanding vocal percussion, and his 100th arrangement received the award for outstanding arrangement at the ICCA semifinals at Rutgers in 2009. He currently lives in Brooklyn, and works in the Manhattan office of MusicMind Tracks (www.musicmindtracks.com), a brand new music production library.
Our cast is made up of singers and actors from the Ithaca, NY area. Members of our main group Bass Instinct are/were involved in the collegiate a cappella groups Absolute (Cornell University), The Chordials (CU), Ithacappella (Ithaca College), Last Call (CU), Resonance (MIT), and Premium Blend (IC) as well as the semi-pro a cappella group Rock Beats Paper, The Melodramatics Theatre Company, and The Actors Workshop of Ithaca.
All music is arranged and recorded by Robert Dietz, sung by the cast, and engineered by Ed Boyer (music producer for NBC's The Sing-Off and alum of the Tufts Beelzebubs).
Why IndieGoGo?
We're prepared to film an extended pilot of two episodes. Our script is written and in revision. The ensemble is cast and our first two music tracks are already recorded. Our equipment and crew are ready to shoot. We've come to IndieGoGo to do an A round of fundraising to finance our Art Department, help with transportation, lock down locations, and feed our incredible cast and crew during the filming of these two episodes.
Any donation would be greatly appreciated (and check out our perks)!
Once we finish the pilot presentation, we'll upload the episodes to YouTube and the B round of fundraising begins! We hope to have enough support to complete the first season of the show and move the series to our own website.
Follow our Executive Producer Matt Watkajtys on Twitter to keep up with updates on the project: @mattwatkajtys
Check out a clip of Track 1 here and read more about the people of Bass Instinct: http://www.wix.com/bassinstinct/bassinstinct
This is a brand new web series about the ups and downs of collegiate a cappella! Think Glee with a twist - larger than life music and humor, but with more believable, relatable college scenarios... and no accompanying instruments.
We'll follow co-ed a cappella group Bass Instinct (check out their website) and witness the tension, drama, and love between its members as they get through college (with all of the humor and heartbreak that comes with the territory).
Like Glee, the show will be character centric, and will use music performed by the cast to advance the drama. Unlike Glee, nobody's getting slushied - more likely drunk.
Who's involved?
The show is created and written by Executive Producer Matt Watkajtys and Producers Robert Dietz and Ariel Arbisser.
Matt Watkajtys is a senior at Ithaca College in upstate New York where he is on track to receive a degree in Cinema Production. He began exploring film and video in 2004 where he started a video production company that focused on Professional Paintball. Since, he's moved into cinema production where he's produced and directed a slew of independent productions. Matt has also worked as an Assistant Director on a multitude of shows in both Los Angeles and upstate New York, interned at Warner Bros. in their Theatrical Marketing department, and worked for thestreet.com on Wall Street in their video department.
Robert Dietz is a recent graduate of Ithaca College in upstate New York where he received a dual major in music and business. He began singing in high school when he founded the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) winning male quintet, Ascending Height. During his time at Ithaca College, Robert had the pleasure of performing with and conducting Ithaca Colleges only all male a cappella group, Ithacappella. Along with Ithacappella, Robert had the honor of twice advancing to the finals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCAs), as well as sharing the stage with the internationally renowned rock band, Incubus. In addition to his CARA awards and nominations, Robert also holds three ICCA awards for outstanding vocal percussion, and his 100th arrangement received the award for outstanding arrangement at the ICCA semifinals at Rutgers in 2009. He currently lives in Brooklyn, and works in the Manhattan office of MusicMind Tracks (www.musicmindtracks.com), a brand new music production library.
Ariel Arbisser served as President of the award winning co-ed a cappella group the Cornell Chordials and served a brief term as President of Cornell's A cappella Advisory Committee. She co-produced the Chordials' most recent EP Shake the Poet and is currently co-producing their upcoming album. Shake the Poet was runner-up for Best Mixed Album in the country in the 2010 CARAs. Off of that album, Ariel won the CARA for Best Mixed Solo of the year. Additionally, the track "Ramalama (Bang Bang)," also featuring Ariel as soloist, won the CARA for Best Mixed Song and was recently chosen to be featured on the seventh installment of the acclaimed Sing compilation series. In the summer of 2010, Ariel was voted runner-up for Favorite Female Vocalist in the A cappella Community Awards. She currently studies the Meisner Technique with the Actors Workshop of Ithaca and is pursuing a singing career.
Our cast is made up of singers and actors from the Ithaca, NY area. Members of our main group Bass Instinct are/were involved in the collegiate a cappella groups Absolute (Cornell University), The Chordials (CU), Ithacappella (Ithaca College), Last Call (CU), Resonance (MIT), and Premium Blend (IC) as well as the semi-pro a cappella group Rock Beats Paper, The Melodramatics Theatre Company, and The Actors Workshop of Ithaca.
All music is arranged and recorded by Robert Dietz, sung by the cast, and engineered by Ed Boyer (music producer for NBC's The Sing-Off and alum of the Tufts Beelzebubs).
Why IndieGoGo?
We're prepared to film an extended pilot of two episodes. Our script is written and in revision. The ensemble is cast and our first two music tracks are already recorded. Our equipment and crew are ready to shoot. We've come to IndieGoGo to do an A round of fundraising to finance our Art Department, help with transportation, lock down locations, and feed our incredible cast and crew during the filming of these two episodes.
Any donation would be greatly appreciated (and check out our perks)!
Once we finish the pilot presentation, we'll upload the episodes to YouTube and the B round of fundraising begins! We hope to have enough support to complete the first season of the show and move the series to our own website.
Follow our Executive Producer Matt Watkajtys on Twitter to keep up with updates on the project: @mattwatkajtys
Check out a clip of Track 1 here and read more about the people of Bass Instinct: http://www.wix.com/bassinstinct/bassinstinct
Team on This Campaign:
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Matt WatkajtysExecutive Producer, Showrunner, Director
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Ariel ArbisserCo-Producer, Cast Member
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Robert DietzCo-Producer, Music Director