Actress Uses the Internet to Launch a New Form of Entertainment

June 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Arloa Reston, an actress who has enjoyed moderate success in Hollywood, has watched work prospects dwindle with the advance of technology.  Illegal downloads and pirated videos are at an all time high and DVD sales are at an all time low.  According to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, more than 140,000 entertainment-related jobs have already been lost to content theft.  On top of that, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike of 2007-2008 and the overall decline of the economy have led to current struggles for individuals in the industry.

Instead of cursing the shifts in the entertainment industry, Arloa and her team at Hypnopompic Productions are embracing them.  “With change comes opportunity.” She says as she talks about the inspiration for Awakening.  “Yes, piracy is at an all time high but it’s not as simple as people not wanting to pay.  They want to watch their shows on their own schedules wherever they are, on computers, tablets and smart phones.  It’s frighteningly easy to download movies and TV shows, legally and illegally.  Just look at the bandwidth being used for NetFlix!”

This idea, combined with the fact that basic film equipment and tools have become available to the general public, has led to a proliferation of web series launched online.  Unfortunately, many of them try to create miniature versions of what people might watch on TV, and many do so with little experience and budget.  If people have access to regular TV and feature films on their computers, what would inspire them to spend some of their available time watching a web series instead?

That question led to the development of Awakening.  Awakening is not your typical web series.  It does not try to be a mini TV imitation.  The show incorporates social media as an integral component of the series, allowing the audience to be involved in the show in a way that cannot exist on regular television.  The main character’s blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts precede, lead into and become a part of the series.

Reston is adamant about offering a quality production, and the team behind it consists of Hollywood professionals.  Quality does cost money, and she initially plans to fund the show with crowdfunding via IndieGogo.  Once it catches on, production will be funded with product placement and sponsorship as well as the sale of show-related merchandise.  This will make illegal downloads irrelevant and enable her to keep the content free of charge for the viewers.  Surprisingly, Hypnopompic Productions is not looking to make a profit on the show, but simply wants to tap into some of the wasted creative talent in Hollywood by offering up a unique, cutting-edge entertainment outlet for the public.

If everything goes their way, by Summer’s end, the Awakening team will have the funding needed to launch the series.  And in the process, change the way an audience experiences entertainment.

To learn more about the project, readers can visit the pitch page here:
http://www.IndieGogo.com/AwakeningSeries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRcYlkyniB4



About Arloa Reston:
Arloa has been a professional actress for over 15 years in film, television and theatre, and her credits include Saurian (sci-fi channel), Another World, Days of Our Lives, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Joey, the upcoming feature, The Collection and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde among others.  She produced a production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at The Pearl Theatre in New York City, writes professionally and dabbles in cartoon drawings.  On the business side, she worked in the marketing departments of Goldman Sachs and Carlson Companies.

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hyp·no·pom·pic/ˌhipnəˈpämpik/ Of or relating to the state immediately preceding waking up.

Hypnopompic Productions creates original programming to entertain the world across multiple platforms.