Amidst all the trailers and teasing that sci-fi fans endure this weekend at Comic-Con, it’s nice to see a little present waiting for them when they hit their laptops up their return. Ark debuted this weekend on Hulu, all at once, in its full nine-episode glory.
Right from its unassuming opening, we find female hero Connie (Xena’s Renée O’Connor) whisked away from her couch to some mysterious spaceship bio-dome—and “Ark” perhaps? Soon we meet another confused captive (Adam Cardon) who seems to be from another time all together. The two carefully explore their oddly vacant ship—an impressive combination of CGI and constructed set—trying to figure out who or what is behind all this.
Yes, this is the same Ark from director Trey Stokes that 60Frames was shopping back in early 2009. Ark was originally created by Robbie Thompson as a graphic novel series that would release on Oni Press, with the web series developed by producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah through their Sachs/Judah Productions. Stokes came on as director and in effect its showrunner, according to our earlier interview with him.
“Many things in the web series may seem inexplicable, but nothing is arbitrary, there’s a reason for everything,” said Stokes in that interview, hinting that we might just have to watch this thing more than once to fully understand it.
But rather than be satisfied with an interview from 2009, we decided to catch up with Stokes, Sachs, Thompson and O’Connor for their thoughts on launching it online and what might be in store for Ark beyond this first season.
Tubefilter: So what’s the official word on where the story came from?
strong>Gabe Sachs: This is a project that came to us from writer Robbie Thompson and evolved into a collaborative effort between Robbie, ourselves (Sachs Judah) our director, Trey Stokes and actress Renée O’Connor. We knew that Trey’s visual storytelling would bring Ark to life in ways we never imagined. Jeff Judah and myself have wanted to delve into this world for a long time and waited for the right project to get involved with. We all owe 60Frames a huge thank you for helping us realize the project and believing in us and it.
Robbie Thompson: I was doing research on deep space travel for another project and I came across all this amazing material on the subject. I got on a plane to go back home to Detroit with all those ideas bouncing around my head, and by the time I landed I had the bare bones for the pitch for Ark.
Tubefilter: Let’s talk about the story, is there a religious undercurrent at play here?
Sachs: There isn’t really any religious undercurrent to it per se. We love the fact that people may watch it at first and say…wait…another group of people trapped in a ship? We want to take these stories to places unexpected. We want to people to enjoy the mystery and watch this world unfold in ways that will hopefully be unexpected.
Renée O’Connor: I personally felt that Ark had more of a philosophical slant to it rather than a religious undercurrent. I responded to the themes that had an existential tone, such as “What are we doing here? Where are we going? And why?” I resonated with Connie’s vulnerabilty in wanting to have a sense of control of her life yet releasing herself into the bigger picture, without a clear sense of what that may look like. I am sure one reason for this was because I truly did not know what the ultimate destination for Ark would be!
Trey Stokes: Yeah. I thought the title might present some issues but as opposed to religious conotations, I liked the fact that the title is short and makes a good logo. In actually, I like that the titled leads to that assumption of a certain kind of story that may not be what we’re really doing.
Tubefilter: Are you happy to see the show released after sitting on the (digital) shelf for so long?
Sachs: SO excited. Jeff and I have waited a long time for this and we’re really excited to finally get the opportunity to share it with people. The cast and crew worked really hard to get this shoot done in such a short amount of time and Trey Stokes worked endless hours to bring this to life with a look and feel that we were all really happy with. So when the opportunity came up to put this up, we were beyond psyched. Renee has been so amazing during this entire process as well and continues to help us get the word out. Even at Comic-Con this weekend when Renée was stopped to take pictures with Xena fans, she always mentioned the show and that people could finally see it.
O’Connor: I am thrilled Ark is out there now!!! It started as the micro show on the abandoned Firefly set, and a lot of heart went into finishing it. I hope everyone gets to enjoy the show as much as I did running around with Trey and a camera!
Stokes: I’m really happy that it’s finally out there! I’ve been so buried with this movie I’m directing that I haven’t had a chance to get as excited about it as I want to but I truly am excited about it! I have told the cast and crew of this movie so hopefully they will tell everyone and as soon as I’m done shooting I will spread the word as well..
Tubefilter: How has the initial response been?
Sachs: It’s really been great. We’re really lucky. We have gotten all different responses which is awesome because no matter what the initial responses have been, people are still sticking with it to see what happens and that’s all we can ask for.
Stokes: The few times I’ve been able to check online I see a lot of people in other countries who aren’t able to see it yet so I want everyone to know that this will go up on YouTube very soon and they will all be able to see it.
Tubefilter: If it does well in terms of views, do you have plans for extending the story further, either as a continued web series or TV/Film?
Sachs: We’d really like the opportunity to continue this is a web series and if we have the chance to make it as a TV Series or Film, we’re all for it.
Stokes: The clearest thing I have in my mind right now, is a continuation of the Web Series as we are truly excited about where we are going to take this. Robbie’s overall Ark is so epic that there are many different stories that we can tell in that Universe…
So, for your Monday morning web watching, we emebedded all nine episodes below…
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Comments
What sense does dumping a series onto the web at one time make. It is just stupid.
@modelmotion – In this case, it’s a better experience for the viewer. And since there are pre-roll ads on each episode on Hulu, the same number of ads are seen whether it is viewed in weekly installments or all at once.
I’m a fan of a compact release schedule except in cases where there’s heavy fan interaction that influences the story.
“In this case, it’s a better experience for the viewer”
According to who? You? Please do not speak for everyone, especially myself. Its not a better experience. It suxs. A series should be released in episodes or it is not really a series.
Further its geoblocked, so what are your readers going to do when they read this story.
That is why geoblocking is a major phail on the www. The LXD learned that it is a fast road to annoy your fans. It is time everyone learned that lesson and put an end to the archaic business models of the last century.
It is time to put the W back in www!
@modelmotion – it’s a matter of personal preference. But viewers on Hulu seems to be responding well to it. It’s the #1 most watched Sci-Fi show (web or TV) over the past week on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/channels/Science-Fiction
And Hulu may geoblock, but my understanding is when they release it on YouTube later this week it will be available globally.
Geoblocked. I know what I won’t be watching today…
@Marc “it’s a matter of personal preference. But viewers on Hulu seems to be responding well to it. It’s the #1 most watched Sci-Fi show (web or TV) over the past week on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/channels/Science-Fiction”
if you sort by “most popular this week,” “this month” and “all time” it still occupies the top spot! Even over Stargate. Impressive.
And if hulu mattered that would mean something…
Hulu has a large TV audience. A lot of TV viewers are conditioned by the DVD market. However that is quite different from a web series. In terms of presenting a web series in this way it is my view that it suxs to dump it all at once. There is no sense of timing. There is no sense of expectation. It is a dump……. and a dump that does not even respect the values of the World wide web. Geoblocking like this devalues content. It is archaic. If the web had developed like this Microsoft would have been able to set the standards. Fortunately the web had leaders with vision to see that standards needed to be kept open. Geoblocking is just an insult to those standards. It is time for Hollywood and Hulu to waken up and realize that the revolution already took place and they are hanging onto the past.
It is time to put the W back in www!
Sometimes I can’t understand what planet most people are living on. Can anyone tell me why they would oppose geoblocked websites? It’s lke net neutrality. Like all the streamy folks that wore those “ribbons”, are they for or against net neutrality? I can’t tell. Geoblocking has nothing to do with most viewings so why would anyone get upset if someone does not release a product in certain areas. Really. I mean, if I made soap and only sold that soap in the U.S., is that good or bad? And why would you care? As for geoblocking, if I produced a show with pricetags set for each territory I wouldn’t be giving it away to one territory just because I released in another. Some guy in Europe should not see the show if I can get separate ad or sales prices for that territory. I say get over yourself. Companies have to make money or they wouldn’t have the money to produce lame shows like this ark thing. Didn’t 60frames go out of business? Whatever, I do not watch Hulu because Hulu is TV and TV sucks, but it’s not because of geoblocking.
Releasing this show all at once is fine but why attack Marc? I can understand that experience being better, but I also understand modelmotion’s case of dislike. But so what? Their release pattern is fact, so why protest? Is there less orange juice on teh shelves because this is being released at once? I haven’t been to the stores lately, so let me know if that happened. To further MM’s point, I ask why Hulu didn’t just call this a movie and let it play without episode breaks? Or why bother me with ads on products I will never buy? Maybe Hulu is doing this because they have a crappy show and they want be rid of it. Yes, I think crappy– c-r-a-p-p-y. Guys, if a show opens to a CSI-looking scene of a woman on a couch in her apt and then simply cuts to her in a washing machine in space, and ends with her climbing out of a grave in a cemetary somewhere, and no story in-between, then chances are it’s not going to be a very thought-provoking story. So do we just applaud anything with a stdio name on it? This is not sci-fi. This is flailing wildly with confusing while attempting to tell a story. Put simply, this is c-r-a-p.
Todd,
Name one web series that has successfully made a geoblocking plan work and actually made significant money. In fact name one series that pulled the “movie style distribution” model off in more than one territory. (ON THE WEB, not repackaged as a movie.)
Todd we are talking about web series. The web means World Wide Web. It is a concept thought up a few years ago to share information around the World. When you put it on a regional internet via geoblocking it essentially breaks the fabric of the web. Just look at the reaction to the LXD from all those who are geoblocked. This is just an archaic Tv model. If pple choose to use it then so be it, but call them what they are: regional shows. They are not web series because they are not on the web.
As for the release schedule we see a lot of shows just being dumped on the web. How you handle a property has a large effect on its perceived value and web series in general. Just dumping an entire series on the web is just stupid. Yes some people will wait and watch a series of Smallville on DVD, but for most the cycle of releasing a series on a periodic basis adds to the value.
Here you have the worst of both Worlds. A series that is dumped with geoblocking. It is like they just do not care or are too lazy to optimize the potential value of their show. Yes it might still be popular. Yes it might still get views. But by handling their show poorly they have chosen to decrease the inherent value of their property. TV execs could afford to be stupid. Web series producers, not so much.
Oh I forgot to mention…….
It is time to put the W back in www!
Another problem with dropping the whole thing in a day is it kills your chances of driving traffic. What incentive to people have to keep coming back to your channel or your website if there’s not going to be anything else to see there again? Advertisers couldn’t be big fans of that.
Yeah, I never heard of Ark and I accidentally fell upon it on Hulu. Thanks for releasing it all at once! I sat here and watched the whole thing. OMG this is the best Sci-fi show I have seen in a very long time. I think the new Stargate Universe comes close, but Ark is so much more amazing, more suspenseful and thought provoking. Awesome job everyone!
I read somewhere that a comic book series was going to be released too. Can anyone post something about it? I would love to read them before the go out of print.
Kicks Ass! Waiting for more.
Wow…the posters on this site really need to get over themselves. Grow up and get a life. It was great. So what if it was in 9 segments. Watch it and move on with your life.
@modelmotion
they are 5 minute episodes. releasing all 9 of them at one is the same as releasing a regular 45 minute TV episode
This show did more in one viewing than all the SG Universe episodes combined.
I just watched all nine eps and was very impressed. I hope this continues in any form: web, tv, whatever. I agree with other posters about “geoblocking”. Sadly, it will be awhile until we rid ourselves of these outmoded “copyright” restrictions. Thank the gods it wasn’t around in Bach’s and Vivaldi’s time. I mean, if this show isn’t even in production yet, why restrict it? A worldwide audience clamouring for more seems to be what would be wanted. Anyway, this is a great beginning to what I hope is an ongoing series.
The Web series Ark is CLEARLY a Ron Moore style re-boot of the horrible 1970′s TV show The Starlost. Look it up. Anyway, Ark is much better and I’ll stick around to see where it goes.
wow….loved the series….would like to see more…
Interesting, wants more!
I’ve seen the first 9 episodes and think it is fantastic. I captures you right from the begining and the mystery and action keep you glued to the screen. This one is truely a keeper. Please keep going.
that was great.. when are the next ones coming out?
Reminds me of Starlost from the 70′s!
Reminds me of Starlost from the 70′s!
I watched all nine episodes and loved it, definitely kept my interest and hope to see it become a regular series.
what is with the 3 minute episodes? Are people’s attention spans so short that they cant watch something for more than a few minutes? This started out great but an entire season within a half hour or so? I don’t think so. Come back when you have something substantial to offer.
what’s next its 2011, I want more. Awsome!!!!
AWWWWWWW what the crap! what is going on? EVIL cliff hanger
AWWWWWWW what the crap! what is going on? EVIL cliff hanger
NEED FULL EPISODES NOT CLIPS COME ON PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD HULU PLUS KEEP SOME OF THESE GOOD SHOWS ON HULU APPRECIATE IT
NEED FULL EPISODES NOT CLIPS COME ON PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD HULU PLUS KEEP SOME OF THESE GOOD SHOWS ON HULU APPRECIATE IT
You Go. I love this. It’s just that 1-9 should have been one show. Yea, I need to see more!
I just want, MORE!
no question this is on to some thing in line of lost
Yes. Make more. This time. in hour long segments. More,more, more. LOL. It just got good. Now may never see where it goes. Big bummer. Get SYFY to pick it up. The crap that they show. This is good.
I find it hard to believe this show hasn’t been picked up anywhere. I for one would love to see it on Syfy…b/c they take forever to put new stuff on, this one has proven to get the audience into it and intrigued.
Just watched it-a friend made a dvd of it and wanted to share it-Awesome! I love the concept-like “LOST” in space!lol. Very cool! I hope it gets picked up as a tv series! Good luck!
It is an interesting project. Do you loose pieces on the room floor or is it meant to be disjointed?
Watched Ark last night on Hulu when each episode said 6 hours left to view. Sure enough, it’s gone now and I can’t find it anywhere.
1-9 are free on hulu, the episodes are short tho
its in my hulu queue today
That’s an inane response. Did you even pay attention? What does it matter how long it is? Why does anything have to fit your predefined measures before you care enough to actually pay attention?
How do you loose pieces? Just work them a lot until they are loose?
Sci-Fi’s best kept secret. Great series, where’s more. It was tough finding out anything about this series. What is going on with it. Need more Press and PR guys. Somebody pick it up for crying out loud. Where are the NY Exec weenies for the Nets? Sometimes you wonder if those guys could find their butt in a dark room…
Great start now keep it going……………
Sometimes i doubt your commitment to Model Motion!!!!
Thoroughly enjoyed Ark. Though provoking.
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