Q&A: Shane Felux, Director of Stage 9's 'Trenches'
Trenches, a new series from ABC/Disney’s Stage 9 Digital and Shane Felux’s X-ile Pictures (Pitching Lucas), is set to release later this fall. The 10-episode sci-fi action series promises impressive visual effects and is one of the larger scale productions in online content to date. Tubefilter News had a chance to talk to Shane Felux, creator, executive producer, and director of the series.
Tubefilter News: So what exactly is Trenches all about?
Shane Felux: Trenches opens in the middle of the action where we take you to a war-torn planet and the soldiers who fight for its control. But when the smoke of battle clears, these enemies find themselves faced against each other, the enemy, and a danger beyond their worst imaginings that forces them to work together if anyone is to survive. Trenches is an online series in a large scope production, much larger than audiences have seen on the web before.
TF: How did you get involved in such a ‘large scope production?’
Felux: The whole thing came about when I was on the set shooting my last film Pitching Lucas and my cell
phone rang. I was between shots when my wife came over with my phone saying “The call says it’s from Disney. I think you should take it.” I told the cast and crew to break for a moment and I took the call. A new division of Disney, Stage 9, was interested in making a project with me and wanted to know if I was interested. We talked for a bit as I told them I was in the middle of shooting a film and asked if we could talk more later.
Well we did talk later, and for a number of months we wooed each other and eventually I pitched Trenches to them, which they liked and eventually gave me the green light. At that point I thought, “Oh crap what do I do now!? I was just bluffing.” Bluff or not, Trenches went into full swing with Stage 9 as the distributor and financier and X-ile Pictures (which is really just Shane in his basement) as the production company that does it all!
As executive Producer and Director of Trenches I had to pull everything together and set it all up: hire the crew; cast the actors; coordinate and design costumes and sets; set up finance, insurance, and payroll; you name it, we had to do it and again the cast and crew I coordinated helped me make it all happen. Everything. Stage 9 needed to know and approve of what I was doing with their money but were pretty hands off in the process, allowing me to do all I needed to set up this very large film project. And they collaborated and provided support when I needed it. The idea presented by Stage 9 was that Trenches was a grassroots project allowing young filmmakers to go out and take their shot and make their films. It has been an interesting experience and I have learned and grown a great deal. Through this rare process I also got to work with in a studio system to see what that was like. A great learning experience and one I value. Stage 9 leaned forward and gave the little guy like me a shot allowing me to make another film.
TF: What are Stage 9 and X-ile hoping to get out of releasing content online?
Felux: Online content entertainment and broadband distribution is the next wave for film and TV, and Stage 9 really sees the potential of this business. All my films to date have been online so I’ve experienced first hand the power of this venue and its amazing growth. Vendors need and are looking for good quality content for the web and the industry is looking to capitalize on this market. The internet is where we go for our news, information, just about anything and even entertainment. This venue is going to grow even more with smarter technology in broadband video, mobile and MPG devices which are here now for viewers to utilize. For web distribution we can provide even more choice to audiences, and as filmmakers it gives us another realm in which we can share our work with millions, which is very powerful and exciting.
For me I hope it opens the possibility to start a true career in film making allowing me to do it full-time and quit my 9-5 job, perhaps get out of my basement and get in the professional industry, allowing me to do even more films as a living that supports my family as they come first. The little guy steps up.
Fans of the web series 
Rewind of the week on Tubefilter News – top stories in case you missed them. This was a week of spoofing, with the whole gambit of folks to poke fun at; hipsters, religion, personal trainers and, well, fat guys drinking at a bar. Seems they are all fair game on web television and you, our readers, couldn’t get enough of them. As one Tubefilter News reader noted after watching 
