'The Crew' Blasts Off On KoldCast TV

What happens when you take the mockumentary style and workplace camaraderie of The Office and transplant it on a spaceship? It improves, according to Brett Register, creator of the green-screen heavy sci-fi web comedy series, The Crew. “I’m very much under the impression that any story is immediately better if it’s taking place in space, no matter what the circumstance.”

Register originally came to LA to become a television writer. After a strike-shortened stint with Nickelodeon and a couple of creativity-starved years on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, he finally decided he needed an outlet for his ideas. An avid fan of several emerging web series, he was confident in his the ability to produce a quality show for the internet on a shoestring budget. With a cast and crew of talented friends, including DP-Associate producer Timothy Riese and sound man Matthew Warner, the family shooting atmosphere resulted in a comedy/sci-fi hybrid that immediately developed a growing fan base on YouTube and MySpace.

The first five episodes launched last year, and were successful enough to grab the attention of KoldCast TV

, who have picked up the tab on the remaining 10 episodes of the first season. Register is excited about the partnership, and he tells us he “can already tell that they’re really committed to web television and finding new and creative ways to promote and market shows.”

As for The Crew’s biggest inspiration, “it came from me as a kid watching Star Trek and wondering what everyone else on the ship was doing. I mean it’s a floating city, there are literally hundreds of people we never see. The Crew is my small attempt to appease young Brett. I’ve always been a fan of dialogue driven stories and I just thought it would be funny to do a subtle office comedy with such a grandiose background. Again, anything is better if it’s in space.”

The Crew launches on KoldCast TV this Monday, January 21, airing new episodes every 2 weeks, though, according to the creators, that may change to weekly soon.