Creed - GVP

Creed 1.5x2 Preview

2010-08-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Short blurb for tomorrow's episode, titled 'Decisions.'

Seraph reacts to the horrific events at Daberath High School while Tanya and Sage have to work through a slight case of PTS. Priest returns and wonders if the erroneous report was simply a screw job by the media or something deeper, while his father faces the wrath of an irate Mayor Hampton.

1.5x1 - Afterschool Special

2010-08-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

1.5x01 - 'Afterschool Special'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: August 18, 2010
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Creed returns this Tuesday

2010-08-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

After a long time off, Creed will return this season with a 12-episode run. What we're doing is taking the back twelve of the originally planned 22 episode season and wrapping these into a season 1.5.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and support. It's much appreciated.

Season 1.5 Coming Soon!

2010-03-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile! Update: the back 12 episodes have been drafted and we (Rob Kenneth) and I are currently going through rewrites. Ideally, I'm targeting a start date at the end of this month. I want to run the 12 eps straight through to the end with no breaks and we've got six in the can at the moment.

Stay tuned and thanks everyone for your patience.

Trivia Question - Episode 10

2009-07-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

What nickname did Rox use anti-abortion activists?

Trivia Question - Episode 9

2009-07-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

What's the name of the airport the climatic scene of this episode took place in?

Trivia Question - Episode 8

2009-07-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

What's the name of the water port in Seraph?

Trivia Question - Episode 7

2009-07-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Trivia challenge is back! Here's episode 7's question.

What's the name of the bar Tanya works at?

1x10 'Pro Life'

2009-07-01T21:58:00.001-07:00

1x10 - 'Pro Life'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: July 1st, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

1x09 'Bolgia Five'

2009-07-01T21:57:00.001-07:00

1x09 - 'Bolgia Five'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: July 1st, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Episode 1x08 - C.Y.A.

2009-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

1x08 - 'C.Y.A.'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: June 22nd, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Update

2009-06-13T17:57:00.001-07:00

So obviously it's been awhile between episodes. The two month bout with pneumonia combined with a sudden increase of my workload at the real life job left precious little time for writing.

Having just finished up my second season of Connor over at MZP, I'm now able to focus on this show and Desperate Screenwriters.

I'm determined to finish both before the end of July, so I'm just going to air them as they come. Consider I'm six episodes up on Creed at the moment, that should be soon. Ideally, I'd like to air the show on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the finale.

Stay tuned.

Episode 1x07 Online

2009-03-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

1x07 - 'Little Drummer Boys'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: March 30th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Year One Diary #4: Breaking Down the Euphoria Arc

2009-03-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, since episode 6 (pain in my ASS!!) is finally up on the website, I can talk a bit about the thought process that went into shaping the Pilot Arc (one of my many phrases for it) of the series.

I guess the first question I should answer is why a drug? That one is pretty simple. It can't be killed. Dealing with a series where our good guys don't really care about putting bullets in asses if need be, it didn't really make any sense to just bring in a bad guy that theoretically had no chance of making it out of the first episode. In the end, we did put a face on the villainy by linking the drug to Shane, Deacon, Angel, and the street gang Tribe, but at least in the cases of Shane and Tribe, they really were there just to be shot to keep the kill quota up. :)

My real focus was to introduce our cast and put them in a situation that forced them to function as a team and I added in numerous examples of characters hopping in to assist others, which isn't to say that any one of them are deficient (more on that in a bit), but they really have been trained to work off one another.

It was also really important to me that Rox officially joining Haven felt earned. Too often in projects like this, you see characters just slot right into their new surroundings with no real growing pains or adjustments. That irritates the living shit out of me. Rox is a spoiled Hollywood brat turned back alley whore and drug addict. There was no way I was going to suddenly turn her around and go all noble inside 35 pages. It would've felt hollow and cheap. The way I approached it was initially she's wondering if Haven is worth her time, but over the course of the six episodes, it's really Rox proving herself to Haven, albeit not consciously. In these six episodes, she saves Bishop's life, helps Lokesh and Priest on a mission, basically brought the whole Euphoria case to Haven via the slut huts, and came up with the idea to blow up the dam in order to prevent the city's water from being contaminated. On top of that, she was drugged against her well, struggled with withdrawal pains (and I should've done more with this), and brutally raped and beaten while strung out on Euphoria. I put her through the paces because I wanted Rox to see that staying in Haven wasn't because she had no place else to go. It's because she has something to offer the team and Haven has something to offer her. As we'll learn during the run of the show, all of them are there for that same reason.

Another goal in this pilot arc was to basically hand the show off from Bishop to the Field Squad. When I aired the original pilot at MZP, Bishop's introduction in the beginning (that I left intact in the final version) got such an overwhelmingly positive response that I got worried. Worried that fans would demand more of The Preacher throughout the series. I indulged a bit in episode 3, but the Bishop/Deacon scene at the end of episode 6 was more about Bishop finally admitting that he needed to stop being The Preacher and get back to being Bishop Baines full time. I liken it to aging athletes, especially prize fighters. It's hard to admit that even though you're capable of still fighting, maybe it's time to move on. Bishop's trained a whole team to fight in his stead and moving forward, he needed to step aside and let them do it.

Deacon Baines became a bit of a problem after I introduced him. I'll be honest here. Deacon's not going to be the Lex Luthor of this show. If I wanted to do this show as Deacon's nefarious plot of the week, well, Creed wouldn't be airing right now. I've consistently stated that Creed is very much an experiment in storytelling. Conventional television these days tends to fall into the trap of introducing bad guys and dropping them fairly quickly. One of the "comic book" influences I drew for this show was the rogue gallery superheroes enjoy. If I put just a casual comic book fan on the spot and said "name ten Batman villains" there wouldn't even be any thought involved. Just fire them right off. I want that for this series, but since this is a "series" it's going to be inherently tougher to introduce villains and resist the temptation to dispose of them when their story is done. It's also tough to avoid the "grand master plan" methodology for developing my bad guys. Using Angel as an example, yes, at some point she became the leader of Tribe. However, she wasn't planning all along to steal Euphoria from under her father's nose. It was a matter of circumstance and opportunity that she came to ally with Brynn. Of course, there will be plots on a grander scale now that they're together (which I alluded to with Angel's final scene in episode 6), but I'm really fighting to avoid the "I'm going to take over the world! Mwahahahahaha" train with this show.

So these first six episodes really were an introduction not just to these characters, but how I want to structure this show. I admit that it's not going to be for everyone. The decision to go half hour was lambusted by more than a few people and I think I'm going to need at least a full season to get people to stop coming into the show with the preconception of "half hour is only half an episode." Bear in mind that this is also an adjustment for me as a writer. I hope to iron the style out quickly, but no guarantees.

I also need to address another subject. Anyone who is expecting me to waste a ton of pages delving into these characters' backstories is going to be sorely disappointed. In terms of storytelling, I'm very much a shark. Always moving forward. I will explain their pasts where I can, but don't expect their pasts to be a driving force in the narrative. I'm so sick of "an old enemy from such and such's past comes back for revenge" crap and I can firmly state you'll never get that on this show. For better or for worse, I'm trying my best to present something different. For those who stick with it through the shaky spells, I appreciate it and I hope that your patience is rewarded.

One more creative decision I want to talk about is the missionary system. First, I blatantly ripped this off from the underrated action flick, Eraser. Second, one thing that bugged me about super heroes over the years is how damn good they are at putting things together. I didn't want Haven conducting autopsies and shit like that. It was important that instead of being self contained, Haven outsourced for help when they needed it. Despite the scale of Project Haven itself, it felt more right to have them venture out into the city and be connected to the people they were protecting. I didn't want that disconnect that you often see with characters like Batman. That aloofness that can happen when you become an icon. I haven't really gotten into the legacy of The Preacher in Seraph, but rest assured the man is a legend in the city. Despite that, Bishop himself still remains such a man of the people. Haven wouldn't exist if Bishop weren't able to connect to people well enough to convince them to take up his fight. The man is up there in years, yet he can still keep a conversation with someone like Tanya and not be overwhelmed by that new generation he doesn't really understand. I wanted him to foster that connection with the Field Squad and make sure that they stay connected to the people. This is why when Asher is introduced in person in episode 4, they meet her out of costume. Same with Manny at the apartment. He knows Tanya by name. I really wanted to avoid the "costumed hero meets informant" feel because that would be diving a bit too far into the fantastical. It feels more rooted in reality to have these people aware of Haven's identities and be willing to help. Not to mention it proves that in a shithole like Seraph (and we're soon to learn how fucked up people in this city are), there are still decent people who believe in doing the right thing.

So these first episodes were about establishing all of that meandering rambling you just sat through. With all of it out of the way, I can focus on really getting into the meat of the story.

Thanks, as always, for reading and supporting the show.

- MJ

Our First Trivia Winner

2009-03-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Mere hours after 1x06 went out, forum member Vinicius submitted all six correct answers and will be receiving a free Amazon gift certificate!

Remember, the trivia contest ONLY runs on the blog, so keep that page bookmarked after each episode is released to stay up to date with the questions.

Trivia Question - Episode 6

2009-03-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Name the bridge that leads out of Seraph.

And with this question, the six episode 'pilot arc' is now completed, so it's time to award our first prize! First person to PM me (Michael Jay) on the discussion board with all six answers gets the Amazon gift certificate.

Episode 1x06 Online

2009-03-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

1x06 - 'Para Bellum'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: March 15th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Remaining Schedule Pushed One Week

2009-02-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

1x07's set to air on March 2nd. Coming off of this brutal work trip and a recent bout with pneumonia, I'm unfortunately going to need a bit more of a breather than that. So I'm going to push the entire airing schedule back one week to give myself and my staff (of one) some time to get ahead of the game.

Remaining schedule will go like this:

1x07: March 9th
1x08: March 16th
1x09: March 23rd
1x10: April 6th
1x11: April 13th
1x12: April 20th
1x13: April 27th
1x14: May 4th
1x15: May 25th
1x16: June 1st
1x17: June 8th
1x18: June 15th
1x19: July 6th
1x20: July 13th
1x21: July 20th
1x22: July 27th

And that should give me enough time to get ahead of the game and continue unabated unless I come down with another illness. I hear smallpox is making a comeback.

- Michael Jay

Year One Diary Entry #3:

2009-02-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here on bed rest after finding out I have pneumonia. Figured now was as good a time as any to do some mindless rambling.

So, episodes 3 & 4 start to flesh out the world of Project Haven a little bit more and I thought it'd be insightful (fingers crossed) to delve into a few of the inspirations behind the creative choices.

First, the Haven complex itself. Rob Kenneth, my right hand man on most of my projects, was instrumental in helping me lay out the actual look of Haven. We'd gone over the size of the complex a few time and determined that with that many people running around and that much equipment to house, it wasn't feasible to just have a one man "batcave" sized place. So I kept going bigger and bigger until I decided on the place having two levels (the Sim Stages are on the lower level). Eventually I'm going to put together an image so everyone can see it visually.

Second, the missionary system. I'll freely admit I stole this from the underrated Arnie flick Eraser. The idea here was I didn't want Haven itself to have such extensive resources that they could basically do whatever they wanted (something that always bugged me about Batman). I liked the idea of Bishop having to outsource for help. Rhonda Asher was a big part of what I can now publicly refer to as the Euphoria arc. There's another web series that just ended called Watchers where all of their research was done in house. We're talking autopsies, chemical research, it's like they had the entire set of CSI built in house. I wasn't interested in that. The missionary system gave me a chance to introduce some people around the city and flesh out Seraph itself a bit more.

Lastly, there's the notion that so many people know who the Preachers are, even going so far as the Mayor of Seraph being fully aware that Bishop Baines is the original Preacher. This is something Rob proposed pretty early in the planning and I agreed with it wholeheartedly. I even toyed with the idea of the Field Squad not wearing masks, an idea that got 86'd when I crafted the cast and having two characters like Lokesh and Sage didn't allow for the general public to know who they were. I'm fascinated by the idea that even though Haven brutally executes any "bad guys," there are still people (like Maynard, like Asher) who believe in their mission and support what they do.

1x05 Trivia Question

2009-02-15T14:30:00.001-08:00

Episode 5 trivia question. Name the new drug.

1x04 Trivia Question

2009-02-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

Episode 4's trivia question. What food item did Bekah make for the Haven staff?

Episode 1x05 Online

2009-02-15T14:27:00.001-08:00

1x05 - 'Outbreak'
written by Rob Kenneth
Airdate: February 15th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Episode 1x04 Online

2009-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

1x04 - 'Vices'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: February 15th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

1x03 Trivia Question

2009-02-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Trivia question for episode 3: What disease brought Benjamin Kiser to Haven?

Catching up

2009-02-10T19:12:00.001-08:00

1x03's now up. As stated on the main website, 1x03 - 1x06 will be airing over the course of this week to get the show caught up (in combination with Desperate Screenwriters). And hopefully work doesn't stick me on 3 week trips of HELL so I don't get behind again.

Episode 1x03 Online

2009-02-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

1x03 - 'A Cry For Help'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: February 10th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Ep 3 delay

2009-01-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

Rather than post this again, verbatim, I'm gonna copy what I wrote on the DS blog.

Should've posted this Friday, but it's been weird couple days. I'm currently in San Antonio, Texas (I live in Atlanta, Georgia) for work. I'm the Web, Media, & Design Manager for a restaurant concept I used to be a server at when I was still in school. Part of my job, since I've done every job in the restaurant (I've been a cook, server, bartender, kitchen manager, front of house manager, expeditor) is to be a member of the training team for new store openings. This means 14-18 hour days for two weeks straight.

Friday was travel day, followed by "get lost going to the store, then back to the hotel, then back to the store" day. My boss has the directional sense of... something... that's bad with directions.

Unfortunately, this has carried over to Creed, since these owners are fucking incompetent and hired a bunch of 16 year olds who can't work past 9pm (this place closes at 11, by the way).

So yeah, haven't sniffed a proof of 1x03 yet. I was hoping to get to it last night, but then my damn laptop battery died (this truly is a god awful trip at the moment, capped off with my credit card being phished and having $300 in charges ran up on it.

Long story short, double bill this Monday.

- MJ

Week 2 Trivia Question

2009-01-12T17:54:00.001-08:00

Each week, we'll have a new trivia question about the new episode. The first contest run will be after episode six, so make sure to keep up!

1x02's question: What was Tanya's nickname for Bekah?

Episode 1x02 Online

2009-01-12T17:53:00.001-08:00

1x02 - 'Trial Run'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: January 12th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Year One Diary Entry #2: Casting

2009-01-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

So, first let me think anyone and everyone that posted a comment on the series premiere. I'm very pleased with the feedback we've gotten thus far.

So, for entry numero dos, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the casting. I'm not really big on VS casting to be honest. I'll paste something I posted on Monster Zero Productions in their discussion board.

I'm not a huge fan, but I look at this whole writing thing a bit differently. I grew up reading more books than watching television, so the art of storytelling is more a reading than viewing thing for me. As such, I came up with the mentality that I'll always be able to produce a better picture in my head of who the characters look like b/c it's my own interpretation than being shown a picture.

As a writer, I don't think it makes me any less attached to my vision b/c I don't cast every single person that gets time in my episodes and screenplays. I just like to allow the reader that freedom. 9 times out of 10, most people who read your work without looking at the casting will picture someone completely different to who you cast. Could actually make a fun game.

As for casting being "pointless" I think it's only pointless when you have an actor in mind for a character without knowing who the character is first. Invariably, you're going to be influenced by their prior work and basically end up typecasting the actor in the role. I like to figure out the character first, so picking an actor is just who looks the part instead of "ooh, I can finally work so and so into my show." There's a bit more of that going around than I'd like.

Having said all that, casting Creed was an interesting and at times frustrating experience, so here's how I came to settle on the faces for the eight regulars.

Bishop (Tony Todd) - Bishop the character was a holdover from The Damned, one of the series mentioned on the 'About the Series' section on the front page of the website. I always had Tony Todd in mind for that particular character. I imagined Todd playing the demon turned Heaven general Bishop as he did in Candyman.

Priest (Brandon Jay McLaren) - I'll admit McLaren was sort of an odd decision. Allow me to humiliate myself for a moment and admit that I used to be an enormous Powers Rangers fan back in the day. After the god awful garbage that was Lightspeed Rescue, I only caught episodes when there was nothing else on television, the exclusion to this being Dino Thunder when Jason David Frank returned. Anyway, I caught a random episode of SPD (Space Patrol Delta) while hanging out with my niece and that's where McLaren came from. I went back and watched his first episode and that sold me on him.

Rox (Taryn Manning) - Despite what Leigh Nguyen, one of GVP's Admins will tell you, Manning's not a bad actress. I fell for Manning when I watched Dandelion. At the time, I was mining for Vincent Kartheiser clips to use for the opening credits for my MZP series, Connor. Manning played lead opposite Kartheiser and I enjoyed her in it. So I saw a few other things and followed up. Manning was one of the casting options for the lead for Zero, the other series that helped give birth to Creed. Then... I saw the movie Hustle and Flow. Game over. Manning was the first person I cast on the show.

Salome (Joy Lauren) - Now, I'm not much of a Desperate Housewives fan, so I asked around for this one. Lauren was suggested to me as was Emma Stone. I ended up using Stone for Connor, so Lauren wound up here.

Tanya (Jaimie Alexander) - Welcome to my personal nightmare. In Tanya, I saw a humongous Amazon of a woman ala Nicole Bass. When I decided to soften the character just a hair, I still wanted someone tall and athletic, so an exhausting casting search began. You know what I found out? Hollywood ain't keeping women like that employed. Most of the time, you see a woman bulk up for a role, then lose the "movie muscle" just as quickly. Examples of this are Jessica Biel in Blade 3 (and she was a candidate), Kristanna Loken in Terminator 3, and most famously Charlize Theron in Monster. But naturally, they're just not that big. So I drop the size and stuck on the height. Alexander was a name that came up and a buddy of mine who is a big Kyle XY fan gave me the endorsement. Not to mention, I love the voice. She's got that sexy raspy thing going on.

Sage (Seth Green) - I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love Can't Hardly Wait. I love The 70s Show. I love Greg the Bunny. Seth Green is a major reason for all of them. He's one of those quirky actors I'll watch in anything. End of story.

Lokesh (Maulik Pancholy) - I wanted an East Indian character that wasn't Kal Penn. I almost picked that dude from Heroes and was talked out of it by like fifty people. I've never seen the show, so 50 endorsements of "he has less range than Katie Holmes" was enough to dissuade me. So, I got so desperate that I was ready to go another way on the nationality and pick someone of Mexican/Hispanic heritage. In particular, I'd just finished a rewatch of The Shield season 4 and the movie 911 (awful, never watch it), so I was feeling Michael Pena. Then I remember how much I really enjoy Diego Luna's work. Finally, JT Vaughn, showrunner for MZP's Cult Hero pointed me in Pancholy's direction.

Bekah (Kathy Lamkin) - Now, this one was fun. Bekah was originally going to be a male character (with a different name obviously), but I'm sort of tired of jolly fat guys being represented on television. I come from a family of big women and it was startling how underrepresented larger woman were on television and in film. Shows like Married with Children and flicks like Shallow Hal made light of the girthy woman. For the most part, big women on television were relegated to comedies. So when I made the choice for this character to be female, the search was very difficult. All that did was really spur me on to use a heavy set female. I like working against type in my work and you don't see women like Lamkin playing roles like Bekah is going to play in this show. Despite her weight issues, this woman is smart (probably the most intelligent person there) and can handle herself. She's modeled after my own mother, actually. My mom's been big since she gave birth to my older brother, but never let it get her down and she's easily the most kind hearted person I know. Angelo Shrine, another MZP member, suggested her to me. I watched an ep of Nip/Tuck she guest starred in and that was that.

1x01 Trivia Question

2009-01-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

If you don't know what this post is about, read this post right here.

This week's trivia question: What does the term 'cane' stand for in Project Haven?

The first submissions will be accepted during the hiatus after 1x06, so do not send me any trivia answers until then. Thanks and good luck!

Episode 1x01 Now Online

2009-01-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

1x01 - 'God's Work'
written by Michael Jay
Airdate: January 5th, 2009
Available Formats: PDF | HTML | TXT
Have something to say about this episode? Visit the Creed Discussion Board for episode feedback and discussion.

Year One Diary Entry #1

2008-12-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

So, with just over a week to go until the (actual) series premiere, I figured I'd start up one of these puppies, taking a cue from my man, JJ Estes, over on Threadbare.

Creed has been an interesting journey and after getting an overwhelmingly positive response to the original pilot (changeling car and all), figuring out season one was a tough challenge because I was faced with all these new questions I didn't think about when I wrote the pilot off a bare bones outline.

- Do I want to introduce 'powers' into the show and take a more supernatural route or keep it firmly a real world based show?

- Should the series stay set in the near future or do I want to scale it back to the present?

- Is Atlanta the right choice for the setting or just the easy choice because that's where I currently live?

Lots of hard questions to figure out and I think season one will be reflective of that process. I've never written for a show with this high a number of characters and this magnitude of scope, so I took my time to figure it all out.

The idea for this show, oddly enough given the adult tone, is a return to those action 'toons from my childhood. Not so much with the cheesy lines and whatnot, but something that isn't trying to be spectacularly deep and complex. Rather just a lot of fun and exciting to read.

Television bores me these days, quite frankly. My favorite show, The Shield, just ended this past November and there isn't another show right now that I clamor to watch week after week. A lot of television feels like it's trying really hard, too hard in fact, to be clever and mysterious. Most of the time, continuity and characterization ends up being sacrified for the sake of whatever needs to happen that week and it's irritating.

But I digress. Creed isn't going to be any of that.

For some insight into the actual show, well going into the inaugural season, try not to look at 1x01 as the pilot. The story that kicks off in 1x01 carries on for six episodes, so in a sense, 1x01 through 1x06 combined are the true 'pilot' of the series. There's a central arc that runs through all six and by the end of it, we'll have met some of the faces of the city, the layout of the city, Haven's layout, and hopefully gotten a better feel for the rather large cast I'm touting.

I'm excited to write it all. I'm excited to see what people think of it. And hopefully anyone that is reading this gets more inclined to tune in next Monday.

- MJ

Creed Theme Song

2008-12-27T07:04:00.000-08:00

The official theme song for Creed, 'Getting Away With Murder' by Papa Roach is now available for download.

Creed Opening Theme (ZIP file)

Season One Trivia Contest

2008-12-26T08:21:00.001-08:00

So, in our unrelenting efforts to persuade (read: bribe) people to check out the series, we've put together a little contest.

Here's how it works:

Shortly after an episode is posted, we'll post a trivia question on the blog. When we hit a planned hiatus in the season (after episodes 6, 14, and 18), participants need to personal message me (Michael Jay) on the Discussion Boards with all the answers. So for example, send me answers to six questions after episode 6, eight other questions after episode 14, and so on. The first person to send me all the correct answers each time wins. Winners will be announced here on the blog and on the forums.

So there are opportunities for three winners throughout the season. Each winner will receive a $20 gift card for Amazon.com via email. No need to give out any personal information in the process.

A couple of notes to remember about this contest.

- The trivia questions will only be posted on the blog. They won't be cross posted on the website or forums, so keep your browsers pointed to the blog on airing dates.

- The answers have to be sent to me in a personal message on the forums. I get enough email in a day already. I'm much more likely to miss a submission if it's sent via email.

The season starts January 5th. Good luck!

Season One Schedule

2008-12-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here's the airing schedule for season one of the show. Dates are tentative and subject to change, but we will do our best to stick to these and in the event of a delay, we'll post here on the blog as soon as possible.

1x01: January 5th
1x02: January 12th
1x03: January 19th
1x04: January 26th
1x05: February 2nd
1x06: February 9th
1x07: March 2nd
1x08: March 9th
1x09: March 16th
1x10: March 30th
1x11: April 6th
1x12: April 13th
1x13: April 20th
1x14: April 27th
1x15: May 18th
1x16: May 25th
1x17: June 1st
1x18: June 8th
1x19: June 29th
1x20: July 6th
1x21: July 13th
1x22: July 20th

Promotional Artwork

2008-11-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

Creed premieres January 5th, 2009 exclusively at GypsyVerse Productions

The Original Pilot

2008-11-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

So some of you may not know that Creed's pilot was first written way back in December of 2007. It ran on Monster Zero Productions in the 'Pitches' area of the forums and now we're going to release that same pilot for those out there didn't get the opportunity to read it at MZP so many moons ago.

Quick note: Though this pilot is an hour long script, the show itself is only half hour, so you're really getting the first two episodes combined in this special sneak peek.

After reading, visit GVP's Creed Discussion Forum and let me know how much it sucks.

Creed 1x00

Promotional Artwork

2008-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Creed premieres January 5th, 2009 exclusively at GypsyVerse Productions

Q&A w/Michael Jay

2008-10-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

::Interview conducted by Jay Everington::

You've mentioned the show has some comic influences. How will it differ from other recent comic-inspired shows and films that have been released? Would you say it has a heavy comic book influence?

Well for one, Creed was never a real comic book to begin with. The other VS and films that have sprung up lately were all adaptations of existing material. Creed is wholly original. All the characters are creations of myself and Robert Kenneth. So that's the big difference.

I'd say it has a heavy comic book influence just in the style of storytelling. Network television's gotten rather formulaic for me over the last few years, which is why I gravitated more towards your HBO and Showtime series. Cable shows that strive to be something different. Comic books have been around forever, but there's a sense of sensationalism in comics that I don't think you can get on the small screen without it feeling hokey. Just take Batman as an example. The Riddler's probably the silliest villain ever, but he works as a comic book character when I think it'd be tough to translate the same character to film. Jim Carrey and Joel Schumacher made this point for me years ago.

With Creed, the aim was to create a world that feels real and yet otherworldly at the same time. The reason I love Batman so much as a kid is the setting of Gotham City itself. It almost feels like another character in itself. That's not something that you really get on television these days. Creed's based in Atlanta, Georgia, but part of the reason it's set in the future is to attempt to capture that same feeling of entering another world yet still having it seem familiar.

The show obviously has very strong religious themes running throughout it, yet none of the characters seem to be particularly religious with the exception of Bishop himself. Will this particular theme be explored in greater detail with characters other than Bishop?

Yes, but I didn't want it to be preachy, so you'll see it in different ways. There are themes of idol worship within the city itself. For instance, the Mayor of Atlanta is a retired quarterback who became something of a hero to the city based solely on his athletic accomplishments and that's how he got elected. The Preacher is a legend in the city. You'll see the trangressions of a few characters have come back to haunt them ten fold. I wouldn't say it's a hugely religious show. It's very spiritual though. There's a message in all the violence and carnage that takes place.

What other shows and/or movies - if any - have influenced Creed?

The Shield is a major influence. I just love themes of corruption being mixed with justice and honor. And the idea of doing the wrong things for the right reasons (or vice versa) that The Shield so masterfully crafts into its stories.

I think the X-Men parallel is obvious. A lot of people who read the original pilot mentioned Batman and that's a fair point, but that wasn't a source, to be honest. There are certainly similarities between Bruce Wayne and Bishop Baines, but Batman always had a line he was hesistant to cross (i.e. killing his foes). He never wanted to lose his soul to the darkness he faced night in and night out. Bishop has no such qualms about that and oddly enough it's really his unwavering faith and connection to God that allows him to cross that line repeatedly and never lose himself. Having said all that, this is Bishop we're talking about, not the other seven regulars.

The pilot pulled no punches with its violence and language. Will this continue to be the case with Creed? If so, are there any limits you've put in place as to how far you might want to take such things in the future?

Definitely not scaling back. I wrote this with the vision of it being something you'd see on a premium cable channel. A lot of VS/fanfic that gets graphic with the language and violence tends to do it gratuitously. I try to make sure it stays believable. As for limits, I'm trying a few questionable bits of imagery in season one to see how they are received and I might scale back if people think I'm pushing too much. I can't see it happening though b/c (I hope) it all works within the context of the series.

Do you plan to use more stand-alone stories or will the show be more arc-based?

It's an arc show and there is a story that unfolds over the entirety of the first season, but there's a bunch of smaller stories that are told in blocks and bringing them together is what tells that season long story. There's a six episode block to start the season that kicks off that arc, but those six episodes have a definitive end to them. There's another story surrounding a hostage situation at a school that unfolds over a few episodes, but again, it plays into the main story. It's not your typical "every character has an arc" type plotting that you see in every VS known to man. Everyone just sort of plays their parts and you come to know them by their actions instead of agonizingly boring flashbacks and patches of dialogue that just serve up information and don't do anything contextually.

Each character seems to have their own specific issue - part of the reason they were each recruited by Bishop to begin with. Is the plan to focus on each of them resolving these issues or simply learning to deal with them?

No, not really. This isn't a show about redemption or atonement for past sins. Everyone but Roxanne has made peace with their past. They're not over it per se, but they're past it. Through Haven, they've learned to live with their atrocities (by committing more atrocities... heh). You'll get into each character's head over the course of the season by observing how they act and react in certain situations. Most of their backgrounds are in their cast bios on show's website and blog, so that information is out there. It becomes more about, say, Salome's reaction to something that deals with small children b/c of the loss of her own child. Things like that. The mantra is learning through actions, not words. Roxanne's probably the only exception b/c she's new and won't be mixing it up too quickly. They all have a lot of anger insight whether it's with themselves, the world at large, or both. So hopefully, within a few episodes, readers will learn to pay attention to these characters when they're out and about and discover their quirks that way.

Is it safe to say Creed is the darkest thing you've written VS-wise so far? If so, how tough has it been adjusting to that style?

Yes, it's easily the darkest material I've dealt with. Adjusting wasn't hard at all. The biggest adjustment was the sheer amount of characters to write. I had to introduce 8 regulars in the pilot and I'm not the type of guy to introduce a character in name only, then just throw them into the mythology. The hardest part has been the aforementioned crafting of the city of Atlanta so it feels almost like an organic being itself.

Will the show be ensemble or will one or two characters get the bulk of the focus with the rest playing supporting roles?

Some characters will obviously get more airtime than others, but this is a team and everyone has their own unique abilities that they bring to the table. So depending on what the plot necessitates, you'll see some characters at points more than others. Not to mention Haven has a full staff of supporting characters (doctors, instructors, mechanics), so there are a lot of faces and names. Ultimately I think the core eight are all serviced over the course of the season.

Ok, last question: I have to ask... will the holographic van stay?

Ha! It's out, unfortunately. I'm not sure if that version of the pilot will air, so I'll explain for those who don't know. The team had a van covered with holographic plates designed to camouflage the vehicle depending on their situation. So it could be an ambulance, cut down an alley, and come out a taxi cab. Ultimately it seemed like too much for the realistic base I'd established earlier in the pilot, so it's gone.

Creed premieres January 5th, 2009 exclusively at GypsyVerse Production. Jay Everington is a virtual series writer who currently runs the popular SpiderMan: Gifts & Curses over at MZP

What is Creed?

2008-10-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

About the Show

Years ago, Bishop Baines made a vow on the grave of his slain father, Reverend Albert Baines, to continue his efforts to clean up the rundown city of Atlanta, Georgia. He assumed his father’s former position as the head minister of their family church, but after years of trying to do things Albert’s way, Bishop grew to realize that the city was too far gone for the peaceful methods advocated and employed by his father to do any real good.

So he went another route. He took the mantle of The Preacher, a masked street vigilante who executed every thug and lowlife he came across. He gave up the morals of his faith to restore safety and peace to the city he’d called home his whole life. The legend of The Preacher grew over the years and his name quickly became a boogeyman like presence in the criminal element. Then, all of a sudden, he disappeared.

In reality, Bishop was badly injured on a routine patrol and the incident left him paralyzed from the waist down. He sat and watched as the crime lords and gangs began to take their streets back, powerless to stop them from the confines of his wheelchair.

So, after much deliberation, Bishop created Project Haven, the codename for a collection of wayward souls that he recruited from the mass of parishioners who came into his church seeking atonement for their sins. He focused on those with absolutely no sense of purpose or reason to live. Eventually, he amassed a pool of talent to cover all of the necessary requirements for running a crime fighting syndicate.

From this group, he selected a special squad to take the fight to the streets. Thus far, there are six on this team.

The year is now 2025, ten years after Haven was born. We pick up the story of Project Haven when a chance encounter in a back alley just might yield the seventh and final member.

Bishop Baines (Tony Todd)

The leader of Project Haven and the head minister of Melkite Catholic Church that sits over Haven’s base. Even though a neurological device still allows him to walk and even assume his Preacher mantle from time to time, he’s an old man now and spends most of his days running the day to day operations of Melkite and Haven. His fierce, almost psychotic dedication to fighting the criminal element drove his wife to divorce him years ago. Despite his advocating extreme violence on the streets, he’s remarkable conservative in all other aspects of his life. He doesn’t smoke, drink, use foul language (or allow it to be used around him) and still remains a faithful student and servant of the Lord. He’s very selective about who he allows into Haven, tending to favor those with chips on their shoulders. It’s that anger and bitterness towards the world that he channels and gives focus to since it was those emotions in his own heart that drove him to become The Preacher in the first place.

Priest Baines (Brandon Jay McLaren)

Bishop’s only son and the de facto leader of the street squad of Haven. Priest has been deaf since birth and though he has learned to speak and is very proficient at sign language and lip reading, his lifelong handicap has always frustrated him and made him envious of those who can hear. He’s generally a likable guy, but has a fiery temper that can be triggered at the drop of a dime. He’s a fantastic natural athlete and took to the instruction he was given in Haven like a fish to water. He has known about Haven since its inception and has been with Bishop every step of the way.

Roxanne ‘Rox’ Purcell (Taryn Manning)

Rox is a former child model that let all of her early fame and popularity go to her head. She got caught up in the Hollywood party scene as a teenager, rapidly developing a substance abuse problem, despite her continued success on the runway. After being swindled into bankruptcy by her scumbag of an agent, she returned in shame to her hometown of Atlanta, only to discover her estranged parents were dead. Penniless and homeless, she was forced into a dark life of prostitution, drugs, and alcohol, doing whatever she needed to get through the next day and to her next fix.

Salome Arthur (Joy Lauren)

A seventeen year old street smart girl with a slacker attitude, Salome was disowned by her father after a terrible accident took the life of her infant child. She bounced between orphanages for close to a year until Bishop adopted her and brought her into Project Haven. She is by far the youngest member of the squad and despite her tendency to be incredibly lazy, she’s incredibly resourceful and level headed in stressful situations, which is how she earned her place on the street squad with limited training.

Lokesh Singh (Maulik Pancholy)

Lokesh lived a wealthy, playboy lifestyle that catered to his insatiable lust for women. All that came crashing down when he published an explicit sex video on the internet and the girl was found to be underage. He lost everything and only avoided incarceration because of the connections of his equally wealthy parents. He attempted to start over in Atlanta, but his reputation followed him and after several attempts on his life by the angry residents of a concerned neighborhood, Bishop brought him into Project Haven and erased his identity off the grid. To the public eye, Lokesh has been dead for years.

Rebekah ‘Bekah’ Grimsly (Kathy Lamkin)

A sweet, Southern belle exterior belies a lifetime of heartache and depression. Bekah has been overweight her whole life, as has her entire family. Her girth grew to be so much that she spent all of her college life confined to her room and taking online classes because she was unable to move around or work. So she buried herself into her engineering work, quickly becoming one of the greatest mechanical engineers in the field and quite wealthy as a result. She used her money to undergo several gastric surgeries to reduce her weight and finally be allowed to step out into the world, finding that her size brought many harsh judgments and disgusted looks directed towards her. This only increased her depression. On the brink of suicide, Bishop managed to pull her back and utilize her talents to design most of the technology Haven uses in the field. Her place on the street squad was earned after she showed a surprising propensity for sharp shooting and weapons training. At thirty six, she’s the oldest team member and generally plays the mother role to the rest of them.

Tanya Anderson (Jaimie Alexander)

Tanya grew up in an all male household after her mother died giving birth to her. She followed in the footsteps of her brothers and father, pursuing and excelling in every sport she tried. However, her accolades were never enough for her disapproving, sexist father, who unfairly blamed her for the death of his wife and for being a girl in the first place. Tanya’s older brothers were raised with the same misogynistic attitude towards her and as a result, grew to loathe the male species in general. Her life didn’t get any easier when she came out to her family as a lesbian and she got out of her home as quickly as she could, going across the country for college. From there, she went right into the Olympics and found success that was quickly taken from her after a steroid scandal. She walked into Melkite at the very end of her rope and ready to give up on life when Haven entered the picture.

Sage McDonald (Seth Green)

Sage is the only member of the team that didn’t come to Haven through a want for absolution for his sins. He’s a brilliant computer hacker and embezzled his way to a fortune before the authorities finally caught up to him. On the run, he attempted to make a quick score through Melkite and was busted by Bishop. Rather than turn him in, Bishop blackmailed him into using his talents to acquire funds from the illegal accounts of various criminal syndicates all over the world. Sage has been with the team longer than anyone save Bishop and has grown to enjoy his work, eventually branching out into the physical training and garnering a place on the street squad.

Introduction

2008-10-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome one and all to our production blog.

Creed is a original virtual web series that will start airing January 5th, 2009 as part of the GypsyVerse Productions virtual television network. It's basically a superhero noir series that's been compared to Batman & The Shield. A quick and dirty description of the show follows:

After an injury in the field left him paralyzed from the waist down, the Reverand Bishop Baines semi retired from his night life as the street vigilante The Preacher. He sought out others to train and develop as his successors, but found that none of them had the fiery passion he carried with him all those countless nights.

So he took another approach. He scrapped the bottom of the barrel, taking in people on the lowest rungs of life. Those who had nothing left to live for, let alone fight for. Slowly but surely he built up a team, including a select few that were specially trained to fight in the field. They all wear preachers robes and full on black masks, looking more like a gang of bank robbers than street fighters.

His church serves both as a place of recruitment for his mission and a base for his operation (the actual facility is beneath the church). From there, he and his team fight crime, trying to restore the destitute Atlanta to the bustling metropolis it used to be.

A more detailed description will follow in a few days. This blog and the upcoming website that will accompany it will be everyone's main source of information, so check this space for any updates, new episodes, promotional work, etc.