Some Moorpark College students are creating a web series to generate work experience as a result of employment fields growing more competitive.
Kelsey Anderson, 18, and Nick Moreno, 20, created the web series “Miles to Go” as a way to connect with and help young people to obtain hands-on experience in the areas they are studying.
“It’s based off of what we ourselves or other people we know have gone through and it’s certain struggles teenagers deal with,” said Anderson. “We want to show how to overcome those struggles, without always having a happy ending.”
“Miles to Go” will feature several young people going through real life situations such as rape, drugs, and sex. Anderson and Moreno will star as two of the five main characters, T.J. and Kasey.
“We were talking about what we wanted to do with the characters, and we wanted to create half real, half stereotypical people,” said Moreno. “We thought about what we would be stereotyped as and then worked from there.”
When writing the scripts, Moreno and Anderson work together to first create the skeleton of the story line, then write the dialogue for each of the characters. The co-creators edit, produce, and use their own equipment for filming to fully immerse themselves in the creative process.
Although Anderson and Moreno have never created a web series, the co-directors have experience in acting, directing, and writing going into the conception of the series. Anderson has written and directed short films, including “The Backstabber” and Moreno has written several scripts such as “Ain’t No Place for a Hero.”
Alongside Anderson, a film major, and Moreno, majoring in creative writing, is Moorpark student Jordan Haddad, who works to design the lighting, costumes, and makeup for the series. The creators met just this year in an acting class at Moorpark and began work creating characters, writing episodes, and casting the leads and extras through video auditions.
Anderson and Moreno have written the plots for the twelve episodes of the series and will begin filming this month, with ideas for season two already being discussed. The series will be uploaded on a weekly basis to Anderson’s Youtube channel airing in November or December.
“Juggling this series, school, and our other jobs is going to be an interesting ride, but we’re going to make it work because this is our baby,” said Anderson.
