THE STEPS is a one-of-a-kind modern day noir thriller about Charlie Madison, a Hollywood P.I. who used to bug the houses of the stars before getting into hot water with the law and setting out to live under an assumed identity in small town, USA. Shot on location in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the web series depicts a tortured, recovering alcoholic who is desperately hoping that his dark past will stay behind him where he left it. But Charlie’s troubles have followed him to his new home, and they’re not going anywhere.
Greetings, The Steps fans!
Let’s be honest with ourselves, and call Season 1 an unparalleled success.
I mean, we shot, edited, scored and aired an entire 10-episode season. We got a ton of press, and some unbelievably great critical reviews (check the ‘press’ page if you haven’t yet.) We garnered over a hundred thousand views worldwide on 4 different platforms, and that number is still growing. We recently put the series up on iThentic, another strong entry in the burgeoning community of Websites committed to quality Web-based entertainment. And earlier this year, Dylan Kussman won the 2010 Indie Intertube Award for Best Male Performance in a Drama.
Seriously, we couldn’t have asked for anything more out of our maiden voyage. And we have YOUto thank for it. You tuned in, spread the word, offered us encouragement, and generally made us believe that what we were doing was worthwhile. We owe you all a huuuuuge debt of gratitude.
Many of you have also asked us whether or not the story of Charlie Madison is going to continue. The answer, after a lot of late-night brainstorming sessions, is a resounding“Yes!”
But if we’re gonna do it, we’ve got to push the envelope – otherwise, why bother? So, whereas Season 1 documented several weeks of Charlie’s life in Chattanooga, Season 2 will take place entirely over the course of one night in Los Angeles. Charlie has 10 hours in LA to dig up the body of his dead ex-girlfriend. There’s something important buried with her, and obviously only he knows where it is. Along the way, he’ll need the help of some old friends, friends he left behind when he skipped town. The relationships between Charlie and these criminals and cast-offs are going to speak volumes about who Charlie really is, where he comes from, and what kind of damage his addiction has really caused.
It’s an exciting, kinetic idea, and we’re ready to go for it. All we need now, like we have from the very beginning, is YOU.
We made Season 1 with the help of a grant from an amazing arts organization in Chattanooga called CreateHere. We don’t have that luxury this time, so we’ve decided to raise the money for this season with lots of small donations through Kickstarter. As of this writing, we’ve got a month to make our budget, or we get nothing and we’re back at square one.
Any size donation will help, and will officially make you an important part of an innovative story in a new, exciting media format. But for only 50 bucks, you get your very own signed copy of a limited-edition The Steps Season One DVD. Tim Cofield and myself are so proud of what we’ve put together on this thing – it’s got never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, a making-of movie featuring interviews with the creators of the show, director/cinematographer commentary tracks … the WORKS!
The Steps on DVD
And it’s all yours, if you can put your shoulder to the wheel and help us move forward. That’s the only direction this show, and Charlie Madison, can move at this point.
So let’s move ‘em that way together!
Dylan Kussman
