Unbalanced

On October 12th I had the distinct pleasure of attending the first screening of UNBALANCED, which is an independent television pilot written and produced by the very talented Neil Reynolds. The pilot was directed by Jeremiah Jordon with Jason Haas as Director of Photography.

I'm going to post the trailer here, but you can also visit the UNBALANCED official site for more information.

Reynolds' writing is sharp and funny, brought to life by some familiar Boston and Cambridge actor-comedians. The character work alone was simply delightful to watch. The plot may revolve around a fantasy-world, but most of the humor is derived from truth in relationships and in real life situations. A great example of this involves the obligatory sexual harassment video that Ian (Ryan Petti) absently watches on his first day of work while he talks on the phone to his sister.

It's the very real relationship between Ian and his sister that is the driving force of the entire show. Ian's sister Wendy (Jane Lee), is plagued by hallucinations. Her fantasy world hallucinations are colorful, visually striking and fun to watch. Her monsters Mongor (Brian Church) and Carl (Taylor Newhall), constantly entertain the audience as they terrorize Wendy. The insanity of Wendy's mind makes a great contrast to Ian's bland new office job. But the UNBALANCED team never lets the jokes overshadow the love Ian has for Wendy and as he comes to her rescue again and again it's clear that their relationship is what will last no matter what stakes might be raised in their future.

UNBALANCED is currently being submitted to festivals around the country, and I will hopefully be updating as it gets accepted so you can go out and support it yourselves. For now, the trailer:

Unbalanced Trailer from Neil Reynolds on Vimeo.