Case Study: The making of ‘Crystal’ the webseries by Crystal Correa

Date: 08 June. 2018
Case Study: The Making of Crystal the WebSeries
Filmmaker: Crystal Correa

indieactivity: What is your film about?
Crystal: Crystal was inspired by my own experiences in my early 20s and how I handled problems…which wasn’t well. And of course that makes for a fun story. I was never the type of person to handle break-ups by just crying and not doing anything about it, and I’m definitely not the sort of person who doesn’t call someone out for behaving badly. Throughout the series, you get to see how Crystal deals with some classic examples of ‘people problems,’ like having an annoying roommate, or dealing with the aftermath of a messy breakup.

Crystal Correa, creator of ‘Crystal’ talks her filmmaking process

The thing about Crystal is that it doesn’t fully define what’s in Crystal’s head and what’s real – it’s all presented in a way that’s as true as possible to how my mind works in real life. Half the time she’s daydreaming or living in her head, which is something that a lot of us do, especially in the creative world, and not fully addressing her problems head-on.

In the series, Crystal is a graphic designer because I have a passion for technology, I have a degree in computer science which I don’t use, so I figured I should put my skills to the test in some way – you know, get my money’s worth through my “second life.” So as Crystal evolves, she will work her way through the graphic design world, and I will get to showcase more original art by me. Throughout the series, you can see paintings in the background that I made in different times in my life. Like I said, I wanted this character to be closest to me.

As with many people in their 20s, I had experiences with some very questionable people and some exes that have no sense of self-control or respect. Luckily we all made it out and no one got hurt. You grow up. But working on this series has been a great way to remember those times and laugh about it. I mean who doesn’t want to look back at a comedic show based off of hard times – it makes it an easier pill for me to swallow. Laughing is better than crying. Also, as Crystal says in the final episode, crying causes wrinkles.

indieactivity: Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Crystal: As a first-time filmmaker, I decided to focus on submitting to local film festivals. I am based in LA, it was easier for me to travel, and also at the time I had just given birth to my son, so I didn’t want to go too far.
I first got accepted to Hollywood Comedy Shorts, and then the Mammoth Film Festival in February (last year). I decided to release the full first season in February, too. I figured after getting into several festivals, it was time to go public and keep submitting.

Recently, Crystal was nominated for a WhoHAHA award for “ favorite webseries,” so it’s safe to say the response has been positive. I also just got news that Crystal also won Best Web Series from Fem Fest, so I’m really happy about that.

The entire series was my first project from my company, C+ Media Productions. I’ve been doing all the social media and marketing myself – all the marketing and self-promotion that I learned doing hair has really paid off, as well as my love of good relatable memes. I guess it makes sense that I would be a good promoter of a series that so closely resembles my own life. It wasn’t easy because this character is so close to who I am and I was bracing myself for trolls. But the feedback has been great, people find it really refreshing, and have a laugh on my behalf.

Things have been going well with my acting career as well, As the lead actress I was able to find a manager and agency that really understood my brand and where I want to go from here (I’m now repped by The Osbrink Agency and E85 Artist Management).

And I was able to finish writing season two which I also wrote as a pilot last year. Right now what I need to focus on is getting the web series out there and getting more feedback before I figure out the next steps for Crystal.

indieactivity: Dramatic Feature
– Director: Crystal Correa
– Producers: Crystal Correa
– Budget: 10k
– Financing: N/A (self-funded)
– Production: C+ Media Productions
– Shooting Format: 1920 x 1080 (HD)
– Screening Format: 1.78 (16 x 9 VIDEO)
– World Premiere: Hollywood Comedy Shorts (2017)
– Awards: Best Web Series (LAL Fem Fest)
– Website: cplusmediaproductions

indieactivity: Give the full official synopsis for your film?
Crystal: After the demise of her relationship, Crystal decides to shift her focus towards other aspects of her life, starting with her living situation. Her roommate Nikki, queen of questionable decision-making, starts to get under her skin. She also piles on her workload instead of paying mind to her emotions. These first few weeks are crucial to dealing with heartbreak and the road to recovery, but Crystal isn’t there yet… in fact, she still has a long way to go.

indieactivity: Development & Financing?
Crystal: I started to write the episodes almost five years ago. I wrote around 40 different episodes inspired by all the different issues people deal with in their 20s, obviously with a bunch of experiences that I went through when I was that age. I like to focus on relatable topics, from dealing with a bad breakup to having a roommate you have nothing in common with.

I think that these are both really relatable problems for young people who move to a big city, who are struggling to figure themselves out, while also following their dreams. I made the lead character a graphic designer based on my own background – I have a degree in computer science, and I have been an artist all my life, so I am hoping to share that part of me more as the story develops. You can see some of my art pieces in the background of season one, so there’s a bit of foreshadowing there.

The idea was to keep it simple, and for the story to be able to reach a large audience, and then go from there. I plan on branching out to tell different stories down the line. When I was writing Crystal, at the same time, I was always writing other characters, sometimes for other projects. It’s easier to keep going when I am not just focusing on one story. That’s how we mostly experience life and people really anyway. You have a lot of different influences coming your way at the same time and you learnt to juggle it all like a balancing act.

When it came to financing, I produced this whole web series alone. Having creative control was very important to me, especially for my first big project, and considering how this character is so close to who I really am.
I saved around $10k over two years, which worked out great, because I was able to use that time to learn how to be a better filmmaker, and to have patience and trust the process.

indieactivity: Production?
Crystal: When I finally got finished with the script, it wasn’t easy to find a solid cast and crew, especially when you are starting out with limited funding. It was very important for me to have a diverse cast with people from really different backgrounds.

That’s the real world. What really helped was when I first came out to LA, I went to a casting director’s meet-up week with other actors and met some ladies there I clicked with. I reached out to some of them, including my hotel roommate Mahasiah Blaise. And Nikki Howard was so funny during the meet-up so I knew she had a sense of humor. This was a dealbreaker for Crystal, because comedy is how I deal with many issues in my life.

I assembled the rest of the crew through other very small projects I had done. I had made a short, Copy, Yourself, that you can find online with a quick Google search. And I was looking for a sound guy at the very last minute, and Luke Kelly reached out to help me for free. I believe in paying everyone I work with, so we worked it out. It was such a nice thing he did, that I will never forget.

It was actually Luke who introduced me to Rony Portillo, who was my director of photography. They had just finished working together on a film, during which they got to know each other better, so it was a really straightforward decision for me to bring them on board. It’s nice when the members of your team are friends and have that trust on set. It makes my job easier, that’s for sure.

Once I locked down the cast and crew, I knew I had limited time. When it comes to independent projects, everyone is dealing with double lives, so you want to be respectful of everyone’s time. I planned out the shoot for five days and doubled up on a day to make sure I got everything I needed for season one.

The season has six episodes and I kept the location at Crystal and Nikki’s apartment with simple outside shots. I stuck with the K.I.S.S. method and made sure not to get carried away with unrealistic unaffordable locations.

Rony was great had handling the shot list and I kept everything moving very quickly, and even made sure Nikki didn’t miss out on going to auditions that inevitably popped up during the shoot. That’s this business – you have to make it work and be fast on your feet. It was a great learning lesson and I never want to stand in the way of others’ careers. I think I got into this business because it’s a very teamwork-based industry.

After we got the footage, we went straight into post-production and that took about two weeks to finish. Everything moved very quickly. It helps that I can draw, so if I needed to sketch out an idea of what I needed the edits to look like, I could do that really quickly.

My good friend Carla Patullo, who is a brilliant composer, came up with my theme song. It was so surreal to be able to hear myself in the form of a song! She just got it, and I was so grateful that she got to do it in a very short amount of time. She also let me use some of her other songs throughout season one.

And for the dance scene in the “Wet Sponges” episode, another good friend, Christopher Hatfield, hooked me up with a great fun dancing song! These are the perks of living in a city filled with so many talented and amazing people, you can always find someone to collaborate with, who will help you if they believe in what you’re doing.

Checking out a creeper in “Parking” with Mahasiah Blaise and Nikki Howard

My boyfriend, Carlos Rosario, was so great, too. He was the art director and helped make sure I got the coloring right and helped with VFX that the show needed. He was there to add the final last touches and make sure my world stayed colorful and happy. Also I was three months pregnant with our son, Rey, so Carlos helped keep me sane.

Once season one was done it was ready for festival submissions!

Crystal Correa, creator of ‘Crystal’ talks her filmmaking process

indieactivity: Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Crystal: At the time, there still weren’t a lot of film festivals accepting web series, but since then, more festivals have become more open to web series, and I’m really excited that this trend is growing! It’s great news for my future projects. Since I was pregnant, I wanted to make sure I submitted to local LA-based film festivals, and I was lucky that there is so much variety here. I have since gotten into a couple of festivals, including the Hollyshorts Film Festival, the DTLA Film Festival, and the first ever Mammoth Film Festival, which really was such a wild ride .

More recently I have started to submit Crystal to festivals in other states, mostly New York. I am ready to travel if that will have us!

Throughout all of these festivals, I was able to link up with other amazing filmmakers and expand my network, which was so invaluable for me to get a better understanding of how to promote and share my work, especially when the first season of Crystal was released – I had a completed project ready to show and discuss.

Actually, Indie Activity featured a friend and fellow filmmaker, Jason Ragosta, so I couldn’t say no to a great website with great taste!

First day of shooting setting up /first scene shot! Car scene in “Parking” .

indieactivity: The Release?
Crystal: The first film festival to accept Crystal was Hollywood Comedy Shorts, but I waited until we finished the film festival circuit for that year. This gave me time to get feedback from filmmakers and the audience at the festivals. I wanted the release date to be a significant date to me. I actually released the show on February 14th, which was my five-year anniversary in Los Angeles…it was a sweet tribute to myself.

I did rebrand the show for the public from Crystal to Crystal the Webseries, because it is the web series version of what the full-length show would be.

indieactivity: Advice from the Filmmaker?
Crystal: I love the idea of trios and trifectas, so I always like to have three options. You need options to keep that ship (aka. the project) moving. Take your time when coming up with those options. And take a walk or breathe if things start to overwhelm you, because it’s supposed to be fun. Don’t lose sight of why you started a project, and if you want to make a vlog, like I have, which is just for me, then do it! Do whatever you need to do to never forget the beginning, so it can take you through to the end.

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