H+ Hangout (2) John Cabrera Hosts Cast

Live Google Hangout with some of the cast of H+ The Digital Series, hosted by co-writer/co-creator John Cabrera.

The story and characters of H+ really stood out for Caitriona Balfe (in London), and these helped her decide on a web series.  The stigma was that it would be a low-budget, hence low-quality effort.  Sean Gunn added that other than the money issue, a web series has a "higher ceiling."  Perhaps much of Hollywood, and its viewing audience, haven't quite understood or appreciated the online platform.  But, oh, higher ceiling is such an understatement.

The story was fragmented: multiple story lines, several locales, shifts in time. The challenging, non-linear nature of it was certainly what drew me.  That fragmentation nature mirrors the nature of YouTube, where full-length films are far and few between.  But that fragmentation has another meaning: short and episodic.  It's perfect for the short-attention span of an online viewing audience; it's also perfect for producers, as it's ready-made for advertising.  On TV, for example, a show has to have commercial breaks.  So while we may bemoan the fragmenting of a show on that medium, we see a fragmented show online as simply fitting.

The characters

• Gunn is not an IT guy, which makes him a fitting actor for a Luddite character.  
• Cabrera dances around an intriguing fact about Balfe's character, but yes I know what he's talking about.  I came across the key fragment while scoping through all the videos.  In any case, I agree that Breena is not necessarily a cold, calculating bitch; there is passion within her, and there is a troublesome, lonesome nature, too.  
• Francesco Martino's (in Rome) Matteo is fated to do what he can for others, but at the same time doesn't necessarily have someone who can comfort him, as a priest.  
• Samuel Vauramo's (in Rio) Topi falls in love with Manta (Hannah Herzsprung), despite the fact that she's killed men before.  He understands the context of the bad she's done, and hopes that he can help her stop doing it.  Topi does not have an implant.  
• Francesca Fanti found a way to connect with Simona's spirituality, and in so doing found herself personally with a more open mind to things and experiences.  She had to stay in that state, even after a day's filming, so it wasn't just a matter of turning off and going out afterwards.  
• Amir Arison had to ask a lot of questions to get how to play Y. Gurveer, and likened the H+ manual to a bible.  

For budget reasons, the actors didn't have much opportunity to mingle with, and get to know, each other.  They came in to set, and filmed whatever were their scenes, then left.  Balfe was an exception, in that she came back for more filming later on.  Cabrera at the end said he hoped to see everyone IRL (in real life). 

Cabrera dances on another question: Why was it that some people died and others survived?  Besides the fact that some have the H+ implant, and some don't, I need to investigate this point further.  The biotechnological apocalypse does in a third of humanity, but what about the other two thirds?  He said there were clues in the episodes.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD