By Mason Doerr
For the Advertiser
CARO — For a group of local film enthusiasts, the world doesn’t end with a bang, it ends with a whimper.
Generation Armageddon, a post-apocalyptic online TV series featured on Youtube, centers around a couple of groups attempting to survive in a world destroyed by an atomic armegeddon.
With the first season about wrapped up, Director and Producer Zac Deering and Lead Actor James Hudson are thrilled with the success of the show.
“I always wanted to be in film. Not the acting side, but editing and cinematography,” Deering said. “The best way to do it is to have a portfolio, so I had to make something and this idea popped into my head to make a post-apocalyptic series.”
The ninth episode in the series was released on Oct. 29, and the tenth and final episode of the season will be released soon.
With more than 400 “likes” on Facebook, 3,300 views and 43 subscribers on Youtube, Deering worked with dozens of amateur actors to make this series a reality.
“I was surprised how many actors I could get on board with it,” Deering said while noting that about 40 people were involved in the project. “We’ve had a lot of extras. There were the ten major actors and then about 30 extras overall.”
Despite the main premise of survival, the show is also about growing up and dealing with harsh and uncomfortable situations.
“If the world went to *expletive*, how would you cope?” Hudson said.
“What would people really become on their deepest levels, when people don’t have the luxuries that we do, when everything is in a hostile world?” Deering added.
This March will mark the one-year anniversary of filming for the series. Throughout the last 10 months, Deering and Hudson have had their fair share of struggles.
“Corporate channels have like 10 writers for a show and we have one trying to write for 10 different characters,” Deering said. “That kind of fries your brain sometimes.”
Along with being understaffed developmentally, weather and timing were also roadblocks that the crew had to combat while filming for 3-8 hours primarily on weekends around the Thumb area.
“We had most of the characters planned out before we started filming. But (at one time) we were thinking about cutting a few of them because it was hard to get actors that were reliable,” Deering said. “You have six different actors trying to show up on the same day at the same time and everyone has their own thing outside of this, so it was pretty hard.”
“The weather was the hardest for me, anyway. We had to wear a lot of gear for a lot of episodes,” Hudson added. “It would be 90 degrees one day and we’d have to wear full masks and gear for fight scenes. I literally thought I was going to pass out like 10 times.”
Despite their struggles, Deering and Hudson also had a lot of fun with the project and they see it as a learning experience and a stepping stone to something bigger and better.
“I’ve done a few film projects before in college, but this is the first time I was in charge. So, it’s kind of a big deal for me,” Deering said. “I’ve always enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot, especially things not to do.
“It’s definitely good practice and I have gotten compliments on the show, which makes me want to do more,” Deering added. “I’ll just keep getting better and better with every project I do.”
For Hudson, Generation Armageddon gave him his start in the business.
“It literally got me involved with my start in acting. That’s all I do now and I’m finally making money at it now, so that’s awesome,” Hudson said. “It was my whole start. I had never done anything in acting prior to the first shooting.
“I’ve learned a lot and I had a lot of fun doing it, Hudson added. “Once it’s done, you’re just really proud to say that you’ve done it.”
Having had a positive experience, the duo plans on pursuing a new action/comedy project soon — taking with them the skills they’ve attained from Generation Armageddon.
The next show is going to kick *expletive*,” Hudson said.
For more information on the series, search for Generation Armageddon on Facebook or check out their Youtube channel here.