Spin Master – “All About Abby” – Web Series
I have worked on many Spin Master commercial productions over many, many years, and am a big fan of toy and kid-oriented content. I was pleased to work with Mowad Productions, John Nadalin and director/cinematographer Martin Wojtunik on this fun web series called “All About Abby”.
“All About Abby” follows the make-believe adventures of Janie, the biggest fan of Abby Hatcher (the heroine of a cartoon produced by Spin Master). This project was Janie’s first real acting experience, and she made the most of it! Janie brought energy and projection and so much enthusiasm to this project. The whole crew loved working with her.
For the first leg of this journey, we filmed the first 12 episodes pre-Covid, wrapping the exact day before the first Ontario lockdown. Martin created some fun and energetic episodes with tons of great ideas, all in the Spin Master studios. Our art director, Darryl Fraser, was integral to the whole production, working tirelessly from designing and dressing our sets to creating props on the fly as ideas struck.
Our wrap day was sad and uncertain, as we all faced the initial lockdown with no answers as to when we might all work again.
Then, a couple of months later, producer extraordinaire John Nadalin called me with a grand idea. What if we filmed a dozen more episodes with Janie, but from her house, filmed by her mom and dad? Could we pull something like that off with all this uncertainty? Well, we did it. We sent a bunch of wardrobe and props to Janie’s parents, had them quarantine the shipment in the garage for a couple of weeks, and then, over Zoom, we rehearsed and filmed with Janie and her family.
We never had any actual physical contact, but through several shoot days strung out over a few weeks in May and June, I directed another dozen “All About Abby” episodes, working with Janie’s Dad, Jay-ar, to frame, light and art direct the scenes that we filmed with Janie. We were not able to match the production quality of Martin’s episodes, but I think we did alright, given the circumstances. And I thoroughly enjoyed directing Janie in her home, while I was in my attic, trying to communicate over Zoom. Incredible that technology is allowing these things to happen!
Production Company: Mowad Productions
Director/Camera: Martin Wojtunik (martinwojtunik.com)
Production Manager: Vimla Mangru
Art Director: Darryl Fraser
Wardrobe Stylist: Julianne Costigan
Hair/Makeup: Sherlyn Torres
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