A good deal of the university experience—nestled amid the studying and the partying and all the other bits and pieces that make college college—is the anticipation of what comes after, what happens when we are ejected from campus, diploma in hand, and rocketed out into the “real world.” Consideration of that moment can be horribly nerve-wracking. People choose to deal with that anxiety in different ways—Chris Correa ’10, writer and star of the new web series “Postponed,” opted to do so with a dash of humor.
Written by and starring Correa alongside current senior Robby Hardesty ’12, “Postponed” is the story of two recent college graduates who leave the bubble of their liberal arts college post-graduation, only to find themselves struggling against what seem like impossible odds outside of Wes. Robby (the characters keep their real names) has been recently laid off from his first and only job, while Chris has never been employed. Though it may sound like a familiar situation, it’s the solution the two recent grads concoct that demonstrates the show’s originality—the duo decide to return to their alma mater and squat on campus in a van.
“The idea came to us about a year ago,” Hardesty said. “I was taking a year off and Chris had been out of school for a year and we were both having our first brush with the real world.”
The experience, Hardesty related, wasn’t really going as either had planned.
“I was working in a coffee shop for a year,” he said. “Chris and I both had these menial jobs, and the show was born from the mutual frustration and lack of success.”
Correa corroborated Hardesty’s sentiments.
“It was really incredibly frustrating,” Correa said. “I mean, I was making money but I was like, ‘This is not what I went to college for.’”
In the show, which is based on a mixture of real life and fiction, Correa and Hardesty channel their previous experience working on the web series “Enrolled” together.
“I think it has been a very similar experience to ‘Enrolled,’ actually,” Correa said. “The one big difference is with the crew. During ‘Enrolled,’ we were all in school, but now, having left, we all feel more of the pressure to make this thing succeed. It’s just naturally a more serious commitment. It doesn’t seem as much like pure fun—though it definitely is a lot of fun.”
Hardesty similarly noted a change in tone during the production of the series.
“The crew is definitely a lot bigger and everything is much more organized [than on ‘Enrolled’],” he said. “We need to be really good about scheduling things, though, because Chris lives in New York now and whenever we shoot he has to come over here to film. So we definitely want to make sure that we have stuff set up right.”
Both agree that the shooting, though at times stressful, is one of the best parts of the experience.
“Definitely my favorite part of all this is when we’re shooting,” Hardesty said. “A lot of the jokes are done as improv while the camera is rolling. We’ll do a few runs of the scene before we shoot just to see where we want to go with it and then we fill in the blanks in front of the camera.”
Correa also emphasized the quality of the show’s production crew and actors.
“We definitely have an incredible team working with us,” he said. “Everyone is extremely dedicated and there’s this great dynamic where we can all work off each other and build on each other’s ideas.”
The show itself builds its comedy off the chemistry of the two characters, who are clearly the focus of the show.
“We really want this to be character-driven,” Hardesty said. “We’re trying our best to make relatable, consistent characters.” Hardesty described Robby as hopeful, but extremely frustrated.
“I don’t want to say he feels victimized,” said Hardesty, “but he’s definitely subject to forces far beyond his control and that really exasperates him. Any break he has will be a lucky break.”
On the other hand, Correa’s character is fun-loving and optimistic.
“However, he’s also a schemer,” Correa said. “He’s ‘motivated to not be motivated,’ if that makes any sense. He’ll work extremely hard to ensure that he doesn’t have to put in any work.”
While neither Correa nor Hardesty are sure where the show will end up going, both hope that it can make an impression on college students at the University as well as at other schools.
“I think the problems that the show deals with are pretty universal among college students,” Hardesty said. “I also just think satire is a really good way to get a dialogue going, and it’s a good way for students to think about the world after college, which can be really stressful.”
Correa agreed.
“The show deals with issues a lot of people worry about,” he said. “I hope it turns into a relatable way for people to deal with the stress and not freak out. We just gotta keep our momentum going.”
The first episode of “Postponed” can be found online at futurehousepix.com/series/postponed or on Wesleying. The second episode is slated for February 28th, with a new episode every two weeks thereafter.
“Comments and suggestions are welcome,” Correa said with a laugh.