In early 2013, Michael Premsrirat and Dexter Adriano kickstarted their crazy idea of a sitcom about a superhero-obsessed costumer with an identity crisis. Their web series, Sweethearts of the Galaxy, hit its funding goal of $35,000 with some change to spare and the duo set to work turning their script into a 9 episode series—roughly the length of a feature film. The series was shot on a RED EPIC by Hassan Abdul-Wahid. On Saturday, April 5th, Sweethearts screens in the Chaplin Theater at Raleigh Studios as part of the Hollyweb Festival. RED spoke to the filmmakers about the festival and shooting a web series on a tight schedule.

Dexter: "Well, early on we had debated whether or not to shoot per weekend or just block shoot the entire show. After Michael and I discussed the logistics with our outstanding 1st AD, Farand Heydari, it seemed apparent that it was better to shoot the entire series in nine to ten days for financial and creative reasons."

"I also think it was better for the crew because it helped us get into a good rhythm, shooting-wise. In the beginning, like any crew with new people working with each other, we were still feeling each other out but by the end of the third day, it felt like everyone was on the same page. By the end of the shoot, I felt like we were the best crew in Hollywood, and we could take on any project."

The EPIC's size came in handy for such a schedule.

Hassan: "In hindsight this project wouldn't have been possible without the EPIC. Its small size and modularity really helped keep us on schedule. There were many times when we needed to come off the dolly and straight into handheld or vice versa and the EPIC proved invaluable in those moments. I gained a new appreciation for what the EPIC can do."

"Sweethearts involved a ton of handheld work and the EPIC's weight was a blessing on my knees and back! I'm not a huge fan of excessive rigging like the Easy Rig or complicated handle rigs so being able to just grab the EPIC and go was nice."

At times, the EPIC's features saved the crew time on lighting and other setups.

Hassan: "The EPIC's dynamic range was key to our many interiors and the ease with which we could change settings just straight saved us time."

Dexter's experience with the RED workflow in post-production helped with the short schedule.

Dexter: "I used REDCINE-X PRO to transcode the footage for our kickstarter promo which also were a couple of scenes in the 1st Webisode. When we went to series, our DIT, Lee DeArakal transcoded the footage for us as Apple ProRes files. Once we locked, we simply gave Lee an XML file of the cuts and he & Hassan were able to color grade everything with the original RED footage with DaVinci Resolve and then give us back the final picture as Apple ProRes files again. It was very seemless and glitch-free."

The resulting series is part DIY fanfilm and part cinematic soap opera. Along with an increasing number of series shot by YouTube creators on cinema cameras, Sweethearts of the Galaxy plays a role in bringing mainstream production values to fanfilms.