Class of 2015 alumni Blake Propach and Andrew York began working together during their freshman year.
The school’s Media Arts Program allowed for them to collaborate on projects and understand how every task needed to be completed well in order to make a quality film.
That spirit of collaboration has resulted in a new webseries called “Mort’s Life,” which tells a story about the epic adventures three close friends go through, and how love and lies create conflict and excitement. It is set to premiere on Dec. 2 on the series’ Gofundme page, which will be up on the same day.
York, now a junior at Loyola Marymount University majoring in film and television production, is the main producer, while Propach, a junior at Chapman University majoring in screenwriting, and Propach’s childhood friend Alé Cois are the writers and sponsors for the show.
“A lot of different people have come up with awesome ideas for movies and a lot of people have every intention to make their cinematic fantasies a reality, but very few actually turn their dreams into finished products,” York said. “I’ve achieved what many people have found to be nearly impossible.”
The series is based on the adventures of one of their friends. The team would often joke about how his life would make an entertaining show filled with comedic adventures, and eventually set their sights on making a web series.
“I challenged Blake and Alé to make their show idea into a reality,” York said. “I remember telling them that if they write the script, I’ll turn it into a finished show that they can be proud of.”
The lead actor of “Mort’s Life,” senior Naman Sajwan, plays the tragically afflicted character Morteza, a reckless genius; he has knowledge bottled up inside of him but nobody can really see how smart he is because he doesn’t let it show.
“It was my first time doing anything like this and Andrew made sure I had a fun time with it,” Sajwan said. “It was a pretty unique experience because when you’re in a film, you have to get used to practicing over and over again and you can’t divert from that.”
Other students who play important roles are 2016 alumnus Austin Villanueva, a love-starved poet; senior Julie Cai, who obsesses over a secret admirer; and senior Saya Sivaram, an emotional and heartwarming groupmate.
Propach and York started pre-production, writing and revising the script of each episode in May. They filmed over the summer and are wrapping it up with final touches to launch a great pilot episode.
Creating “Mort’s Life” through the past year has been like a dream to York. He has always wanted to instantly fall in love with a script and take it through all stages of production.
“MAP gave me a strong understanding of collaborating with others, which in turn helped me successfully work with other artists,” York said.
Ever since he graduated from SHS, York has worked in a variety of job positions for film companies in Los Angeles such as Jason Wang Productions, allowing him to use his experience and expertise to make this series a success.
“I will admit that I had to take on a lot in order to get [this show] completed,” York said. “And sometimes, our crew was only as big as 10 people. Other times, the crew only included myself and Blake.”
Despite the rough process of scriptwriting and filming, his team was able to make their cinematic fantasies a reality.
Once the pilot episode airs Dec. 2, viewers will be given the option to donate money in order for the cast to complete the first season. They are aiming to raise $5,500 to create another five episodes.
In order to encourage donations, the team has also created a “less optimistic version of the board game Candy Land,” called Mort’s Life Board Game™, which will be given out as prizes to project donors.
“I think SHS students are going to enjoy ‘Mort's Life,’” York said. “It's not just about a character who is larger than life and his crazy exploits, but also about how his friends tackled life at SHS and how they dealt with the expectations their parents had for the them.”
People can donate on their Gofundmepage starting no later than Dec. 2.
