Art Less- Pilot (TV)
A pilot for a TV show is intended to set up the premise and introduce us to the world the creators are looking to show us. The pilot for Gabriel Fowler’s web series, “Art Less,” shows us the teenagers who will be the main characters in the series as they go through their life. Adam (Alex Desjardin) is a bagger at a grocery store who works with Samantha (Maya Jennings Daley), Emily (Jerusha Wright) steals things and her mother is a pastor, Erin (Shea Coughlin) is friends with Emily and has auditioned for a school musical, and Josh (Fowler) is about to get let go at the youth center he has worked at. We get short scenes with the characters and learn a little bit about each of them, as much as we can in 15 minutes. I’m not sure that it exactly hooked me in those 15 minutes, though, and that is a bit of a problem if we’re supposed to continue watching these characters for five more episodes. It’s a documentary style film, but the performances feel just like that, performances, and some of the attempts at humor feel a bit forced. It has some enjoyable moments, and I will probably checked out the second episode, at least, to see where it goes, but it doesn’t feel like there’s enough here to keep me interested in the long haul.
**Update: March 3, 2018**
In catching up with some long-standing requests, one was from Gabriel Fowler, the director of the “Art Less” pilot, who asked me to watch a finalized cut of the pilot, as well as the next episode. Watching it removed from the initial reaction, I think I enjoyed the performances more in the pilot, the characters and situations worked better, and I was more engaged with the style of the series, although some of my initial hesitations about the humor feeling forced remains. I do appreciate Gabriel giving me the chance to watched the final cut of the Pilot.
