I feel like R. Kelly saying that "normally I don't do this but uh..." I'm going to talk about a project before it's officially shot but the ball seems to be rolling on it and I'm excited, so...
A few months ago I started seeing buzz about the Save Steve Holt! campaign, this is their mission statement:
In 2011 it was announced that Arrested Development would return for a 4th season scheduled to air in early 2013. To our knowledge, Justin Grant Wade, who played the beloved character Steve Holt, has not yet been asked to return to the show to reprise the role. Please help us bring back STEVE HOLT!
I was intrigued not only because I'm an "Arrested Development" superfan, but because I directed a short film in 2008 called Jasper that co-starred Justin. In fact, you can still watch Jasper here.
I emailed the team behind Save Steve Holt! suggesting that we shoot a video, maybe get Funny Or Die to produce it or feature it. I said I have some contacts at FoD and I've worked with Justin before (and included this picture of Justin making fun of my storyboards).
They responded and were very excited about the prospect. I pitched them some premises, we decided on one, and I wrote a couple drafts of the sketch.
Then we waited to see if Funny Or Die would be involved. I got notes from FoD, wrote a new script for them, and then we waited some more.
In the mean time, on their end, the SSH crew has been getting the word out and the story has been picked up like crazy. The AV Club, Perez Hilton, The Huffington Post to name a few. Justin has been doing radio interviews, he did an AMA on Reddit. For more in depth about their journey go to their blog http://savesteveholt.blogspot.com/
At this point we haven't officially been turned down by FoD but we're going to go ahead forward with the original sketch I wrote (and probably shoot the script I wrote for FoD as well while we're at it). Today the SSH team released this video:
So, if all goes as planned, I will be directing those videos in July!
You can stay up to date on all this by following me on Twitter, and definitely follow Save Steve Holt on Twitter, check out the blog, 'Like' them on Facebook, and sign this petition.
