Ah, the busy college lifestyle. If we couldn’t download TV shows to watch whenever we wanted, who knows if we’d find the time to watch TV at all?
But along comes a great comedy that even students might want to fit into their schedules. Hart of the Annex stars U of T alum Hart Massey as a struggling actor who works at a second-hand clothing store. From the familiar locations (um, hello, the Annex) to the local names, everything about the show shouts, “Downtown Toronto is where I live!”
With its Curb Your Enthusiasm-style writing, this is one funny show. You’ve heard of indie music, and indie film, but indie TV? Most ‘indie’ or local TV shows are about, well, gardening or something boring like that. But brothers Hart and Yale Massey are trying something different with their sitcom on Rogers Television.
Hart of the Annex is a ‘reality television sitcom’ that follows Hart, a wannabe celebrity and bumbling actor who uses his wits to survive in the urban jungle of Toronto. Shot on handheld D/V cameras, the series has the cinema verité feel of a reality series, but is mostly fictionalized.
Both Hart and Yale graduated from U of T a few years ago. Hart, a drama major, was involved in many student productions during his time on campus, while Yale studied cinema and American studies, and later went on to learn the filmmaking ropes at Sheridan College.
So, how does one go from a being a keen graduate to creating your own TV show? Four simple steps, say the brothers Massey: join the Hart House film board and make a short film, write and cast, buy a camera and film, and-perhaps most importantly-work that email.
“We tried to pitch the show to a couple of stations that might be interested in it. A lot of stations looked at it originally and thought, ‘Nah, you’re too young. What have you done, what experience do you have?’ It was impossible to get any real, big broadcasters to take a meeting with us and consider us seriously. So we sent an email to Rogers Television and said we had this idea. They looked at our two short films and said, ‘If you can make the show six episodes, then we’ll be your broadcasters.’
“Now, that’s making six shows with no money behind us, just the way you’ve been producing it yourself. So for us it was an opportunity to learn how to make a TV show, and get exposure on television,” Hart explains.
So it’s not too surprising that my first reaction after watching Hart of the Annex was that it had fantastic potential, but poor production values. It’s hard to make something professional when you have little to work with. The brothers understand this, and are hoping for the show to be picked up by a national network.
“What we really want is a national show. That’s our goal,” Hart says.
Yale adds, “And if Canada can’t do that for us, we might have to head south. Unfortunately.”
That called for a follow-up question: Does this dynamic duo plan to test the waters in Hollywood? They say that plan to try their luck in the U.S. with their pilot for a full series (Hart of Tinseltown?) if they aren’t able to get funding here. Given their go-getting attitude thus far, one doesn’t doubt that they’ll give it their best shot.
Hart of the Annex airs on Rogers TV (Channel 10) Thursdays at
8 pm, Saturdays at 7:30 pm,
and Sundays at 10:30 pm.
For more info about the show, check out hartoftheannex.com.
