Archive for April, 2009

The Bicyclist series, seen on the web only, at www.thebicyclist.tv has two seasons with 30 plus episodes.  It is produced by Craftmaster Independent, a Portland husband and wife team with Carl Jameson as the writer, director, DP and more and Sharon Jameson as Producer and Art Director.

This ensemble comedy with dramatic character development follows the quirks, conflicts, and love connections of 20 and 30 somethings in Portland Oregon that put bicycle riding central in their lives. The script starts out seen through the eyes of Conrad Miller (Jayme S. Hall), a transplant to Portland from Middleton, Wisconsin. Portland being a bike savvy city and boasting a vibrant bike scene is the birthplace of The Bicyclist.

Conrad lands a job as a bike mechanic at The Recyclery: a used bike shop in the heart of the bike culture. There he meets his new friends: Steve (Elle Poindexter), a female bike mechanic, and love interest – Zack (Paul Glazier), the ultimate bike mechanic and antagonist – Lissa (Melissa Goad), a counter culture hottie – and Jose (Jose Ortega), a local filmmaker with a flair for the dramatic. Along the way Conrad’s story intersects with a host of eccentrics and everyday people such as weekend cyclers, DUI riders, commuters, and high-speed elitist cyclists – as well as anti-bikers such as the Demon SUV. The show bills itself as a “windblown and rain-soaked comedy from the hipster streets of counterculture.” It has also been described as “a gritty version of ‘Friends’ – more Portland than Hollywood.”

At the beginning of the second season the producers of the series decided to take the ideas and relationships that formed from their experiences and move them to the big screen.  They shot it in August and September of 2008 and finished it in April. 2009. The movie website is at www.thebicyclists.com

They’ve kept much of what you’ve loved about the episodes but reinvented the story. The same main four characters remain (Conrad, Steve, Zack and Lissa), but each character changes in both small and big ways. The movie retains some of the same quirky comedy, but the drama goes much deeper and the story takes us to unexpected places. The movie intertwines multigenerational characters, rich cinematography, hip local music and a video game that tell a not so simple love story.

Short Synopsis:

A twenty-something Conrad Miller leaves a small town in Wisconsin, promising himself sixty days to make lasting memories before he returns home to take over his parent’s cheese factory. Conrad journeys to Portland, attracted to its vibrant urban bike culture and beautiful scenery. Conrad makes valuable friendships and has a decidedly modern love affair with Steve Jones. The friends learn to love and live like never before, but this simple story reveals unexpected turns and darker elements as the sixty-day timeline counts down.

The Bicyclists premiered to an almost full house at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday April 10th, with the cast, press and general public in attendance.  The Oregonian said about the movie:

“[The Bicyclist] is not a hard-core bike movie as much as a bittersweet summer romance shared between people who happen to love fixing and riding bikes.”

“. . . it’s nicely (and locally) shot, has a disarmingly sweet quality and at the end achieves some emotional resonance.”

Carl Jameson says, “much of the movie’s quality can be attributed to the process of working first in the episodic format. This allowed a deeper relationship to develop with the actors, the characters and the story.” With all the excitement from the premiere still fresh in their minds Carl and Sharon have now booked another Portland showing. This time it’s at the Clinton Theater and Pub, Thursday, April 16th at 7pm. They plan to continue showing throughout the country in small theaters as well as submitting to film festivals and eventually self distributing DVD online.