Interview: Creator Harry Bauer on the New Web Series ‘Mad Scientists Consortium’

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CHICAGO – The Chicago energy for local production keeps picking up, and the latest creative burst is the web series “Mad Scientists Consortium.” Created, written and co-directed by Harry Bauer, this wonderfully funny production – putting a modern spin on the Mad Scientists genre – is available for download now.

The premise is simple but particularly expansive. A “consortium” of Mad Scientists are starting a modern-day consulting service – which outsiders mistake for a “cute idea” – yet the scientists themselves can’t help getting in the way of each other, in the midst of evil plans for world domination (starting with Illinois and Wisconsin, with a bit of Minnesota). The “webisodes” are short, tight and funny, with an impressive team of local talent, including the main “Mads” portrayed by Scott Pasko, Sara Sevigny, Stacie Barra, Noah Simon and series creator Harry Bauer. The first four in the series, beginning with the pilot, can now be accessed on YouTube by clicking here.

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Harry Bauer, In and Out of Character for ‘Mad Scientists Consortium’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com made a set visit to “Mad Scientists Consortium” and experienced the energy and creative force of the production, and talked to Harry Bauer.

HollywoodChicago.com: What was it about your interest in the whole genre and concept of “The Mad Scientist” that inspired your project?

Harry Bauer: I’ve always been interested in fantasy, sci-fi and a lot of quirky stuff, and I think my mind always lingers in that place. It was something that just came to me, but it’s also rooted in that I’ve always been a fan of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ – I’d always wanted to portray Riff-Raff in that piece, and that was the germ of the thought that inspired the series. I also had a friend who had played a mad scientist character in a show and I thought, what if there was a whole bunch of ‘scientists’ like that all together? It began as this team, and clicked from there.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the twist in this project that makes it extra absurd, and a nice fit into the type of tech climate we live in today?

Bauer: The absurdity is that their weirdness is placed in ordinary society. The way I approach them in the material is that it’s like ‘The Three Stooges,’ who were completely and socially dysfunctional. Unlike the Stooges, the scientists are really smart, but they are also social misfits, and when they enter a room they wreak havoc, except it’s a different kind of havoc.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is your background as a creator, and how is this project a culmination of that creative career and spirit?

Bauer: I have been an actor and writer since I was a kid, and it all started with me writing stories when I was younger, and then transitioning into theater. I’ve been in theater for awhile, but recently shifted gears into screenwriting. I submitted my material, but got tired of that system of waiting and hoping that someone would read it and produce it. So I began producing smaller things on my own for the web, and I wanted to expand this into something more. So we did a fundraising project, and went all out.

HollywoodChicago.com: What was the process of getting the right cast together? What personalities were vital for getting the right fit to the right mad scientist?

Bauer: I was really lucky in that sense. I didn’t write the script with anybody in mind, but I’d done enough theater to know a lot of people in that scene. So once I sat down for casting, I thought about the characters and who would be appropriate, and was able to think about parts for those folks I’d met in theater.

Then it was just a feeling about ‘this person would be great for this character,’ and so on. Fortunately for me and the production, all the first choices I wanted all said ‘Yes.’ I think the result of all that is what we have now, it feels absolutely great.

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The Cast On Set in ‘Mad Scientists Consortium’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: You had a very successful Indie Go-Go campaign to get this production to its feet. What was the value of that campaign in the sense of what you are able to accomplish that wouldn’t have been possible without it, now that you’re in production?

Bauer: It’s huge, because if I had done it without that everything would have come out of my pocket. If that were the case, it just wouldn’t had been enough, and I wouldn’t be able to expand upon it like I wanted to – I didn’t want it to be small or seemingly thrown together. Now we can go full tilt boogie on the whole thing, and I feel like we’re making and building a great product. It was the fundraising that got us there.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, what spectrum or network do you see ‘Mad Scientists Consortium’ fitting into, and ideally where do you want it to end up?

Bauer: It works out to be four short ‘webisodes,’ but put together it makes one entire pilot. The TV pilot will be entered in television festivals and other venues – including as a series on YouTube, because I want to get an audience. Ultimately, through these various outlets, my ideal would be a Hulu or Netflix type network recognizing that the show has merit, and picking it up as a full series.

For me, I love the people I’m working with, they’re my ‘dream team,’ and I want to keep them together. Also, a goal is to keep building the Chicago production community, to grow here and to stay here. That would be amazing to me.

The first episode of ’Mad Scientists Consortium’ can be accessed by clicking here. Featuring Scott Pasko, Sara Sevigny, Stacie Barra, Noah Simon, Ian Sargent Phillips and Harry Bauer. Created and written by Harry Bauer. Directed by Joe Cuomo and Harry Bauer.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Writer, Editorial Coordinator
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2017 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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