Former Olds resident Marliss Weber has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Telus's funding program Storyhive to produce a short film about recruiting workers for corporate hell.
Literal corporate hell, with cubicle-bound demons punching in and out, trying to keep the afterlife burning.
The film is called Recruiting Hell, a mockumentary that follows behind-the-scenes action as workers put together a recruiting video for Hell LLP.
Weber plays a “snooty” creative director in the short, who has a bold vision for the video but is hemmed in by client demands.
Think of Recruiting Hell as a cross between Supernatural and The Office, she said.
This latest production complements another project she's working on, a webseries called Necessary Evil.
That creation is the brainchild of Weber's husband, Randy Brososky, the series' showrunner. It tells the story of Azmodeus, a bespectacled and somewhat socially-inept rank-and-file office demon.
In the pilot, which spans just under nine minutes, Azmodeus bears scorn from middle management and his cubicle neighbour. He expects the worst when called to the top office, from where workers never return, according to his colleague.
Azmodeus falls prostrate as the elevator doors open, begging forgiveness for whatever wrong he has committed. At this point, he discovers he has been called to replace Lucifer as the CEO of Hell LLP.
The black comedy draws on the experiences – good and bad – that people have when working for large corporations.
“The best part is stability. You know where your bread and butter is and you can understand the steps necessary to rise. It's a structured environment so there's some real value to that,” Weber said.
“The worst part is, certainly as Az discovers in the show, the inflexibility, the crazy rules and in many instances, the co-workers.”
The first season of Necessary Evil has been written and Weber hopes a broadcaster will air it one day.
She is a two-time grant recipient from Storyhive, which funds creators in Western Canada.
“It is an absolute gift. Last year's $10,000 allowed us to produce a pilot episode we're really proud of and to start building the story we want to tell. Also, it gave us the opportunity to build our social media audience.
“Broadcasting has changed a lot in the last five to 10 years with the growth of social media. They are now looking for projects that already have a following,” she said.
“This time around, the $10,000 will allow us to develop more content that we can share on social media in order to build that audience. That gives us that stronger pitch to take to broadcasters who are buying eyes these days. So we want to have lots of eyes to bring to them.”
Weber, now living in Edmonton, last stopped in town “a couple weeks ago,” where her parents still reside. She attended Olds Elementary School and Olds High School.
Growing up, she acted and also participated in the Kiwanis Music Festival.
After graduating from theatre school, she pursued a career offstage, working in television for a few years. She now works as a communications consultant.
“My early experience, acting and filmmaking has really come full circle. It's really fun to be able to do these kinds of projects on the side and also pay my mortgage at the same time.”
"Broadcasting has changed a lot in the last five to 10 years with the growth of social media. They are now looking for projects that already have a following." MARLISS WEBER
