It started out as a pitch that, like many great ideas, first ended up on the cutting room floor. When film studies senior Bryce Cusick picked it back up, he and Kendall College of Arts & Sciences alumnus Matthew Scrivner (B.A. ’23) saw the potential in telling a story as unique as “Re:Actuality.” What came together was a blend of animation and sound design that resonates with the uncertainty many college students face about the future.
The title was inspired by Applied Assistant Professor of Film Studies Jennifer Jones’ documentary class. “One of the concepts in the class was the idea of actuality and what it actually is,” Scrivner said. “There’s the idea of the reality that we perceive as we’re going through our lives versus the actuality of what’s actually happening in the world. The show is meant to look at that disconnect and all the different ways that people act when they’re up against different obstacles.”
The first episode took almost a year and a half to complete, with most of the time spent animating the frames and coming up with the episode’s finished look. “I think the thing that makes ‘Re:Actuality’ stand out the most is the animation style,” said Cusick, who managed the script writing. Scrivner, who worked on the animation, thought the pixelated art style added a unique spin to the newer web series format.
Overall, one of the biggest challenges faced by the duo was timing. “Originally, we were going for a 15-minute piece, but as time went on, we realized we were going to have to shorten it,” said Cusick. “You need to make sure you get all the plot beats and everything you need to introduce the characters and worlds we’re going to be seeing throughout the series.”
The pair received plenty of help from faculty and mentors throughout the development process. Wellspring Associate Professor of Film Studies Jeff Van Hanken assisted with the storyboarding process and finding voice actors like alumni Sadie Skeeter and Matt Perez, who voice the main characters. He even helped connect them with mentors in the community, such as Tulsa Artist Fellow Carl Antonowicz, who assisted with the earliest designs, scripts, and how to communicate their ideas in a way that the audience could best relate to.
All their hard work culminated in the web series’ premiere at the 2024 University of Tulsa Spring Film Festival as Scrivner’s senior project. “It was really exciting to get to show it off to all of the people who had been involved in it, because a lot of them hadn’t seen it yet,” Scrivner reminisced. “It was cool to see the ideas get new life through all of the people that watched it, to see the interpretations that other people have of it are totally beyond what we expected or what we even envision for it.”
So, what’s next for Scrivner and Cusick? “Recently we made the decision to start production on episode two,” said Cusick. “We’re just kind of looking at ways that we can make it go faster and not take another year and a half to make another episode!”
Check out the first episode of “Re:Actuality” here! Learn more about TU’s film studies program to bring your own stories to life.