Recent alumni and 2022-2023 Editor in Chief of The Talon, Dominic Bonocore, has partnered with close friends to film and co-direct a fan-based series stemming from “The Spider-Man” franchise.
While filming for the series did not start until 2022, Bonocore said his highschool film class inspired the making of the film and company.
“We made this movie called ‘Crash’ in highschool that the drama teacher wrote. It was really bad and so boring,” Bonocore said. “That was the start of our ‘company.’ It wasn’t until late 2021 when Tate (lead) watched “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and said, ‘Hey, we’re doing a Spider-Man film.’ After about two months of production, we said, ‘Why don’t we just come up with a company and make it a whole series?’”
While many might assume the series is a play on the Spider-Man everyone knows and loves, Bonocore said the series gives a new light to the popular superhero.
“It’s a darker take on the superhero everyone knows as Spider-Man. The result ended up being a Spider-Man no one has really seen before; a dark, gritty, vigilante type of superhero rather than the ‘friendly neighborhood’ Spider-Man so often depicted in the films today,” Bonocore said. “It opens with the death of Spider-Man’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and follows him as he struggles with her loss while at the same time trying to bring the people responsible to justice. It really follows those themes of loss, selfishness and revenge.”
With immediate praise from the targeted audience of the fan-film community, Bonocore said he was unaware this fanbase existed until filming.
“We were very happy with the outcome it had. It went viral in the community we thought it would go viral in,” Bonocore said. “The fan-film community is insanely big, and I didn’t even know it existed until we were in it.
Even though Bonocore graduated with a B.S. in Journalism intending to pursue a career in the field, he said his first film-related class with Dr. David Jurney caused a change of heart.
“My career path was always wanting to be something artistic or creative. As a kid, when I first watched ‘Star Wars,’ I wanted to be George Lucas,” Bonocore said. “I wanted to make films like that. A film degree was never in my mind. It wasn’t until I took Media Production with Dr. David Jurney that I actually thought, ‘Wait, film can actually be an attainable career path.’ I’m disappointed and sad he didn’t get to see what we created. I wish he could’ve seen the filmmaker I would eventually become.”
Although season one of the series was already met with success, Bonocore said the changes in season two will create more consistency.
“The ultimate reward from this film will be met fairly positively. We are doing everything we did with season one but with more intention,” Bonocore said. “We didn’t know what we were doing [in season one] and when you don’t know what you’re doing, you can’t run an effective and compassionate set. Now that we have it under our belts, it’s going to look more consistent.”
Lead of the series and creator of their fan-film idea, Tate Talley, said his love for “Spider-Man” was always present from a young age.
“I had always wanted to make a Spider-Man film. My love of ‘Spider-Man’ reignited within me after seeing ‘No Way Home.’ I knew I would never be able to play the real Spider-Man in the franchise, so I thought, ‘Why don’t I just make my own?’ Talley said. “ I called up Dominic and asked him if he would want to help out with filming and then reached out to Richard (director). It started out as a short movie, and then it turned into a web series.”
Among the many challenges of starting a company, Talley said the biggest challenge has been running a series with no financial backing.
“The downside of filming has been pulling off a superhero theme with no money behind it. The upside is that I get to be ‘Spider-Man;’ little Tate is smiling out there somewhere,” Talley said. “I love meeting the cast and crew and everyone that is working on this film.”
Main director and photographer Ricardo Vara Sanchez said his love for film originated from a young age, inspiring him to pursue photography.
“I’ve always loved movies. I came from a photography background,” Sanchez said. “I love the way the world looks and making everything look pretty. I met people like Tate who made filming inspiring to me.”
Through all of the challenges of directing a cast, Sanchez said this experience has given him a unique opportunity to learn.
“Honestly, the experience of doing all of this is very interesting for me,” Sanchez said. “Whenever I have to direct people, it is an opportunity to grow and be better.”
From highschool film class to gaining 17K views on their first episode of the series, Sanchez said the growth of this project is only beginning.
“This project means a lot to me. Tate is such a great friend and an amazing director. Dominic is also talented in what he does. I love working with them,” Sanchez said. “We started from the ground up with non-professional movies. We’ve grown more and more with the journey we’ve taken together.”
Season one of Web of Spider-Man can be found on YouTube under Infinity Entertainment, with season two releasing by December of 2024.
0
0
Be First to Comment