big, dumb plane. WHOLE new world.
— THE STORY GOES that half the way on a long-haul flight, a faulty plane is forced to land off-course, leaving a few passengers from around the world stuck in a far off place. Over a few days in a troubled hotel, those passengers connect and decide to stay and start a life and business together during what becomes a historic time in that new land. … That’s So Far Bound - a scripted, live-action, TV series, and we’re here to raise funds and find people to make it. Please browse the site for details on the series and, if you dig it, please consider supporting the efforts to create it. Thank you!
Before we get into it, let’s do a quick introduction. I’m Evan Sandoval; I’d be an actor and writer on So Far Bound. I’ve been in and around film and TV for a decade, doing all kinds of work on productions larger and smaller, and for now, it’s me writing in the first (and third) person throughout the website. I really appreciate that you’re here. Please read on for the top ten things to know about Bound. Cheers!
1 It’s old TV for the new age.
— First things first, what are the basic forms of the project? It’s a narrative, fiction series, set in the present day, with episodes that would run between 30 to 40 minutes. Right now, the series is wholly independent and would distribute digitally. … It’s outlined as having a few more episodes per season, similar to times past, in which there is room for longer story arcs but also room for one-off, “ventures of the week” and recurring specials. Finally, the plan is to build an ongoing series that plays yearly and on schedule, like the good ‘ol days.
+ Scripted
+ Live-Action
+ Half-Hour
2 There’s stories in the name.
Bound (for) adventure.
— The first meaning in the So Far Bound title is the idea of going somewhere or toward some thing. The inciting action for the entire story is that the characters all decided to catch a flight to someplace new to them, and that action of traveling shapes an overall series theme of expedition. Over time, we’ll see the characters discover, explore, settle and then advance or fall in their new world.
Bound (to) others.
— A second meaning is the idea of being tied to or connected with others. Once the characters find themselves stranded, they’ll each make way to the same hotel, and from there, we add a second shape to the story: the evolution of a found family. Within the the hotel (and the city), the strangers will cross paths, attach, and soon, they’ll bind and grow in harmony and in conflict with each other.
3 It’s on-location, baby.
— The story takes place in the fictional city of “Lina” (lee-nuh). It’s written as a place with a nice blend of the urban and the natural, with varied architecture plus greenery and the sea. It’s a place whose size and airport might struggle with the large, unexpected, international flight but a place big enough to hold some social dynamism. … Lina exists within “The Aras.” Think of it like “The South” in the US or “The Balkans” in Europe - a distinct region within a greater union of land.
Once a final, filming location is selected we may ultimately use that place’s name, but, either way, the plan for the story setting is to embrace the cultural and societal qualities of a real place and soak that into the storytelling. (Photo is for reference only).
4 It’s got the new, cool spots.
— After the flight makes its emergency landing, a few passengers are shepherded to a hotel that has seen its better days: “The Wild Horse.” It’s envisioned as smaller, in a city center location; it’s quaint and eclectic and with a few issues. After a few days in waiting, once the passengers decide to stay a little longer, the hotel will act as their home for the near future.
Across the street stands “The Lime Tree,” a bar and cafe that will become a de facto kitchen and living room for the passengers. It’s envisioned as compact, but with enough room to boogie when the music is on. At night, its tall, wide windows should light the street’s corner. (The drawing shows an early idea of the main, story sets).
5 There’s one, big, happy family?
— Eh, maybe; maybe not. For Bound, we used the setup of a “large, international flight” as an opportunity to create characters of not just varied personalities, but also of varied backgrounds. For one, the banter between them should be great, and also, so should the tensions. By featuring people from different worlds who would together - but each in their own way - try to build a new life in a dynamic setting, the opportunities for both drama and hi-jinks are abundant. … The main cast (aka the flight passengers) would operate in a co-star manner - kinda like that one, hit show from the ‘90s. The main characters are:
“Devika”
“Mei Ling”
“Samirah”
“Valya”
“Al-Haj”
“Dwi”
“Jonathan”
“Gustavo”
6 Worlds collide!
— There’s the collision of the characters above, and there’s the collision of the passengers with the people local to the place in which they land. To add depth to the setting and variety to the story, we’ve created a secondary ensemble of local characters to interact with the main players. There’s “Fernanda,” a former teacher in her 60s who’s come to take over The Wild Horse; there’s also “Jimmu,” a man in his 80s who tends bar as he pleases at The Lime Tree, plus more, unique characters. … Below is an illustration of a scene from Episode 3. Two passengers enjoy a night out while locals watch on.
NOTE — Numbers 7 & 8 reference projects from the 1950s and ‘60s. We ended up there through my mother. When I was a kid in the ‘90s, we had one TV and when it was her turn I had to sit through whatever was on Turner Classic Movies. The first (non-kid) movie I remember making it through was Some Like It Hot (1959). It’s funny; we stay who we were as kids or teenagers, as far the things we like. So, my affinity for that time in movies and TV endures and it’s a few projects from that era that I’ve always thought of as inspirations for So Far Bound’s style. — Okay, back to the list:
7 We like to have fun, first.
Some Like It Hot, 1959.
— What’s the tone? How do the actors generally perform? Answer: Like Billy Wilder in “beast mode.” In the 1950s, the director Billy Wilder went on an all-time hot streak, starting with Sunset Boulevard in 1950 and ending with The Apartment in 1960. You’d call both of those films a “comedy” first, with their more farcical characters and actions, but each gave room for sincerity and, at times, darkness. Even Some Like It Hot, the silliest movie of the streak, shows grace through the delicate but still rowdy performance by Marilyn Monroe. … In Bound, we want to take inspiration from Wilder and company. We want to have a good time first, showing characters in a sillier manner to start, and then, the fun challenge is trying to deftly slide them into moments of quiet or drama, or mania or sensuality, when the story calls for it.
8 We got style.
Blue Hawaii, 1961.
— What’s the general design guide? Answer: Like the “Elvis Goes Places” sub-genre. Presley starred in a dozen movies in which he went off to some place, sang songs and got the girl. The movies, god bless ‘em, aren’t good, but going to Hawaii or Acapulco in technicolor ain’t a bad way to spend some time. What signifies the Elvis movies from other cool, location movies of the time is that they’re so kitschy but in the best ways. For example, the sets in Blue Hawaii or Fun in Acapulco are “chic” on one hand and like a Margaritaville on the other. Either way, you like to be up in there. … Bound also aims for a “destination” feel to the place in which the characters are stranded. It doesn’t mean we won’t get into the grime of a setting, but overall, we’ll promote color and nature and go for a little style in both person and place.
NOTE — Another, cool thing about that mid-century pocket of time is that filmmakers were becoming more empowered, stylistically. And so, films and series started to be more “unconventional” but still within the sandbox of more “traditional” pictures. The results are projects that are both old and new wave at once. It’s a nice ideal for Bound, as we want to pay homage to past loves but try new things in craft and in production.
9 We’re going for more.
Season 1 — “Discovery”
Episodes 1-4 (Block A). The chaos of the days after landing.
Episodes 5-8 (Block B). A honeymoon, “on holiday” period.
Interlude I. A recurring special where the characters take a trip outside of setting. (Our version of “sweeps week”).
Episodes 9-12 (Block C). What about the strings back home?
Episodes 13-16 (Block D). Life as “makeshift” citizens.
Summer Specials, Dev & Gus. A stretch idea that focuses on a single character in their hometown, away from the group.
— The goal today is to try to make multiple episodes to start, if not a full season. That choice to go for more than just one episode derives from both story and team. For story, it’s about greater proof of concept, allowing time to better set up the structures of the larger story and to flesh out the variety of tones, notes and characters. For team, simply put, more episodes is a greater and more consistent work opportunity to be had by more people. So, we’ll go for that first and adjust if needed later.
We’ll try to raise funds for blocks of episodes; with the reason being that the scripts are written as such. Each block of episodes has a broad theme, and as currently outlined, the first season contains four blocks, plus two specials. The overall theme for the first season is “Discovery.” … Whatever our final allotment of episodes, and thus timeline, we’d work to deliver them around the New Year, to match up with the time of year in the first episodes.
0 It all started before it started.
— To end, let’s go back to the beginning, where the basis for Bound was formed. In my early 20s, I was fortunate to spend some time traveling abroad. There were short trips, with nights in hostels where a few of us strangers would become quick friends and have adventures both good and bad. But I also had the opportunity to spend extended time in both Brasil and Spain, which offered insight into what it might be like to “re-settle” in a different world from mine. At the time I was traveling, I wasn’t thinking on those terms, nor was I even considering a career in film or TV. — But then I did, and when I got into writing, those travel experiences were there as a spark and a foundation on which to build up the So Far Bound story. (Pictured: a friend and I abroad in the early 2010s).
Listen, I know there’s a lot of TV (and Tik Toks) out there, and that if Bound were to get made, it would be tough as hell to breakthrough it all. On our end, we’ll work to make something that’s fun and has a few ideas, and we’ll use our grassroots stature as a power to try and so to be new things. With that attitude and opportunity in tow, I believe Bound can be something that both stands up and then stands out, in some way. … Thanks so much for your time in checking us out. Before you go, please consider support in making the series below. It means a lot!