Employees have vanished from the office, and everyone suspects that layoffs are to blame. In reality, the culprit is far more sinister than the heartless CEO. That is the plot line for Human Resources, the new sci-fi comedy web series that launches in May.
The producers describe Human Resources as the “X-Files” meets “Sesame Street” in a workplace setting, explains co-creator Kyra Kyles.
Kyra and her sister, Kozi, created the new web series that began as a movie script several years ago.
“We started working on it around 2002, and originally, we were writing a regular feature about work based on an idea my sister had about human resources,” Kyra states. “We wrote it up as a film and just walked away from it. But when things started getting really bad in the economy, we decided to revisit it and adapted it as a web series. We changed the people into puppets because we felt that if people see other human beings suffering the way we are now, it’s not going to be very funny — and it’s a comedy.”
Revamping the movie script into a 12-episode web series with puppets was daunting, Kyra explains. “We did a lot of work after work. It took us about six months to adapt the script into a web series format and, then, re-imagine it with the puppets. It took another six months to shoot, [with] casting, voice work, improv actors and casting calls recorded in my boyfriend’s studio [He’s a sound engineer].”
There are at least three miracles associated with this web series. First, the Kyles sisters have two very demanding day jobs that they love: Kyra is a journalist and Kozi is a marketing manager for an entertainment company, and they work long hours. Second, they are siblings, you know.
“When we would get into arguments about the film, we still lived together — in an open loft — so it was pretty hard to get away from the tumultuous moments,” Kozi laughs. “But we worked it out.”
And third, the sisters did not have a sponsor for the project. “We did this independently,” Kozi states. “It’s totally funded by two sisters.”
Persistence was key to their success, Kozi shares, and she encourages other future web series producers to maintain their grind, no matter what.
“We started the idea several years ago and, even though we didn’t have the funds to do it back then, we just kept looking for different resources to get it done,” Kozi states. “Follow your dreams, and don’t be afraid to reach out to other people who are making productions.” –zondra hughes
Watch the trailer.
