Cops and Monsters is an award-winning web series that may be filmed in Glasgow but has a worldwide audience after being snapped up by Amazon Prime UK and USA.
At the recent MCM Glasgow Comic Con the stars and makers of the hit internet show had the chance to meet their fans and call for help in kickstarting their funds for the second season of the hit show.
So far writer Fraser Coull and his team have raised £4,000 to film the first episode of season two and on Wednesday, October 24 they will be sharing an exclusive screening at The Griffin pub in Bath Street and asking people to help crowdfund so that they can film more episodes.
Set in a time when vampires, werewolves and zombies are a part of everyday society, the show follows Maya Hedges, played by Ellen Patterson who is part of the Scottish Paranormal Investigation Team Scotland and the SPIDERS, SuPernatural Identification Executive Regiment Scotland at the start of season two.
Series one was completely crowdfunded with the dedicated team raising £15,000 in order to produce eight episodes - allowing the creative team to hire local actors, crew, filmmakers, costume designers, prop designers, hair and makeup specialists, the editing of each episode, visual effects, sound design and music.
It was such a success on YouTube that it was snapped up by Amazon Prime UK and US last October, and at the weekend the stars and crew tried to raise awareness of the show in Glasgow at MCM Comic Con .
Fans were also treated to a clip from the first episode of season two written by Wolfblood creator and BAFTA winner Debbie Moon, with guest stars Barbara Rafferty and Bill McBain.
This season they are joined by River City favourite Stephen Purdon, who is taking up the role of SPIDERS soldier, Private Colin Jack Bissett, Helen Cuinn as Major Frances Stone and River City’s Louise McMenemy is set to appear in episode two as werewolf activist Ava McIntyre.
While the leads of the show are made up of local, upcoming actors including Ellen Patterson, Maya Hedges, Kenny Boyle, Innes Anderson, Alexis Smith, Chris Bain, season one also included guest stars Simon Weir of Trainspotting 2 and High Road, Raven star James Mackenzie and Sherlock actress Wendy Wason as Maya’s tragic parents Neil and Lucy.
Scot Squad’s Karen Bartke also starred as Maya’s aunt along with Doctor Who stars Caitlin Blackwood and Sophie Aldred. Award-winning comedian Billy Kirkwood plays the Cops and Monsters villain, The Cult of Many Faces.
After a call for writers late last year which saw the team receive over 340 submissions to write for the second series, showrunner Fraser Coull and story editor James T Harding have been working hard alongside assistant script editor Shannon Eden with writers Debbie Moon (Wolfblood), Laura Anne Anderson (CBBC’s Ooglies), Simon Underwood (Wolfblood) and Philip Lawrence (Big Finish) to write and create what they promise will be an ambitious six episodes packed with adventure and dark tales.
The Griffin screening on October 24 will see the 20-minute episode being screened with limited tickets available before it hits general release a week later.
The cast and crew will be on hand to answer any questions from fans and will launch their kickstart fundraising bid to raise £25,000 to finish the season - the perks of supporting the show include walk-on roles, signed scripts and even the chance to be a monster in an episode.
Showrunner Fraser Coull said: “We had a great time at Comic Con, it was good to meet fans of the show, believe it or not, it has been tricky reaching people in Scotland but we are really popular in Europe and the States so to reach out to them was terrific.
“We now need to get on with the serious business of crowdfunding for the second series and at The Griffin we will give an exclusive screening of the first episode of season two and launch our kickstarter project - there are some great perks and we offer people the chance to appear in an episode, have their business on the credits and this will be seen all over the world.”
You can watch Cops and Monsters on Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant Video or log on to www.copsandmonsters.co.uk to catch up with season one.
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