A former Estevan woman is winding her own path through the entertainment industry.
Lara Taillon is now in Calgary and busy preparing for the Sunday premiere of her new web series Necessary Action. She wrote the pilot episode, plays the main character and produces the web series. It's a lot of responsibility for Taillon, but she's more worried about how it sounds.
"First, you wrote a character for yourself," she said. "That sounds pretentious."
But she added that there many other pieces to the puzzle that is this new series, complimenting her co-workers as the production involved close to 40 people.
Taillon got her first acting gig here in Estevan with a part in the production of Prairie Lilies at the Souris Valley Theatre. She also worked as a choreographer for a number of other productions at the theatre, before moving on and landing in Calgary.
Taillon said she didn't see herself in this role as a writer, in a way taking direct control of her career. She has jumped feet first into job of creating her own show and has had to figure things out as she went along.
"It's been a learning spike," she said, adding, "There's no graceful curve into this."
With grants, festivals and making connections with people who want to get involved in the film process, she said she's been learning everyday about the resources available to her in Calgary.
"The film community here is really generous if you're working trying to get something new going."
Necessary Action is a web series about criminals who have beaten the system and have got away. Taillon said she's found it labelled as deja vu justice, in which criminals escape charges because of technicalities in the legal system.
"It seems that at times the criminal's rights are more important than the victim's rights."
Taillon plays Robi, a detective who has seen one too many criminals slip through the cracks.
"The lead character has had enough and she leaves the force," Taillon said, adding that the character can be a little out of control at times. "She needs to be reined in a bit."
The 10-minute webisode was shot over four days beginning last April, with the final filming being done in May 2011. She noted that because it's an independent production, they did their shooting at night, meaning they wouldn't get started until about 11 p.m.
The Internet is a great resource for an independent production like Taillon's, but she noted that it's easy to get lost in enormity of the web.
"Now you can watch anything online. You can find anything you want. It takes a little bit more to stand out on the Internet. It's daunting."
Despite that, the show is going to plug on in the form of webisodes.
Taillon has finished writing the second episode, though it is still be tweaked. She noted that she wrote about a "million" drafts of the first episode. She doesn't know what's next for the series.
"The demand comes from the public. I don't know where it will go, but I'm excited for it," she said.
If there is some industry interest, she said she is open to taking the story in whatever direction it needs to go, and if that means a move away from the web, then she would go with it anywhere.
A sneak peek is available to check out on her website www.larataillon.com. On Sunday night it will be available on her website as well as, www.vimeo.com
