Inspector McCloud Part 3: Script & Recording

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One of the most thrilling aspects to the Inspector McCloud project (for me) is the way it was written.

David Knoell as Burnt Ciggy and Agent John Q Public

Though I had developed a basic story outline to work from, Inspector McCloud’s script was Quasi-Improvised by the voice talent. Incorporating improvisation into the voice mix is nothing new, but we actually wrote most of the dialogue on the spot, as a group, and over-packed the tiny recording booth to lay it down in groups - which explains the less-than-stellar audio quality (something I do not usually allow, but the results are worth it in this case).

Daniel Cohen Plays Dirty Diaper Dan

The McCloud cast consists of a handful of scalawags from the Central Florida area who work in one part of this industry or another. Many of these guys were SAK improv folks who had been working with me since Popped Culture Theater back in 2005.

Chrissy Keihl as Lucy Litter

For several years, we had been discussing the idea of doing an improvised animation piece – just a handful of people in a room knocking out funny ideas and then running into the booth to serve them up while they’re warm. Problem is, once the recording is done, I get to slave over the animation for weeks while everyone goes on with their lives. Inspector McCloud gave me the opportunity to get paid to do it.

Steve Grogan as Tommy Treadless Tire

Because of their enormous contribution to the development of the characters and scenes, the voice artists (David Knoell, Jim Acamondo, Autumn Alexander, Steve Grogan, Daniel Cohen and Chrissy Keihl) have also earned writing credits.The show truly would not be been the same without them.

Jim Acamondo plays Oil Slick Willie

Along with my brothers Jerry and Stephen Grillo, the cast helped to shape the characters and the sequences as they will ultimately play out. Again, you may see this sort of thing going on a lot within certain creative circles, but for a small, work-for-hire studio like ours, it was a special treat to have a client remain open to this process.

And John is an awesome client. He understands the limitations of our budget, and has given me enough rope – er, I mean room to build it the way I want to. One of the best decisions I made was to bring this group of very talented people on board to help shape the script. Not only did they remain focused on the elements that would bring the characters forward and tell the story, but they brought some amazing voices to the piece.

Autumn Alexander in Yellow-face...

...and fish face.

As improv artists and live interactive show professionals, most of these guys were able to give me several options to work with. I myself prefer to write my lines out so I know what I'm going to say - but when you're in the room with folks like Chriss, Autumn, Daniel, David & Steve, the ideas just bubble up like bad gas! Hopefully, the final product smells just as sweet!

Stay Tooned,

Me