Last week, I mentioned that a filmmaker named Rob Kirbyson is currently directing a family film called Snowmen for Mpower Pictures, the company created a few years ago by Passion of the Christ producer Steve McEveety. I also mentioned that Kirbyson, who happens to be a Christian, had previously directed a number of short films, including Ctrl Z (2007), which features Zachary Levi of the TV show Chuck in a supporting role.
I learned afterwards that Ctrl Z is currently being spun off into a series of webisodes for NBC Universal, under the slightly shorter title Ctrl. Following in the footsteps of last year’s sci-fi series Gemini Division, the new series will give prominent placement to a commercial product, in this case Nestea Red; in the original short film, a man discovers that he can manipulate reality using his computer keyboard after it has been hit accidentally by a football, but in the series, the man will spill a can of Nestea Red on the keyboard instead.
The series, like the film, is being written and directed by Kirbyson; there is no word yet on how many, if any, of the original cast members will be involved, but presumably Levi, at least, is rather busy with his TV show right now. The Los Angeles Times reports, via its ‘Technology’ blog, that Ctrl will be distributed this summer “through a variety of channels, including Hulu.com, cable video-on-demand services and a dedicated website.”
