The Hollow Men was a science fiction series created by Andrew T.S. Bedgood and Austin Pruett; it was Bedgood's first attempt at a series after his collaboration with Casey Te Beest on the Life With Brother series. After the fourth episode of LWB, the show went on hiatus as Bedgood and Te Beest went on to pursue other opportunities; Bedgood used this time to collaborate with another individual, Austin Pruett. Bedgood would later describe his working relationship with Pruett as "hell."
Plot[]
The Hollow Men Episode I
The Hollow Men: Episode I
The premise of the story is set up through a cryptic voice-over that alludes to genetic experimentation with the bodies recovered from the famous Roswell, New Mexico crash resulting in alien-human hybrids. In the present day, it is revealed that this genetic experimentation program is shut down and an unidentified agent is seen hiding what is hinted at being the two successful hybrids (though it is stated in the voice-over that there were no "recorded" successful experimentations).
After a series of cuts and disjointed footage, one of the hybrids is seen hit by a car; he quickly stands up shortly after with no apparent injury. The other hybrid presents him with a dog tag that was thrown from him as he was hit by the vehicle.
The video ends with "To Be Continued."
Production[]
Production for The Hollow Men was a "long and rocky road," according to Bedgood. The project that led to The Hollow Men was originally intended to be a feature-length action movie visually inspired by comic books by featuring multiple video panels onscreen at one time from multiple angles. This project fell through, however, due to complications in screen testing which made it apparent that doing something of that nature would have been impossible with their resources.
After the comic book film fell through, Bedgood and Pruett began considering other possible film projects and eventually settled on a science fiction series that delved into superhero fiction and conspiracy theories. Throughout pre-production, there were several creative disputes as to which direction the show should take. Bedgood has been very vocal about his displeasure with his experience working on The Hollow Men and has gone on to say, "[Austin] and I never really saw eye-to-eye on any aspect of the show. I wanted it to go one way, he wanted it to go another, so we had to find a happy medium--except I was never happy. I could tell that he was okay with where we settled on most parts, but I always felt that the compromises I made during pre and production bastardized some of my original vision."
It is often rumored that these creative disputes are what led to the series never making it beyond its first episode despite Bedgood's claims that he made a thirty-episode outline.
Despite the difficulties in production, The Hollow Men is often regarded as one of Bedgood's greatest creative works. The direction and editing are often praised as wonderful experiments with the surreal. When asked about how he feels about The Hollow Men, Bedgood has stated, "Production was hell, but I'm proud of what it produced."