If you were born in the middle of the ’80s you probably fell in love with a series called One Tree Hill, OTH for the fans. At the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, we had the pleasure to meet two of the iconic characters of OTH: James Lafferty aka Nathan Scott and Stephen Colletti aka Chase Adams. They are raising money for a new project called Everyone is Doing Great and the screening of the pilot at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival has been a very important push for the crowdfunding. James Lafferty won the prize as Best TV Episodic at the Mammoth Film Festival and the series reached the crowdfunding goal so shooting are now nearly ended.
Jeremy and Seth (Lafferty and Colletti) are two young actors. After the huge success of their movie about vampires, The Eternal (Twilight rings any bells to you?) their careers are struggling. If Jeremy is giving up, Seth seems unable to let it go and he finds himself in …let’s hear what they told us a few months ago.

JL: Shoot!

C: How went the screening of the pilot yesterday?

JL: People showed up, unbelievable…

SC: They were actually there in person, it really happened. Monte-Carlo, making a show, a year ago…never thought it would be possible. This is beyond the dream. Very surreal and to hear people laugh, in the theater, in a foreign country…is so rewarding!!

JL: And this feels like a homecoming because France has been so kind to us for many years now. They made us feel so welcome in this country so it felt so right to come here for the screening of the pilot.

C: A few years ago you both worked on a project called Wild Life that never saw the light. Did you feel like Seth and Jeremy back then?

SC: That’s a good question. We never thought about that. I think, besides Wild Life, we both had 2/3 shows that at the end didn’t go…but thankfully we went back on One Tree Hill for the final season so we had something back.

JL: I think the difference between us as James and Stephen and us as Jeremy and Seth is that after The Eternal they just thought the next big project would come to them, they would never shoot something like Wild Life. We as James and Stephen otherwise never take something for granted.

C: As part of a hugely successful series like OTH, do you think it’s easier for you to be disappointed by a project that doesn’t get the same popularity or it’s the other way around?

JF: I think actually is the other way around. I think that when you come out from a show like OTH that has such an impact on an entire generation and it’s a very comfortable job, you want to cut out the system, you wanna go out, you wanna try things different from that show. You wanna challenge yourself so I think the focus becomes more how do I challenge myself now?

SC: I think that…he said it too well to add something more.

C: Why did you choose to try Indigogo as crowdfunding platform?

SC: It was destiny. We talked about it from the very beginning while we were shooting the first episode. We wanted to put people together to create this opportunity. We wanted to keep this little family together. When you get studios involved are their money so they want things made their way. And also they want the story made in the way they see the story and not necessarily is how we see the story.

JL: We see the value of how incredible it is to have a community growing around the show, who found a real bound with the story. It really feels like the beginning of something.

C: Why do you think people are still so bound with One Tree Hill?

JL: As in Everyone is Doing Great, also One Tree Hill was about family, friendship, hard times,…actually a lot of hard times on OTH. And I think this is universally attractive. Everybody sees so, and that was the streight of the show.

SC: Again…agree.

C: If Everyone is Doing Great will be developed, are you thinking about casting Dame Helen Mirren? (During the party at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel the previous evening they took a lot of selfies with a Helen Mirren cutout putting funny hashtags on Instagram about having her on the show)

JL: Yeah, please spread the word!

SC: Maybe we’ll have her in an episode where Seth and Jeremy go to a festival and they meet her there as she will be awarded with a special prize…sounds familiar?

JL: Oh my God, that would be so good!

SC: And you know what? What I love so much about Helen Mirren? I feel like she is that kind of person who if you bring something like this to her, she will consider it and say yes.

JL: So Helen Mirren you are officially invited!

C: James, you are very often in London so you have to try…

SC: Here you go! Well said, girl! Good point.

JL: Here you go. So you work on Italians, I work on British and he works on Americans. We’ll make this happen! We are a hell of a team!

 

We’ll keep you updated as soon as a releasing date is available.