Mini-Episodic Mini-Series: Quiet Life

Mini-Episodic Mini-Series: Quiet Life

An Old Tradition In A New Suit
The mini-episodic mini-series, a term I like better for short-form mini-series because you get both an alliteration and an anaphora in the word package, is a great way for independent filmmakers to get their stories out there on a lower budget and prove that they’ve got the mettle to produce impactful stories with high production value. Unlike a short film, where after 20 minutes the audience has gotten the story and likely moves on, the mini-episodic format gives the opportunity to tell a more in-depth story through smaller bite-time pieces while potentially growing a fan base that will come back for more. It’s not unlike the way Charles Dickens, AKA Boz, published many of his works, releasing his books one part at a time.

Studio Rhodes’ First
Here at Studio Rhodes LLC, we decided to begin production on our first mini-episodic mini-series with an original story currently titled Quiet Life, about a family facing an increasingly volatile technological world set in a hard sci-fi day after tomorrow future. Principal photography began over the summer, leaving us with some principal photography that needed to occur in different seasons. We like the idea of capturing the real deal in our motion pictures whenever possible. And that has us capturing some of those seasonal moments leading up to our episode one release date in May 2026.

Having the financial flexibility to stretch our production time over summer, fall, winter, and spring has been one of the nice things about producing a shorter episodic work. Each episode is approximately 5 minutes long. With 12 episodes, that puts our full production at about an hour. The production time thus far has been as exciting and challenging as a longer production, however, with a flexibility that has lightened some of the pressure. We don’t have to fill as much time on-screen, so we can take more time to create our best work on-set. With a crew of 3 to 5 taking on multiple hats, that breathing room can make all the creative difference. Sure, independent filmmaking and taking on more than one crew position is still a challenge, but it’s more fun taking on that quest for honest filmmaking when you have the capacity to give it your all in a more focused space. As my former film professor, Ed McDougal, once said, “Spread out your stress.”

Questions, Comments, and Concerns
Will our mini-episodic mini-series be able to find a fandom? Can it be as impactful as longer episodic shows? Will we be able to build people up through these short episodes? We’ll find out what those outcomes will look like along this leg of our story’s journey. We are just in the season of fall now, so there’s a ways to go before May is here. We’ll be filming parts of more episodes this weekend. I anticipate it with joy and look forward to sharing the news of our Quiet Life season one premiere when we launch it. Until then, I’m going to start sharing some of our behind the scenes stories here on the Studio Rhodes Blog.

Wishing you all the best in your story,

J.L. Rhodes