Authors/Film & TV

Published on August 24th, 2016 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

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First Time Film Makers Predicted to Sweep 2017 Golden Globe Awards

Fresh out of college, the two young dreamers behind the new TV series ‘Back Stabber’ have blind-sided Hollywood with their breakout success, and have done so after spending less than $2,000.

Reviews of the new TV show lean towards completely loving it, or completely hating it. But regardless of what the reviews say, hundreds of thousands of people have already downloaded and streamed Season 1 of the new TV series ‘Back Stabber’, which premiered June 24th on Amazon. The new Amazon series was created and produced by openly gay actor and LGBT advocate, Ryan Zamo, with a final budget that hovered around $1750.

Gaining massive momentum and media attention within days of its release, ‘Back Stabber’ has quickly expanded its following for its messages of acceptance, anti-bullying and equality. The 11, half-hour episodes in Season 1 of ‘Back Stabber’, have now become the dark horse in the race to the 2017 Golden Globe Awards.

Proving that a good idea never dies, creator Ryan Zamo began writing the pilot episode over 7 years ago, he said, “I created the pilot in my first year of film school, we had to write a half-hour pilot as a final project in script writing, and the funny thing is that I got a C on the project. But, I knew it was something I’ve always fought for and believed in, and I was going to do whatever it took to get my message out there.” Zamo spent the next 6 years knocking on doors in Hollywood, and after no luck or interest in the show, the young advocate took it upon himself to create the show, Zamo added, “I also own an organic skincare company, ZskinCosmetics.Com, which has become wildly successful for being the first-ever company to offer 100% handmade organic products all for under $20. I was sitting there last year wondering how I veered from my dream of Hollywood, to owning and organic skincare company, and that’s when it hit me. I realized I had all my own equipment from film school, so I grabbed some friends, and we hit the ground running.”

Officially produced by both co-directors Ryan Zamo and Jordan Fraser, the 2 recent film grads realized they still had no interest or funding, and began to teach themselves every aspect of post-production, 25-year-old Jordan Fraser said, “The pilot was a nightmare, but it definitely taught us a lot, and put into motion the success of the rest of Season 1. It took us 6 months to edit the pilot, which ended up being split up into episodes 1 and 2, after we decided to go half-hour instead.”

Originally slated as a Netflix original series, Zamo jumped ship days before the pilot was set to film, taking ‘Back Stabber’ straight to their #1 competitor Amazon, he said, “Many people mistake the fact that we are not an Amazon ORIGINAL series. We are an independently produced series airing on Amazon, being said, Amazon and Amazon studios has no involvement or association with ‘Back Stabber’. Neither Netflix nor Amazon was going to pay to produce the series, but unlike Netflix, Amazon pays you per view. I realized after learning digital marketing from the success I had with ZskinCosmetics.Com, that getting paid per view would most likely generate more revenue, as opposed to a low one-time buy out from Netflix.”

So What Do We Think About The Show?

We finally got the chance to binge watch the full season of ‘Back Stabber’. We read the online reviews prior to watching, which really impacted our perspective while viewing it. They mostly all agree on one thing; watch it with the story of the production in mind, youll love it, watch it to critique its low budget, and you’ll hate it.

They are completely right, had we not read the articles previously posted on it, we wouldn’t be here writing about it. The show is extremely low budget, and is rough through episodes 1-3, but as the season continues the quality increases remarkably fast. As Matt Vella, the editor of Time Magazine said in his review, “If a major studio released the show the way it is, it would be horrible, but being produced by 2 kids makes it incredible. Let me clarify that it’s not the editing that deserves recognition and awards, but it’s the passion and story behind the project, the hard work and dedication is something that a multi-million dollar budget simply cant provide.”

So how did it generate such buzz as a favorite for the Golden Globe Awards? Besides its back-story, the players in the show are undoubtedly the next group of rising A-list stars in Hollwood. Actor Jimmy Flint-Smith, who is in the running for Best Actor, and his portrayal of sociopath Miles Anderson, is hands down our choice:

Creator and writer Ryan Zamo also stars in the series as the over-the-top flamboient character Isaiah Knight. Zamo literally takes complete control of the screen with every scene he is in, low budget or not, Zamo has our vote for Best Supporting Actor:

And Zasha Shary who portrays October Dawn in ‘Back Stabber’ is no doubt the leading contender in the category for Best Actress:

Overall, we agree with most of the reviews of the show out there, its low budget, but if you watch it for entertainment you’ll love it, watch it to critique the low budget mistakes and you wont make it past episode 3. The messages of the show are remarkable and can hopefully set forth a new wave for acceptance in today’s world. Season 1 of ‘Back Stabber’ can be downloaded without an Amazon account, or streamed free with Amazon prime at:

https://www.amazon.com/Back-Stabber/dp/B01GJ1RU4W


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About the Author

Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.


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