Chris McCaleb

Chris McCaleb (born March 14, 1978) is an American film and television director, producer and editor, best known as the co-creator of the web series Prom Queen[1] and co-host of the Better Call Saul Insider and New Mediacracy podcasts.[2] In recent years, McCaleb has been Emmy-nominated[3][4] for editing on the television series Breaking Bad[5] and Better Call Saul.[6]

Chris McCaleb
Born (1978-03-14) March 14, 1978
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationFilm director, producer, editor
Years active2000–present
Websitechrismccaleb.com

Early life

McCaleb was born in Evanston, Illinois, but grew up primarily in Tucson, AZ. He graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2000 with a degree in Film Production. After college, McCaleb worked in post-production and as an editor and assistant editor, most notably under filmmakers Michael Mann and John Sayles.[7]

Sam Has 7 Friends

In 2006, while working for Michael Mann on the film Miami Vice, McCaleb was approached by co-worker Chris Hampel to join fellow filmmakers Douglas Cheney and Ryan Wise and producer Marcus Blakely in an experiment: an 80-episode serialized drama for the internet.[8] The experiment came to be known as Sam Has 7 Friends.

The story followed aspiring actress Samantha Breslow, and her relationships with each of her seven friends. The series ran from August 28 to December 15, 2006, when one of Sam's seven friends murdered her.

Produced on a total budget of $50,000,[9] the series garnered nearly 3 Million views during its initial run, and landed McCaleb and his co-creators representation at United Talent Agency, which had just begun to look for talent online.[10]

Big Fantastic

During the production of "Sam Has 7 Friends," McCaleb, Cheney, Hampel and Wise formed the filmmaking collective and production company Big Fantastic, specializing in the creation and production of high-quality scripted online programming.[10]

Prom Queen

After the success of "Sam Has 7 Friends," Big Fantastic created their next project, the high school murder mystery Prom Queen.[11] McCaleb was the co-creator, and served as a director, writer, and producer. Funded by Michael Eisner's new production company, Vuguru,[12] the series was an instant success, with over 15 million views of the episodes during the original 12-week run,[13] and has been viewed by over 40 million people to date.[14][15]

A 15-episode spinoff series, Prom Queen: Summer Heat, was quickly ordered by Eisner, with production taking place in Los Angeles; Nogales, Mexico; and McCaleb's hometown of Tucson.[7]

In 2009, McCaleb and Big Fantastic produced a third season of "Prom Queen."[16] Titled "The Homecoming," the 22-episode series debuted in Canada on July 4, 2010, on CityTV,[17] and was released in the United States in October 2012 on The CW's website.[18]

References
  1. "5 Questions With Big Fantastic's Chris McCaleb". GigaOm. 2010-12-12. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  2. Marc Kaplan (2017-04-14). "Listen To Better Call Saul's Insider Podcast Episode 301". FanSided. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  3. Tracy Brown (2014-07-10). "Emmys 2014: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  4. Tracy Brown (2015-07-16). "Emmy nominations 2015: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  5. Gerald M. Gay (2013-10-10). "Catalina Foothills grad edits "The Walking Dead"". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  6. Aaron Couch (2015-04-07). "'Better Call Saul' Boss on Jimmy's Next Move, Future 'Breaking Bad' Tie-ins". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  7. "A local success story". Arizona Daily Star. 2007-08-16.
  8. "YouTube, iPods, Virtual Actors, 3-D — What Is The Future Of Film?". MTV. 2006-12-08.
  9. ""Sam Has 7 Friends" yourLA Feature Interview". yourLA on KNBC. 2006-11-03. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  10. Hugh Hart (2008-05-29). "Big Fantastic's Short Shooters Talk Fast". Wired. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  11. Dade Hayes (2007-03-12). "Eisner unveils Web studio". Variety.
  12. "Meet Michael Eisner's Prom Date". Wired Magazine. 2007-03-15.
  13. "blinkx.com to Distribute "Prom Queen: Summer Heat," the Spinoff Series of Emmy-Nominated Broadband Drama, "Prom Queen"". 2007-08-30. Archived from the original on 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  14. Barnes, Brooks (2008-03-03). "The Very Model of a Modern Media Mogul". The New York Times.
  15. White, Peter (2012-10-18). "The CW picks up Vurugu's digital series Prom Queen". Television Business International.
  16. "Michael Eisner". 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  17. "Rogers Media premieres Prom Queen: The Homecoming". 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  18. Patrick Goldstein (2007-01-23). "Hollywood is seeing fans pull a power play". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
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