New TV Show Pilot, featuring recent Cuthbertson High School students, set to film in Waxhaw.
What do you do when you love documentaries, relationships and adventures? You shoot a TV show of course, and you do it in Waxhaw! Zach Chaloux’s resume reads like a seasoned Hollywood producer’s: executive director of an Emmy-award-winning weekly morning news and entertainment show; creative director of a product commercial; screenplay writer; documentary writer, director and producer; and so much more. But this experienced filmmaker is a student at UNC’s School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, not a Hollywood hotshot—yet. Chaloux’s newest TV pilot idea, Around the World, combines his three loves. The relationship part focuses on Chaloux’s friendships, including buddies Nole Balaniz and Andre Brown, both recent graduates of Cuthbertson High School.
“Around the World is basically about crazy real-world adventures and mysteries that are explored by a group of close friends,” explains Chaloux. “So the audience sees these amazing landscapes through our adventures and friendship. It puts a group of friends in crazy situations so that people at home would say, ‘Wow! That is totally something my friends and I would do!’.”
Balaniz and Brown are co-stars of the show, and the group is filming part of their pilot in Waxhaw the first week of March. “The show focuses not only on our worldly adventures, but on our personalities, and the environments and people that make us who we are,” Chaloux says. “In the prologue, I travel around the country to gather the group for the adventures of the show. And this brings us to Waxhaw, where Nole and Andre grew up.”
While their filming locations in town haven’t been set, the group will be visiting the places and faces that have contributed to Balaniz’ and Browns’ personalities and love of adventure. Possible locations include Cuthbertson High School, spots in downtown Waxhaw, the tracks and bridge, and the neighborhoods and homes of the main characters. “When we come to Waxhaw, every place we visit will probably have a different vibe,” Chaloux says. “We want to capture the spirit of the town and go to the places that mean a lot to Andre and Nole. By looking back at where we are from, the audience gets introduced to the main theme of the show, which is dealing with the fears and insecurities about going out into the world for the first time.”
The group will be shooting in Waxhaw around March 4th and 5th, so be on the lookout for five cameras, a young filming crew, and a group of energized friends making their way through town. In addition to visiting the spots that have shaped the main characters, the group of six boys will go on thrilling and slightly chilling adventures in other episodes of the show. They’ll visit haunted dwellings, search for the Loch Ness monster, hunt for hidden tombs, and so much more.
“It’s travel show meets adventure and comedy,” Chaloux explains. “And I think people will really enjoy it!” Chaloux has five seasons of Around the World already planned out, and his ultimate goal is to pitch it to Netflix. It’s the kind of show that has a good chance of success on the leading entertainment service because it seeks out original documentaries, adventures and relationship-focused series. Chaloux says the show already has interest from pros, including Jordan Hochman, one of the minds behind Queer Eye and Beyond Scared Straight. But first, Chaloux and crew have to create the pilot and pitch it to partners and agents in Los Angeles, where he’s headed in May.
In addition to a supportive audience, Around the World needs financial backing, so Chaloux turned to Kickstarter to help raise funds for the pilot. For pledges of as little as $5 to $1,000 or more, the group offers fun experiences, including behind-the-scenes footage, the chance to play Fortnite with the boys (they’re good!), t-shirts and stickers, and the ultimate hangout with the crew.
While the rewards are sure to entice some, the ultimate reward is seeing a very talented young person reach his cinematic goals and share his gifts with the world. To support this pilot filming soon in Waxhaw, go to http://kck.st/2Dd22rz
