About this same time last year, one of the more intriguing poker productions to come along in recent memory debuted their pilot program. The pilot episode for the series The Grind looked promising in its debut on YouTube, but then it went quiet. The creator of the project hasn’t given up on The Grind just yet, looking to one of the most popular methods of crowdsourcing to complete his vision.
Christopher Hayes, who filmed the pilot episode of The Grind last year with thoughts of a television series in mind, has resurrected his vision and is looking for financing for the project. “It’s time to finish the series (ten episodes),” Hayes wrote on The Grind’s Facebook page. “In order to do that, we are going to need your help. We’ve just launched a Kickstarter campaign so we can finish the whole series.”
“We have some amazing rewards from our friends over at 3Bet Clothing and RunGood Gear (for those who donate),” Hayes continued. “(Even if) you can’t donate, please take two minutes to retweet the project or post to Facebook. Thanks again for all the support you’ve shown us and we can’t wait to bring you the next ten episodes.”
On the Kickstarter page (which is looking to raise a total of $25,000 by October 3), Hayes elaborates further on his plans for seeing The Grind reach its endgame. “The original pilot was shot on a small budget and mostly over the course of a weekend,” Hayes wrote. “We plan on taking the same approach to the series…by shooting all ten episodes at one time. Instead of shooting at one location for one episode and then waiting until a future episode to come back…we will shoot everything that needs to be shot there and then move onto the next location. This helps us save time and money and is a big help in post-production.”
Investment levels on the Kickstarter page for The Grind pretty much cover every potential donors’ wallets. Starting at $1 and working up to $5000, Hayes is offering a range of rewards from simple thanks on Facebook and Twitter to an actual Executive Producer credit for the show. Other rewards, such as playing cards, chip sets and poker clothing from RunGood Gear and 3Bet Clothing, will be given out to donors.
Hayes has the background to create an entertaining series. After playing poker for around a decade with his friends, the events of “Black Friday” sent Hayes off to the Carolina Film Institute, where he honed his directorial and storytelling skills. With the pilot episode of The Grind, Hayes started something that may be more impressive than other theatrical outlets that have come about as of late.
The pilot episode of The Grind focused on Chris, a college student bored with his classroom activities who lives for his weekend poker sessions with his friends. Chris’ friends are in similar situations and, in the early moments of the pilot, we are introduced to them as they go about their daily lives. One of those friends (a waiter in a restaurant) finds a couple of traveling businessmen “looking for some action” and brings them to the evening’s poker game, which is the focal point of much of the pilot episode.
Following the end of the cash game (with a bit of a clichéd Hollywood outcome), the players adjourn to a late dinner (where Chris “might” have found a potential romantic interest) and break up for the night. The next day, after being chided by his father that “the rent is due,” Chris warms up his computer and sees the now-ominous FBI warning that kicked off the “Black Friday” darkness. With that, the pilot episode concluded.
While Hayes hasn’t been forthcoming about what direction The Grind will take over its ten-episode lifetime, he has put together something that could be of interest to the poker community. After the cinematic bomb that was Runner Runner, a good dramatic show (with splashes of comedy, of course) about the “grinders” who make up the poker community might be just what the doctor ordered. If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, then The Grind will find its way to completion.
