Blake McWilliams knows from experience, sometimes the people in charge at summer camp need just as much supervision as the youngsters.
The script for his new star-studded comedy series Timberwood draws on his experiences working as a camp counsellor deep in the mountain forests of upstate New York.
“Back in the early 2000s, I hopped on a plane and went to the Catskills,” McWilliams recalled in an interview Friday with CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM.
“I didn’t know anybody at all and I went up there for two months of the summer there and it literally changed my life.
‘Nothing to do but have a good time’
“You can imagine what it would be like for 250 college-age counsellors going up to the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but have a good time.”
McWilliams said he was going to university and working as a lifeguard in Edmonton when he began applying for camp jobs online.
He would spend the next seven summers working at the same lakefront getaway.
“I’ve wanted to tell that story since then and this is my opportunity,” McWilliams said.
“It’s not autobiographical by any stretch, but a lot of the stories and things that happen in the show are based on real events, although we’re trying to steer clear of saying that too loudly.”
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From late night debauchery and bunkmates to bonfires and booze, McWilliams said his series is meant to give viewers a more authentic look at the life of a camp counsellor.
“I’m hoping that it gives you this little window into what that world is like and maybe makes you think, ‘Oh man I wish that I got to do that or maybe I should apply and work at a summer camp this summer.’ “
The first episode — which chronicles a wild counsellor-orientation week — will be released online this Sunday.
Co-written by McWilliams, Ian Fisher, and AJ VaageIt, the pilot stars Michael Trevino (Vampire Diaries), David Reale (Suits), Giullian Gioiello (Scream 3, Iron Fist), Ariane Rinehart (Sound of Music Live), and Jeremy Holm (House of Cards, Mr. Robot).
“It’s sort of like the inmates are running the asylum,” McWilliams said. “It’s like counsellor paradise until the kids come and ruin all the fun.”
You don’t have a lot of opportunities given to you. You have to make them yourself .– Blake McWilliams
McWilliams produced and directed the episode entirely independently, financing it with his life savings.
He covered the production costs himself, hoping the inaugural episode will garner enough interest to make sure the full nine-part season gets funded. He’s launched a $500,000 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and hopes that first-time viewers will be generous with the project.
“Edmonton is a really small place,” he said. “You don’t have a lot of opportunities given to you. You have to make them yourself and that’s what I’ve done here.”
If the funding comes through, McWilliams said the remaining episodes would be shot next summer and released online by next fall.
“We’ve got access to the actual camp that I worked at,” he said. “We’ll go up there for about a month and just hunker down. It will be like we’re camp counsellors again.”