Digital Playground offers a spoof of the reality genre with their new scripted-improv gonzo series Jack’s Playground, the second installment of which comes out this week. The comedy follows the life of a slacker named Jack who has a video camera and a lot of friends in the porn industry.
The character of Jack, who scams women into letting him video tape them by claiming to be a music director though he really just lives off dad’s money, was based loosely on that of the series director Robby D, who collaborated with Digital Playground co-founder Joone in developing the series.
Like Jack, Robby D admits to wanting to be a music director. Both Jack and Robby D live in Santa Monica. And both of them chase girls daily with their cameras. The similarities don’t end there - Robby D and Joone collaborated on creating a character profile for Jack that goes back to when the character was twelve and his parents divorced – something that comes from Robby D’s personal bio.
Jack parlays the divorce into a guilt trip heavy enough to convince his father to pay the bills while Jack tries to score with women by videotaping them.
The most important aspect of Jack’s character, why he knows so many people in porn, doesn’t come from Robby D’s life. Jack’s nymphomaniac high school prom date (she screwed everyone but him) went on to pursue a career in porn, but stayed in the touch with Jack, introducing him to everyone in the adult industry – who frequently show up and let Jack tape them having sex.
So with a handy device in the form of Jack, Robby D and Joone collaborated to create a show that goes nowhere, but keeps moving, developing a story arc and fleshing out characters over the series. Joone compares the story structure to a series like the X-Files, where each individual installment stands alone but builds into a story that encompasses the entire series; something Digital Playground hopes will encourage viewers to check out the entire series.
The rest of the cast in Jack’s Playground are also rooted in reality – which allows for better adlibbing in the series’ scripted-improv format.
“I try to draw each scenario from something real that has happened to me recently or in the past of my life. We’ll run through a few things but it is easier to make the talent adlib and be themselves as opposed to being something they are really not,” Robby D told AVN.com.
Joone plans on working Digital Playground contract-performer Jesse Jane into the series in the third episode as a neighbor.
“Jack is going to try to run his shtick on her but it won’t work. Then they end up becoming buddies and she’s going to help him get girls. Down the line we’ll probably have a scene in there with her and maybe Devon doing a girl/girl, “ Joone described.
Eric Masterson is a frequent cast member who like most of Jack’s male porn star friends is constantly cock-blocking Jack every time the slacker gets close to having sex.
Jack’s Playground covers the gambit sexually, going where the performers take the scene, but showing lots of solo and nudity besides the five sex scenes.
“Sometimes I gear the sex scenes and I really direct them a lot where I need very intimate type of stuff that appears really amateur and I get a lot of passion and energy and I think I’m really good at that,” Robby D said. “Other times, if I have really hardcore performers like Belladonna or something I just let them go.
Jack’s Playground is simultaneously released in both VHS and DVD formats. The DVD version is formatted in the 16:9 ratio for high-definition viewing but lacks behind-the-scenes or audio commentary that is commonplace in adult DVDs.
“We didn’t want to do any behind-the-scenes or audio commentary because we felt like it would take away from the reality end of it and we’re trying to create an illusion,” Joone explained.
An illusion meant for the consumer's entertainment, not an industry hoax.
“We’re not trying to fool the reviewers, we’re trying to bring a new type of production,” Robby D said, addressing some complaints that Digital Playground was trying to portray the title as a “real” reality series.
Jack’s Playground Volume 2 streets September 24.
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