THE SECRET OF ANGELIKA5 [ANGELIKA5] is a 2009 SciFi, dramatic web series written and directed by David Quintana-Lujan. It is the second web series produced by Quintana-Lujan, this series was the first produced under the studio name, Quantum Storm Productions. In the near future, a young girl, Angelika McAdams [Brittany Clark], awakens after having an aneurysm [or stroke] and is raised by two adoptive parents who took care of the young girl, keeping a close eye on her recovery. Along her new life start, she makes new friends, centering her juvenile tendencies with a close neighbor, Brianna Fuller, who introduces to nothing but constant trouble, drama and teenage concerns. Angelika is frequently visited by a ghost-like woman, who calls herself “Ms. Rachael,“ who is a harbinger of the future, or maybe just a figment of her imagination. With each new visitation of this “harbinger” a coincidental set of migraines occur that eventually end up giving Angelika incredible super power abilities. Her best friend, Brianna [Angelica Grayson],has the reverse effect and she too begins to have visitations from a paranormal group of beings called “the Vapor People.” As the two girls begin to grow with their abilities, it becomes a struggle for power between good and evil. The powers from the future are then introduced, but we learn that they have hid themselves in the deep past, hiding from a powerful foe. Can Angelika unite with her friends to help unlock the secret of her abilities and defeat the evil plans of the “Vapor People?” ANGELIKA5 features Angelica Grayson, Jessica Yanker, Maque Garcia, Saira Ramos, John St. Germain, Eddie Enriquez, Alan Berkowitz, Patrice Kentimenos, Kacey Kelley, Mary King, Larry Carrell, Matthew Jasso, Shelley Boozer, Caterra McAlexander, and Rainey Beaumier.
Directed by D. R. Quintana-Lujan Screenplay by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Brittany Clark
Angelica Grayson
Story by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
John St. German
Based on Characters by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Produced by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
John St. Germain
Jennifer Lightsey
Executive Producers Barbara Johnston
D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Barbara Clark
Starring Brittany Clark
& Angelica Grayson
Cinematography by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Edited by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Andrew Quintana
Music by ASIA
Randal Behan
Zeca Mahoney
Production Company Quantum Storm Productions
Running Time 22 minutes per episode
Countries United States
Language English
Budget $45,000 (52 episodes)
THE SECRET OF ANGELIKA5 is an ultra-low independent web series directed and produced by David Quintana-Lujan from March 2009 to December 2014. The entire web series was developed and filmed in the county of Montgomery in Texas. A large casting call was made to find every actor in the show, over 100 teens tried out for the series and only three were picked; those being Brittany Clark, Angelica Grayson, and Rainey Beaumier. A casting call for the parents in the show was even tougher, eventually landing spots in the series were Maque Garcia [picked because of her deep Spanish accent], Saira Ramos [for her approachability], and Eddie Enriquez [for his soap opera good looks]. Because the series was being developed in south Texas, the director wanted a heavy cast of Latino talent in key roles.
SEASON 1
Seven locations were used, most owned by the parents of the teenage actors, the introduction of the Lightsey Ranch and lake property, and one prime home owned by the Grayson family in Waller County. Each of the 52 episodes for the series was estimated at $870 per episode, each averaged five hour shoots on the production set per day, and the scripting was purposely written for twenty minute episodes; as the director-producer believed [at the time] that shorter “fast paced” episodes was perfect to watch from the internet.
Filming of episode one began in February 2009 with a small cast and crew after a long and exhausting talent search to fill roles. The series co-writer, John St. Germain, played the part of Angelika’s father for the first season. Over the course of three weekends, the production team completed four episodes and also worked on the "season ender" which was planned as the eighth episode. Production teams remained small in the first two seasons to keep the cast ready to move from one location to another to complete as many scenes as possible in one day.
Episodes were immediately released upon completion and the cast screened every new episode before they were launched on a studio website. By the first summer of production, all eight episodes were viewable online and there was an instant rush of viewers who watched the first season, trying to figure out what the secret of the series was all about. Meta data for the series was impressive as the first season reached out to over 80,000 fans from various countries. Because the director-producer was stationed overseas for most of his Navy career, promotional advertising was produced by spreading the work through contacts made across Europe and western pacific locations during his military career which helped bolster the existence of the low budget show worldwide. What also helped was that the sultry, Maque Garcia, was also a local celebrity in Houston, Texas; as she was recognized as the weather and traffic correspondent on the local Latin network stations. Her popularity brought in higher numbers of views from the local community which helped bolster a new line of fans who followed newly released episodes to the series every weekend.
Helping to bring in new fans to the show, the opening credits for the first season used the music track of “Ride Easy” from the world known rock band, ASIA. The director-producer was able to legally procure the use of the track for the cost of $150, which was a complete surprise to the lead singer of ASIA, John Wetton, who absolutely thought the track was perfect for the opening credits of the show and wrote a letter to the studio about using the track. Search engines for the title track from ASIA’s song helped boost the existence of the show at every turn and the studio considered the first season a complete hit with over 85,000 in the first year of the show.
SEASON 2
Season two [2010] introduced new characters and actors to the show. The director-producer was so impressed with the minor success of the first season, he began to expand the writing in of new characters and bending story arcs into several different directions; but said that all of the story arcs were required to build solid character development and bring the show to one final confrontation at the end. This new season saw the departure of John St. Germain as Arthur McAdams and the studio hired the talented Larry Carrell to fill the void. Another new actor, Daniel Gallehugh was brought in to play villain in the series, which brought a lot of heated opinions towards the potential violence in the series. The studio lost the rights to use the ASIA track from the first season, due to a shift in the policies from the bands distribution rights and their publisher. The director-producer immediately commissioned a new track from an indie music source to fill the void. Season two was well received, but was not as successful as season one. Season two ended the series in a wild, but very strange manner which left many of the shows fans in a proverbial lurch.
SEASON 3
Season three [2011] brought a new track for the opening credits performed by ASIA entitled “Light The Way” which came from their most recent “Omega” album, which brought a lot of excitement to the show. This season also introduced a character “Sabrina” as the third lead of the show, played by Jessica Yanker of Sugarland, TX. The writing to this season was more focused and the cast had more chemistry with the lineup than the previous seasons. The series story line shifted, giving insight that the entire environment in the series was more of a holographic world [or a dream] more than reality. With a solid promotional push, one character, Deputy Blair [played by Mary King] got a lot of attention and became an instant fan favorite of the show when she was introduced in the third season. King performed her part brilliantly for never having any previous acting experience. She was used in several other projects outside of Angelika5 and was instrumental in helping create a short film entitled, Sparkies. The new episodes of Angelika5 were extended to twenty-five minutes and each episode told a complete story, closing arcs that were once toyed with in the writing department.
EXTENDED PLOT LINES
A pair of “Razor Episodes” – smaller short film episodes that present a separate, but important plot to the main series – were released by the studio the same year and during a break in the production cycle. A pair of episodes were put together in a relatively short time and all were produced in the town of Montgomery, TX. A super being, Tamara Amvet [played by Shelley Boozer] tries to prevent a group of traitorous soldiers from entering a secure holding chamber of humans who have been frozen in suspended animation. Her methods at handling the mercenaries seem a little harsh, but Amvet is only trying to prevent a larger problem from surfacing. Boozer was so excited about playing the part, that she practiced the part of playing a super hero with telekinesis by using large stereo magnets to move metal objects around. The two razor episodes were both dramatic and very dark, a far departure of what the director-producer was producing in the main web series. Could these razors have opened a subplot showing that the entire inhabitants of Angelika’s town are actually asleep?
FROM COMIC BOOKS TO VIDEO
Season three also introduced new characters that were developed by the director-producer in a comic book entitled “Deadly Force” released under Blackhawk Comics in 1992 and brought into the show. The lead character Bianca Wolfe was performed brilliantly by Kacey Kelley, was part of a military team who infiltrated the town through a “dream like” doorway, where they were aware of a different world outside of the town where Angelika lived. The Bianca Wolfe character was performed so well by Kelley, the director-producer began production on a spin-off short film called, BIANCA: 2029 released on YouTube and was well received by fans. The team was searching for missing combat members who were “captured” by an alien force. One character named Tamara Amvet, played by Rachel Epps [previously played by Shelley Boozer], was gifted as a top level telepath with the abilities of telekinesis and played a significant part in focusing the story arc for the new season. None of these new characters ever crossed with Angelika during the series run, but opened the possibility that the entire town was not what it seemed.
CRAZY ENDING TO A SEASON
Season three ended in stunning fashion, presenting the power of the “Vapor People” dragging one of the lead characters, Brianna, away into a secrete passage in her own room and then being replaced by a dopleganger. The entire season received high marks from critics and fans alike, viewer numbers returned to the high 80K area as season one did. As the studio and the cast began to plan schedules for the next season, Larry Carrell stepped out of his role as Arthur McAdams to work on a film project of his own and would later be replaced by the talented actor Matthew Jasso in season four. Jasso's entry into the series changed the dynamics of the Arthur character and brought in an action packed version that helped boost the production standard of the show. During the season break, the director-producer began production on a film called “Ghosties” with an all new cast of young teens; some cast members from ANGELIKA5 made cameos in the film. The change of pace from shooting web series to feature films took a strain on the director and he extended the hiatus of the web series to rest.
SEASON 4
Season four [2012] introduced the idea that the harbinger “Ms. Rachael” was a time traveler, who was being sent back in time to inform Angelika of impending danger that could shift the balance of power [of good versus evil] towards the darker forces of evil. Each new episode showed Ms. Rachael showing Angelika how to use her power to influence people around her and how changing moments in the past could make for a better future. A new evil character named “Melissa,” performed by Patrice Kentimenos, introduces the “Vapor Peoples” last dire attempt to win the battle against good. A splinter episode is presented as the season ender, showing that the group of resistance fighters who traveled into the past to hide from an alien presence, have equal evil operatives in their circle who desire to return to the present.
WAS THERE A SEASON 5?
Even though season five were written and planned for production, the series final season was never completed. The director-producer has a movie script which he has been trying to pitch for production. He has contacted many of the main actors from the series to help complete one full feature film to complete the series, but no movement to start production has occurred since 2016. Over 88 various local actors performed parts in the series and at least one episode was filmed in Midland, Texas, with an all new cast, far outside the production locations, cast and crew in Montgomery, Texas.
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