A new web series delves into the difficult dynamics of the morning after.
Web series About Last Night tackles some of the thorny issues and awkward moments that can come with a one night stand. Photo: Simeon Duncombe
Hayden Weal needed to make some new video.
He’d spent three years as Martin Freeman’s body double in The Hobbit trilogy, played a character called Tom Cruise on the TV show Girl vs Boy, made some shorts and a web series called The Time Ripple Chronicles of Jack and Chops - but he needed an idea that would help turn over the content on his website, haydenjweal.com.
He wanted something quick to make: low budget, short and no effects.
Then the idea for the web series About Last Night came one morning.
He wasn’t creeping out of a stranger’s house, but sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast with his girlfriend of three-and-half years.
Their conversation about one night stands turned into an idea for a web series where each episode would be a story made by a different director.
Hayden co-wrote, starred in and directed the first episode, which takes an uncomfortably funny look at the power dynamics of the morning after.
But he says it’s not based on first-hand experience.
“I’ve only ever had one in my life. I’m too … clingy.
“I’d always go out for breakfast then catch up with them the next weekend. Then it turns into these long, drawn out, four months’ worth of one night stands.”
After hearing a “multitude of people” complain about one night stands, their combined experiences became material for the story.
“The misunderstanding that goes into it. And the lies, the deception that goes into a one night stand.
“And it always seems to go one-way. It’s always the guy deceiving the girl.”
Part of the beauty of the series is that it can tackle some of the thorny issues that sometimes come along with a one night stand, and delve into the personal predilections.
“Everybody’s so interesting. And one night stands are kinda interesting because you get to see a surface area of them, but it’s such an intimate surface area,” Hayden says.
“You’re by-passing three to four weeks of getting to know somebody and going straight into an intimate act. They could have anything going on.”
As soon as word got out he was making the series, he had people sharing their stories with him. “Everybody wants to tell you their story about their one night stand that went badly, or went well and they’re married now.”
There are four more episodes already made, each by a different crew, and he’s looking for more filmmakers to get involved.
Not every episode will be true-to-life; two of the episodes made so far have explosions in them. “It’s whatever you make of it,” Hayden says.
He sees the series as a way for people in the local film industry to get to know each other and collaborate. His hope is to get to a point where an episode is being released every week.
Meanwhile, Hayden’s working on making his first feature, which is based on the first About Last Night episode.
If you want to make an episode you can contact Hayden on the About Last Night Facebook page or on his website.