The Unleashed is a transmedia RPG superhero series with cinematic segments, audience participation, and Twitch extensions, which features some popular names from Power Rangers HyperForce. It was created by Melissa Flores and Meghan Camarena, and it was developed by Shelby Grace, Mika Midgett, Aabria Iyengar, Flores, and Camarena.
This innovative original series was written by Melissa Flores and Aabria Iyengar, and it stars Meghan “Strawburry17” Camarena, as well as Shelby Grace, Mika Midgett, Mike Bow, Christopher Sean, and Game Manager Aabria Iyengar.
So excited to be writing and producing this amazing new series! The Unleashed is a new hybrid RPG superhero series with cinematic segments, audience participation and Twitch extensions. Airing exclusively on #Riftside pic.twitter.com/2DObUBHWKU
— Melissa Flores (@misty_flores) October 16, 2020
On writing this series, Flores said, “Meghan, Shelby and Mika and I are all friends. I had worked with Meghan on HyperForce a while back, so when they decided to do an RPG, they brought me on board. We created a hybrid that was a blend of RPG and a series. I love its inclusivity and diversity, we have an incredible and diverse cast of characters, and they are just trying to be themselves. The core of it is friendship. Every week the fans are reacting in real-time.”
“The audience is really a part of this,” Camarena said. “They help create the dynamic. It’s fun seeing their live reactions because it taps into how we play the following episode or in the moment.”
“They’ve created their own characters that they can role-play as students of the school too,” Grace added. “We’ve brought them into the story a couple of different times.”
✨ The Unleashed is a new hybrid RPG superhero series with cinematic segments, audience participation and Twitch extensions. Airing exclusively on #Riftside pic.twitter.com/XB6lr8zj7D
— Meghan Camarena (@Strawburry17) October 16, 2020
Flores acknowledged that for her, writing is a collaborative effort, where she works closely with GM Aabria Iyengar and the cast. “Even though we have a structure of what we want to do with these eight episodes, each one of them came up with their own individual characters. It’s a lot of teamwork and everyone is contributing creatively,” Flores said.
“Every single cast member has gone above and beyond and because of that, it has been a complete journey the entire way,” Flores added. “Also, every single person had to try something new. Everybody rose to the challenge, the result was fantastic and I am so proud of it.”
Meghan Camarena enjoys playing Phee because she is such an “honest character and vulnerable all the time.” “I feel all of our characters are deeply rooted in who we are as people,” she said.
“For me, success is the people that you bring along the way, and being able to create and tell stories that haven’t had the chance or the platform to be told before. Being a light in the darkness is such a big thing right now,” Camarena added.
Christopher Sean is drawn to his character, Dante, due to his split personality. “Dante, when he is good, is charming, cool, and fun. When he is a bad guy, he’s a sociopath. It’s fun to play that dual dichotomy. I enjoy that idea of jumping back and forth between being a crazy person and normal,” he said.
“The show is a great place for all demographics to come, join in, and feel safe in a community of people that encourage each other to speak out, have fun, and be themselves. It includes many heritages and you have everything you want and everything you need in this show. This show is great,” Sean elaborated.
Sean went on to praise all of the “talented creators of the show” which included Flores, Camarena, Grace, and Midgett. “The wonderful thing about this show is that it’s so interactive that people can jump in and through their actions, they can change the way the story is told, and that’ what makes it unique from most television shows. There’s a synergistic harmony that exists between the cast and the audience,” Sean said.
“The community is so supportive and fun-loving,” Sean said. “Mental illness is very important to be aware of during these times of isolation. With this show, the interactivity between the cast and the viewers is so fun, alive, and spontaneous. It’s a great place for people to come, to feel safe, and have that escapism amidst the pandemic.”
“Success is found in the growth of accomplishment. Essentially, to find success you need to be able to take a risk to go for something and whether you achieve it or not, it’s about the journey, the learning, and understanding the disappointment of failure,” Sean explained.
“I’m a superhero nerd so I love being able to play Daniel, who you don’t hear his last name until a few episodes in. He is really into comic books and gets to live that life. I love the pureness in him,” Mike Bow said. “I strive to be like that, optimistic and everything.”
“As an actor, especially during these times, the theater is literally canceled, but this series is the closest thing to the theater. It’s a new form of digital theater,” Bow said.
“Not only are you getting the live reaction but you are making the story with the audience. Kudos to everyone who started this project since this new genre was not made under normal circumstances. We created this new genre when all hope was lost, and that was so inspiring,” Bow added.
“Success, to me, for this show has been the teamwork,” Bow said. “Everybody played their parts so well. It was all executed like a brilliant play or magic show.”
“My character Charlie can bounce from having great insecurities to some of the biggest confidence I wish I could have when I was her age,” Shelby Grace said.
“This show helps us escape into a different reality and a different world, which is really nice,” Grace added.
“What is cool for me is that I’m new to the RPG world,” Grace said. “Gaming was the thing that I knew the most but getting to do both, and improv to an extent is super cool because I have been able to grow in all of those areas. I was able to bring in my audience as well, where my audience is very young and they have found new interests that they wouldn’t have seen otherwise.”
Shelby Grace defined success as “getting to create a community for people to come together where they might not have had anywhere else to fit on.” “As a kid, I didn’t have that, so getting to create that has been a success for me,” she said.
The entire cast shared that the audience feedback and interactions are instant gratifications for them, and rightfully so. “It’s super satisfying. We get cute videos that will play during our break and it’s nice to watch their live reactions,” Camarena expressed.
“Mara’s self-confidence is something I strive for in my daily life and I hope one day I’ll get it. She’s so confident in her ideals, and she doesn’t mind speaking up her mind,” Mika Midgett said. “Mara is always right and I would love to always be right as well.”
“The community has latched on to everything that we have been giving them, and they’ve tried to make it their own as well. Even from the first episode, the audience wanted to make characters to live in this world with us and create content with us. They have sent over 100,000 messages in that discord. It is cool to see that effect, especially in young teens, where we are helping them be creative and unleash a part of themselves. As a kid, personally, I would have loved to have been in a community like this,” Midgett said.
“Thanks for being cool, keep being powerful. I can’t wait to role play with you in the discord,” Midgett told the dedicated fans of the show. “Success is having a community that loves us as much as they do and continues to grow with us. Being able to affect people in a way that changes their own lives and brings out creative things in them and happiness.”
The Unleashed is a new hybrid RPG superhero series with cinematic segments, audience participation and Twitch extensions. Airing exclusively on #Riftside @RiftsideAcademy, @Strawburry17, @shelbygraces, @MikeBowShow, @quiddie @ripmika pic.twitter.com/NmPHBX6p0p
— Christopher Sean (@ChristopherSean) October 16, 2020
On the plans for the future, Flores said, “We are absolutely not ready for this show or the story to be over after the first season. We have a lot of ideas about where we want this story to go. We have a lot of exciting news that we will hopefully share in the next few weeks or months. We have an incredible story that the fans have really embraced.”
“This is much bigger than an RPG show. Twitch was the initial platform for us to get our start and show everyone the story that we want to tell. This is only the beginning. Our world and our characters are big,” Camarena added.
To learn more about The Unleashed, check out the series on Twitch.
