Buffalo Rising Online

Feb 11th 2007, 2:30pm By Anna Miller

A variety of artists, actors, and musicians from across the city are coming together this week to film the pilot episode of a television series that plays on the many talents of Buffalo’s creative class. The show features a cast quelled entirely from the local talent pool, and will feature a live show by a local band – the pilot features The Last Conservative – at the end of each episode.

DISCS, written by Norman Toy of Bidwell Productions, centers around a record store that caters to the residents of an integrated part of town that has recently experienced white flight. In the ever-changing face of musical culture, the store has transformed from a traditional vinyl record store to a combination CD-vinyl outlet with an attached café. Recognizing the tremendous talent of many of his customers, the owner has created a weekly live music show, Friday Night Live, showcasing each week a different local act, of any and all musical styles.

“Some of the idea came to me as a result of living in Buffalo,” Toy said. “There are things unique to this size city – the economic struggle, an independent music scene, the raw talent. Once you scratch the surface of a city like this, you begin to realize the tremendous talent that is here.”

Toy and his wife Millie, co-founders of Bidwell Productions, are teaming up with 3C Multimedia to film the show from locations in the Elmwood Village, primarily Spot Coffee and New World Record, the primary setting for the record store.

The conflict of the show emerges from the diverse character list struggling to co-exist in a developing neighborhood. Toy’s production concept describes the show as a modern West Wide Story – “races collide, violence erupts, lovers meet, and music provides the atmosphere and backdrop to the stories of the lives of a struggling class in a fast-changing world.”

“What better place to write a story about different cultures coming together than a music store?” Toy asked. “One thing everyone has in common is music.”

The pilot will be filmed this week, largely in the midnight hours, thanks to the hospitality of Spot and New World Record. Once completed, Toy said he will market the show through traditional routes (his agent and connections in Los Angeles), as well as the underground market that has emerged through popular networking websites such as YouTube and Myspace. He hopes this series will be the jumping off point to allow Bidwell Productions to pursue a number of their other projects, all written in Buffalo and based on our unique local scene. “We’re hoping this will be a jumping off platform and a great project for all of us,” Toy said.

Photo: The cast and crew of Discs at a script reading at the Crocodile Bar. Courtesy of Evan at 3C Multimedia.