Chapters. (Season 1)



The first season of Chapters. premiered in 2018 on Barking Vans and was created by Mike Barkhoff. It featured six episodes and received critical acclaim.

Conception
Barkhoff had the idea to explore an anthological web series after an idea for a short film was brought to him by his former girlfriend and the production of that saw success. Barkhoff also noted how an online writer wanted them to develop a story and how Josey Davis wanted to conclude a film following her first film, "Locked Twist", didn't meet her expectations and after jokingly calling the film "TBD" due to it not being titled upon her reading the script, causing her to want to make a film with that title.

Barkhoff took inspiration from The Twilight Zone primarily for this season. Initially, it was discussed to conclude four episodes - excluding "b&w" and "TBD", but, when Josey expressed interest in a sophomoric short film attempt, Barkhoff decided to come up with an idea for a sixth to make the season an even number.

Cast
Mike Barkhoff appears in Episodes 1, 2, 3, and 5. In Episode 1, he plays a man who has purchased a new pair of pants. The second sees him as a filmmaker facing sexual allegations and visiting his therapist. The third sees him as a man who awakens after the end of the world. In Episode 5, he appears in the stories that the writer considers for her novel. He appears in Episode 6 through archival footage.

Ashtun O'Rourke appears in Episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6. She plays a shrink in the second episode of the same name, a babysitter in Episode 4, a character in the novel's purposed stories in Episode 5, and the writer of the overall novel in Episode 6.

Jarrod Van Hauen appears in Episodes 1 and 3. In Episode 1, he portrays a friend of Mike's character and, in Episode 3, is seen as a deceased body that Mike's character discovers.

Josey Davis appears in Episode 5 as the writer of a novel trying to decide what story to make her book about. She also appears in Episode 6 through archival footage.

Parker Delfs appears in Episode 1 as the voice of Drive Through worker.

Production
Notably, Episode 2 was released before Episode 1. Barkhoff explained "Episode 2 was gonna be hot with momentum due to politics, so we wanted it out ASAP, but we wanted to show people that's not the regular for this show."

Episode 3 saw Barkhoff adapt someone else's story, not from the Barking Vans crew, a first for him, and something he wouldn't do again until 2021.

Episode 4 was filmed on an iPhone and was an "on the fly" idea.

Episode 5 was thought up after Josey Davis expressed interest in calling Locked Twist "TBD" due to the script's title page saying it (having misunderstood it was an anagram and title holder until she put her word in for the title).

Episode 6 was planned from the start, but the idea to combine the entire season together didn't come until during filming. Originally, it was set to end with Kanye West's "Hell Of A Life" but then was blocked, forcing Barkhoff to replace the song.

Reception
The first season received critical acclaim. Episodes 1 and 5, "Spree" and "TBD" respectively, were audience darlings upon release, and were both submitted to film festival circuits. "The Typewriter" received praise for tying the anthological nature together and "b&w" received attention for it's political message that audiences related to and agreed with. "Silence" and "Shrink", meanwhile, both received more lukewarm criticism, with many calling the former "rushed and imperfect" and the latter "too political where politics don't need involved".