'Dad, inc.' Premieres at the 21st Annual Dances With Films in Hollywood, California

LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2018 (Newswire.com) - On Saturday, June 9, 10,001 will unveil their latest socially driven dramedy. It's a sitcom entitled "Dad, inc." starring Jack Roberts and premiering at the TLC Chinese Theaters in Hollywood during the 21st Annual Dances With Films festival. Jack Roberts is also the show's creator. The last time the festival circuit saw the award-winning auteur was six years ago when he toured with a different indie darling he penned and starred in called "The Rock’n’Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher." Roberts' portrayal of the awkward Duncan Christopher won him the Rising Star award for Best Actor at the long-standing, Oscar-qualifying Edmonton International Film Festival. The film was unusual in that it was a product of Roberts' then collaborative, hearth creative, a group pioneering the concept of sustainable filmmaking. 

The dramedy feature was then in a run of 21 film festivals the world over from France to Argentina, LA to NY, and more. The movie was, by all accounts, a success. It grew into a festival darling, picking up 11 awards and 29 nominations, and ended up with a small theatrical release and was distributed in 77 countries. The indie movie even made unusual history at a festival in Buenos Aires, heralded as the "Cannes of South America," The Mar del Plata Film Festival. After a sold-out screening and a particularly moving Q&A, each member of the audience lined up to kiss the film's star (Roberts) on the cheek. Festival director Pablo Conde stated that "in all of my years at the festival, I've never seen any of our audiences do that. The message of the film just resonated with our people on a soul level." There was no question with experiences like this and several offers for more film roles that Jack Roberts' acting career was on the rise. 

We all know we need a societal redesign. I think stories are the conversation starters for that process. We may all be broke, but we gettin' woke...

Jack Roberts, creator of TV show Dad, inc.

Then oddly, after turning down several roles, Roberts went radio silent. It seemed he didn't want the public eye. But, a couple of years ago, he resurfaced. Books began coming out in his name, screenplays he'd penned were being optioned by production houses from Hollywood to Chicago. Still, Roberts hasn't been seen again on the screen. That is, until now at the upcoming 21st Annual Dances With Films festival in Hollywood, California.

On the seeming pause of his acting career and entertainment hiatus, Roberts stated, “My family went through a really difficult time, a lot of transitions. I have two children and they needed me. The timing wasn’t right for me, for my kids. Success for me can’t be called success if isn’t holistic. It has to look like success for those dependent on me, too. I knew I needed to build slower and differently. So, I shape-shifted like my Cherokee mother and grandmother always told me to do. As an artist, I feel it's essential to learn to shape-shift. By shape-shifting, I mean becoming what's needed when it's needed to affect the change you're seeking. We owe it to ourselves and the audience we are exchanging with to find a way to create value and keep moving forward whatever the obstacle. There's always a way.”

Shape-shifting seems to be a major theme of Roberts’ new work, the dramedy TV show "Dad, inc.," also premiering in an Oscar-qualifying fest, Hollywood's Dances with Films. In the show, single fathers are hired by single mothers to be the dad they want for their children.

Roberts, having been a single parent and raised himself by a single parent, is passionate about the topic. “I used to be passionate about the role of parents. Now, I'm growing more passionate about making sure we as a society, build a safe and nurturing place for children. That's my real passion inside it; the children, and consequently support for parents. It's hard to raise good humans, especially by yourself. And then you go and add charged social issues like gender equality, race, guns, bullies, politics, education and violence desensitization. It makes it so easy to lose sight of where the real roots of these issues exist, in childhood, in the way parents parent. Parents are creating our future society. We almost treat these charged issues like a nasty custody battle over society. But, that's one of the big reasons I love our show. It's such a light-hearted way to start a deeper conversation. It can go anywhere, places most of us fear to tread in everyday life.”  

Roberts’ show also stars Julie Dray of the Netflix and BBC show "Crashing," Roberts’ go-to character actors Marshall Bell and Aaron Moreland (both in Duncan Christopher), and 2018 Indie Series Award winner for Best Actress Marem Hassler. The show seems like a silly sitcom on the surface but it's also laced with Roberts' hopes of starting that conversation. When asked about the direction the show will go, the writer/director/star had this to say: "I want to move deeper into the dramedy of the scenarios. I think life is serio-comic. Think This Is Us mixed with Modern Family. I want to tackle bullying, gender identity, school shootings and the real issues of a divided America in this program. We spend too much time consuming and escaping into entertainment for it not to be immersed in value for our real lives. My team is hungry for that, too. We are currently looking for the right partners."  
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Roberts teamed with producers, Harpo veteran and media literacy advocate Alicia Haywood and The Onion's Ashton Swinford. It's not lost on Roberts' peers that he produces with women and employs women in key positions on set like 1st assistant director Ayasylla Ghosn, the celebrated director of this year's "Wind-Up," a short film playing the recent 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The team shot the pilot in Los Angeles. The opening episode follows Roberts' character Jamie Rosewater, a down-on-his-luck single dad who’s unable to find a job and starts renting himself out to single moms. It goes well enough that he needs more dads to rent and starts Dad, inc.

The team hopes the show will capture Gen-Xers for their sense of nostalgia plus the Millennials and Gen-Zers for their sense of social justice. It views like a throwback sitcom from another era which will draw the over-50 demographics. The show is drawing comparisons to Tom Hanks’ "Bosom Buddies" with Roberts himself drawing comparisons to Hollywood favorite Chris Pratt. Roberts on the topic: “That’s a kind thing to say but maybe an overreach. It’s epic company, but, it’s all a bit premature. I’m working and staying focused. I'm following advice Bob Redford gave: ‘There is only the trying, the rest is not our business.’ Still, that certainly makes me feel great and at the same time feel like I need to hit the gym. Plus, 'Bosom Buddies' only lasted two seasons. Yikes." 

In some ways though, Roberts' quirky sitcom isn’t a sitcom in the traditional sense at all. It’s the dramedy set up for his inviting, heartfelt and meaningful world, albeit a bit quirky and off-kilter. It's the kind of place where dads can help kids for a living. If the show goes the direction the creator(s) hope, it might just give society an honest look at itself through a quirky lens. The series plans to take on specific problems kids are experiencing every day from bullying to the treatment of women. 

Regarding the potential of a social statement through his TV show, Roberts says, “I'm a New School kid; social statements are our DNA. But, I don't see it as a social statement. I think we simply settle for poorly designed entertainment. That's changing rapidly. The art of starting a social conversation from an uncharged place will become the norm. We all know we need a societal redesign. I think stories are the conversation starters for that process. We may all be broke, but we gettin’ woke, and that at least - wait for it - ain’t no joke. Sorry, can’t talk about Dad’s without cheesy dad jokes. Seriously, though, it's not about crafting messaging into a story. It's about telling the real stories we are living inside daily now, and finding a way to see them a little clearer, and get a little closer to the deeper issues through the lenses of humor and heart.”

Roberts runs design consultancy and storytelling house 10,001. With a prestigious client list and an accomplished team of Harvard researchers, award-winning storytellers, rogue entrepreneurs and Parsons designers, he envisions the group creating the forefront of re-imagining how we tell our stories. Roberts sees storytelling as design thinking.

Which is, perhaps, an unusual take on the subject. The actor himself attended the Global Executive program pursuing a masters in strategic design at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in Paris and New York, which is an unusual track for an award-winning and up-and-coming auteur in film and TV. But, he attributes his different take on the entertainment industry as fostered by his peers and his program at Parsons in Paris, France, and abroad. He's also recently signed on as adjunct faculty at Parsons in NYC.

But, to hear Roberts tell it, maybe it's not as unusual when one takes into consideration the crossover of storytelling and design. “Every design is the story of a thing. Every narrative is the story of a person. Narrative and design are twins. Why wouldn’t you raise them in your house together? I think filmmakers and writers and actors have so much to offer the world. We limit ourselves to one industry and everybody needs us. We are the storytellers. We know how to say what needs to be said.”

See Jack Roberts and his new TV show Dad, inc.'s world premiere at the 21st Annual Dances with Films festival in Hollywood, California, at the TLC Chinese Theaters on Saturday, June 9, at noon. Tickets are available on the Dances with Films website. Roberts can be reached for media inquiries and press through his company’s channels at connect@10001.company and +1(323)743-3180. He is currently unrepresented.

Source: 10,001 Inc.