Riley Parra: detective, fighter, holy champion in the battle between angels and demons on the streets of Los Angeles.
She is the complex title character of the book series of the same name, by author Geonn Cannon, that provides a mix of mystery, suspense, and fantasy. But now, she’s being brought to a new audience through The Riley Parra Web Series, adapted and produced by Tello Films. Each book is adapted into its own 10-episode season; 5 seasons in total, covering the 5 books by Cannon. It was this episodic format by Cannon that made the transition from page to film an easy and masterful one.
The Riley Parra Web Series has already completed production on the first season. Having never read the books, my first introduction to Riley was season 1 of the show (which you can see for yourself here). Like many shows that try to cram world building and heavy amounts of character development into a short amount of time, season 1 drove the necessary exposition forward through the expertly delivered dialogue of Connor Trinneer from Star Trek Enterprise.
Season 2 doesn’t have that burden and hits the ground running, balancing it’s grounded mystery/detective qualities against its supernatural side. This past week I sat in on the season 2 table read, allowing me to see, firsthand, the cast working through the script. I am not exaggerating that season 2 will take the show to the next level. Not only is the show free to explore the world it built in season 1, but the show has added some amazingly talented actors to its ranks to achieve this: veteran actors Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek TNG) and Tony Amendola (Bra’tec from Star Gate SG-1) provide an immediate boost to an already amazing cast, but it is the relatively new Carolyn Ratteray that may steal the show.
As previously mentioned, season 1 is available for streaming through the Tello Films site, and season 2 is in pre-production, but the creators need your help. Creating a film series can be expensive, so if this sounds like something you would like to support, take a peek at the show’s Indiegogo page, where you can view videos and find awesome rewards offered by director Christin Baker and the rest of the cast. Check it out and enjoy!
