About
When a slacker New York post-grad discovers he is a Demon, he must struggle through his training to tempt a mortal soul.
Inspired by the fantasy stories of writers like C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters), Dante (The Divine Comedy), Milton (Paradise Lost), the Book of Revelations, and the “seven deadly sins,” Hellgate Academy is about a young man from Astoria, New York who learns after years of living as a human, that he is actually a Demon. We follow his story as he struggles through his Tempter training at Hellgate Academy.
Accessed through a secret door under Hellgate Bridge, which is an actual bridge in Astoria Park in an outer borough of New York City, Hellgate Academy is like the ivy leagues of demon schools. Our hero, Warren is only there because his uncle is a high ranking official in the demon government. After Warren gets in a few mishaps in his first few days at school, the students are assigned a Human to tempt to the Darkness. But it turns out that Warren is not good at this at all.
Each episode follows Warren as he attempts to practice a different skill, commonly known as the Seven Deadly Sins. The real struggle for Warren is not being able to achieve success despite all the evidence that this is his calling. But there is a deeper truth. He fails so much at being evil because he may not truly be entirely evil, and he is at the center of a battle larger than all of humanity, angels, and demons.
Everyone battles their personal demons… but some demons aren’t very good at the job.
The pilot episode was released on Halloween, October 31, 2018, on the Hellgate Academy YouTube channel.
Hellgate Academy is now pursuing festival presentation opportunities and gauging viewer interest while seeking collaborators to help bring the entire series to life. If you love urban fantasy and want to help us make more episodes of Hellgate Academy, reach out to us on our Contact form.
If you want to stay informed about all the latest news, you can follow Hellgate Academy on social media and sign up for our newsletter at the links and form at the bottom of this page.
Creative / Cast
CREATED & WRITTEN BY
Kane Prestenback
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kane Prestenback
DIRECTED & SHOT BY
Chris Fitz
SUPERVISING PRODUCER
Molly Mermelstein
FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / LOCATION SOUND ENGINEER
Jason Michael Miller
SECOND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / PRACTICAL EFFECTS SPECIALIST
Brian Carson
VISUAL EFFECTS BY
IFITFITZ Productions
EDITOR
Chris Fitz
MAKE-UP/HAIR/ART DIRECTION
Molly Mermelstein, Jason Michael Miller
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
Candace Michelle, Brian Carson
WARDROBE PROVIDED BY
Express, Inc. & Hennes & Mauritz AB
SPECIAL THANKS
John Sowle, Jessica Munro, Adrienne Lovette,
Lauren Sowa, Kyle Prestenback, Cara Parmigiani
Bridge Street Theatre, Catskill, NY
Related Management, Karlene Johnson-Clarke
Hudson Market Chelsea
New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting
Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
and all of our Indiegogo backers!
STARRING
Kane Prestenback as Warren Wood
Kane Prestenback is a New York actor, singer, puppeteer, movement & voice performer. His TV roles include appearances on Travel Channel, Lifetime, Discovery ID, & American Heroes Channel, and lead roles in many short films and webseries. Theatre credits include New York Musical Theatre Festival, Gallery Players, Broadway’s Circle in the Square (w/ Theodore Mann), The Public Theater, Westside Theatre, Symphony Space, and Old Vic New Voices. Regional credits include Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Luna Stage, Swine Palace Productions, Shakespeare & Co, & Mad Cow Theatre. Notable shows/roles: “Thrill Me” Southeastern premiere, “The Tallest Building in the World” World-Premiere, “Urinetown: The Musical” (Bobby Strong), “What the Butler Saw” (Nicholas Beckett), “Little Shop of Horrors” (Seymour), George M Cohan’s “The Tavern” (The Vagabond), and “Kid-Simple” (Oliver). Kane made his London Theatrical debut at The Old Vic in the inaugural TS Eliot US/UK Exchange, in association with Kevin Spacey. Training: Circle in the Square Theatre School. Proud member of Actor’s Equity.
Kristin Parker as Kalli
KRISTIN PARKER is known for her work on Orange is the New Black and her starring role in the new pilot: Maturity, one of two pilots released for Made In NY’s Greenlight Her project. Kristin’s work can also be seen on Blue Bloods, Law & Order: SVU and the webseries Split. Kristin has performed off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse, The DR2, and The Theatre at St. Clements; Regionally at Arkansas Rep, The Kaufman Center, Speakeasy Stage, Old Castle, Fiddlehead, and NSMT; and developed work at Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, Rattlestick, The Cherry Lane, The Lucille Lortel, Origin Theatre, Urban Stages and The York. When Kristin’s not acting, she can probably be found baking bread in her cozy Brooklyn kitchen.
Steven Patterson as Kamin Tappe
STEVEN PATTERSON is Associate Director of Bridge Street Theatre. He has performed both Off- and Off-Off-Broadway in NYC, and regionally with such theaters as Kaliyuga Arts (which he founded with his husband, John Sowle, in 1986), South Coast Repertory, Capital Repertory, TheatreWorks, Lexington Conservatory Theatre, Chenango River Theatre, Centenary Stage Company, Contemporary Opera Marin, and the Oregon, Orlando, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Lake Tahoe, and Richmond Shakespeare Festivals. A few of his most memorable roles have been Lear in KING LEAR, Prospero in THE TEMPEST, Michael Williams in HENRY V, Austin Wiggin in THE SHAGGS: PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD, Jake Sturdy in KILL ME NOW, David in POOR SUPER MAN, Judi Boswell in HOW TO PRAY, The Storyteller in THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH, The Creature in FRANKENSTEIN: THE MODERN PROMETHEUS, and Jean in BEAUTY, a one-man show inspired by the life and works of Jean Genet which he created, performed, and toured with internationally for four years. He currently resides in Catskill, NY.
FEATURING
Lukas Poost as Coffee Man
Molly Mermelstein as The Hellgate Channel Narrator
and Kyle James Johnson, Casey LaVres, Katelyn Sabet, & Brian Carson
News
Official Selection
While we celebrate the one-year anniversary of our pilot episode premiere, “Hellgate Academy” was just announced as an official selection at the Diabolical Horror Film Festival, and Kane Prestenback was nominated for Best Actor at their Carnage Awards. We also just finished a month of sharing a variety of new content on all of our social pages. Check them out everywhere @hellgateacademy for behind-the-scenes photos, stories about our creative process, and much more.
Best Web Series Winner
Amazing news! “Hellgate Academy” was just selected by Independent Horror Movie Awards as the Winner of Best Web Series.
Our pilot episode was also nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects, and Best Humor.
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