By Krista Daly and Kristin Hirai
CTVA screenwriting major Collin Pelton, 30, will star in a new television series called “The 5th Dimension.”
“The 5th Dimension” is an unconventional portrayal of a science-fiction series.
“We feel that television needs that positive atmosphere,” Pelton said. “You need a show you can go to that you can really feel good about at the end of the day and it doesn’t have to be a sitcom. We really want to go the extra mile and explore infinite possibilities.”
The series will be broadcast as an anthology each week. It is a take-off of the classic TV show, “The Twilight Zone,” but is more comedic in genre. The first few episodes will feature paranormal encounters such as alien abductions, werewolves and ghost ships.
Sam Langford, the creator of “The 5th Dimension” said this is the perfect time for an anthology. He has always loved the anthology format, each week giving the audience something new. He said he also likes stories that will give the audience something to think about.
“Because our show is only limited to a half-hour, we have a greater number of stories we can tell because we’re not having to stretch a story out for an hour,” Pelton said. “We condense it into a really fun, entertaining three-act segment and just go for it.”
Pelton has appeared in over 30 independent films, but “The 5th Dimension” will be his first breakthrough role. Although Pelton has written and directed numerous short films, this will be the actor’s first major production.
Before he launched his career into the film industry, Pelton served in the U.S. Air Force for four years.
“My goal is to be an A-list (actor),” he said. “A-listers are icons, heroes in the eyes of young ones and role models for all ages,” he said.
“It’s actually not all that different from serving my country and wearing the uniform. The military gave me the structure, responsibility and the professionalism I needed to add to my tools as an actor. You could say combined with finishing my degree, the military was the final piece of the puzzle I needed to fulfill the whole person concept as this actor I aim to be.”
Pelton described himself as an atypical theater kid. Even though he was born in California, Pelton spent his childhood on The Big Island in Hawaii and Boston before calling California home again.
Pelton was approached with the opportunity to join the cast of “The 5th Dimension” in August of 2009, thanks to a friend in Pelton’s apartment building, who knew writer and director, Sam Langford.
Pelton described it as a serendipitous connection.
Due to his personal interest in UFOs and expert comedic timing, Langford thought Pelton was a perfect casting choice.
“When you know the right person, you just know it,” Langford said. “He had the chops, the youthful innocence and charisma with the camera.”
Pelton will take on the role of Daniel Arson, a 19-year-old sci-fi fanatic with a special interest in aliens and the supernatural.
“I play a sci-fi geek, which is really, really not hard for me to do. People try to become their character, but I am Daniel Arson,” Pelton said.
