History is constantly teaching modern society original lessons from surprising and entertaining novel viewpoints. The new historical pilot, ‘World Twistories,’ is one such innovative resource that explores eccentric people and their offbeat ideas throughout history.

The project is a lighthearted series that blends sketch comedy, meticulous scholarly research and expert interviews. Hosted by effortlessly charming social media sensation Paul Longley, each episode features a true story about an unconventional idea from an eccentric historical figure.

The pilot for ‘World Twistories’ is set in a coffee shop that opened in London in 1703. However, the shop has a twist – in order to get their caffeine fix, patrons were required to speak Latin.

Filmmaker Brian Wallace collaborated with Longley to write the pilot. Wallace also worked with Longley’s partner at Oakmead Productions, James Longley, to direct the episode. Wallace, Paul Longley and James Longley also worked with the former’s partner at Fancy Movies, Matt Mitchell, to produce ‘World Twistories.’ Paul Longley, Christopher Hatfield, Whit Spurgeon and Bill Pryor also star in the pilot.

‘World Twistories’ had its World Premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood as part of Dances With Films: L.A. The series screened as part of the festival’s Pilots Block 4 section on Saturday, June 29 at 11am.

The episode then went on to have its East Coast Premiere at the Regal Union Square theater in New York City as part of Dances With Films: NYC. The comedy screened during the Pilot Series Block 4 on Saturday, December 7 at 11:30am.

To help promote ‘World Twistories’s World Premiere at Dances With Films: L.A., Wallace generously took the time last spring to talk about scribing, helming and producing the project during an exclusive interview over Zoom.

Upon learning that the episode was chosen to have its East Coast Premiere as part of Dances With Films: NYC earlier this month, the filmmaker reached back out to us here at Film Factual on social media. He updated us about his excitement and appreciation that the pilot would be returning to the festival’s New York edition for its East Coast Premiere.

Film Factual (FF): You co-wrote the pilot for the new comedy series, ‘World Tiwstories,’ with Paul Longley. What was the inspiration in developing the show?

Brian Wallace (BW): I’ll try to be brief because it takes a few twists and turns. Our pilot for ‘World Twistories’ is about a man in the 1700s who opened a coffee shop, but it’s a coffee shop with a twist – it’s a Latin speaking coffee shop. So in order to go get some coffee, you had to speak Latin, or no coffee for you!

So when I was about 12 or 13, my family moved about an eight-hour drive away. So on long road trips back then to see relatives, we didn’t have iPads or anything like that. The only way to entertain yourself was through reading or the radio. Everybody had to like what was on the car radio.

So I would read all these various Ripley’s Believe It or Not! compendia or books about fascinating facts and interesting people from history. They would be little tidbits of useless trivia and things like that. Some of those stayed in my head.

Then fast forward to when I was an adult. I was a stage actor in New York for many years. In those days, I was reading a play every day.

One of my favorite plays was one called ‘The Art of Success’ by a British guy named Nick Dear. It was about the painter William Hogarth. I always loved that play and I always wanted to play that part.

So I became very interested in William Hogarth. He was kind of an indie painter, as he didn’t have a patron. So he had to paint his, images or his etchings and try to sell them directly to the public. But he always had this little satirical mind and commentary in the images.

One day I was reading an article about him. It said his father had run a Latin-speaking coffee shop, and that was all that was written. I couldn’t find anything else about it. I would Google it, but found nothing.

Somebody once upon a time had the confidence to type that sentence and publishing it. Nobody ever asked for a follow-up.

But it came up in my eyes and I thought, oh, what can we do with this? Oh, we can combine it with all this trivia knowledge I had in my childhood.

I also thought, hey, this might make a great show. It would be a great subject for the first episode.

So we just tried to do a sketch of how you would explain this idea to your friend. Oh, I want to open a Latin speaking coffee shop.

Then we find out where the coffee shop was over in the old country, and we sit down with an expert. I had just collaborated with these two indie filmmakers, the Longley Brothers, over in England.

We kept getting into the same film festivals during COVID and we hit it off. My film partner, Matt Mitchell, and I just said, “Hey, everybody’s trying to figure out how to create work during the lockdown. But we have another barrier, and that’s an ocean between us.” So this just seemed like a good project that could be easily structured.

FF: Once you and Paul decided what the exact story would be, how did you approach the scribing process together?

BW: It wasn’t that quick because I’d written a lot of comedies already. So this was something that had sort of been percolating in my head.

The writing was kind of the way to discover what the actual story was because I couldn’t find any information about it. So I just thought, if I sit down to tell my friend, I’m going to open up a Latin-speaking coffee shop, how would that conversation go? It almost wrote itself. I just found it very funny.

When I met up with the Longleys, I pitched this idea to them. James Longley, who was the DP (Director of Photography), producer and director for the London side of this project, actually found the coffee shop.

It’s in a medieval priory that’s over a thousand years old, and it’s a gorgeous building. It’s now a museum, and he made a deal with the museum curator and historian, Abigail Cornick, who was on camera with us as a contributor. We sat down together and she told us all about the history of Richard Hogarth and his coffee shop.

When James told us that he’d found the coffee shop and he found a historian who’d be willing to talk to us about it, it all fell into place. The rest is what you see in our pilot.

FF: Besides co-penning the episode, you also served as a co-director with James Longley. After creating the story, how did you approach helming the pilot?

BW: It was pretty straightforward. It was helped by the fact that we had some brilliant actors in Los Angeles, including Whit Spurgeon, Christopher Hatfield and Bill Pryor, who were the actors in the sketch.

When you are working with actors of that caliber, there’s not a whole lot to direct. You kind of sit back and let them do their thing, as they know what they’re doing.

Even if I don’t know what I’m doing, my, partner, Matt, who was the DP, helped. We also had Pea Woodruff and Mark Hensley doing other technical duties, and they know what they’re doing.

All you can do is just sit back and say, “Oh my goodness I can’t believe this is this is really working. It’s one of those projects where you always have setbacks.

Matt and I filmed something last fall (2023), and we got trapped in the desert overnight. (Wallace laughs.) We were shooting out in Bear Blossom, which was about an hour and change outside of L.A.

One of the crew members got his car stuck on a sandbar when we were going to leave, and everybody was behind him. There’s only one way in and one way out of that little patch of desert. So we had to wait for a tow truck into the early hours of the morning.

So all that stuff can always happen, but on this pilot, it didn’t. So I still have to pinch myself and ask, did we actually pull it off?

We did, so I feel like the hard part is now, since we’re in Dances With Films. We’re trying to get this in front of more people who can help us take it to the next level. This is where the learning curve is going to really kick in.

FF: Seeking about the fact that ‘World Twistories’ (had) its World Premiere at Dances With Films: LA, what (was) the experience been like of showing the project at the California festival?

BW: It has been brilliant. It has been intimidating in a lot of ways because this is the biggest and highest caliber festival that we’ve been in so far. Matt and I have been making films together since about 2018, and we’ve done the festival circuit all over the world.

I love film festivals. I really enjoy networking with other filmmakers.

But this one is legendary. I think it’s the biggest indie film festival in L.A., and one of the top 10 in the country. Everybody knows about this one.

So I keep waiting for that email that says, “Oh, I’m sorry we made a mistake – don’t bother showing up on Saturday (June 29)!” (Wallace laughs.)

So I’m just trying to camp out down there as much as I can, meet everybody I can possibly meet and see everything I can possibly see. I’m just trying to maximize the opportunity as much as we can.

They send us emails every day that are very specific and contain a lot of information. We have a lot of people who are coming out to support us and help us.

I hope this isn’t the peak of the experience, as I hope things get better from here. But even if this is the best we do, I have nothing to complain about. It’s just been so joyful.

(Updated message from Wallace on social media earlier this month.) FF: The series also (had) its East Coast Premiere at Dances With Films: NYC. What does it mean to you that the project is returning to the festival for its New York City edition?

BW: I lived and worked in NYC for several years. When I came to Los Angeles, I didn’t know that I would be away for so long. I really had to start over from scratch.

As my absence stretched on, I silently resolved not to return to New York until I had something to show for my time away. The pilot for ‘World Twistories’ not only gives me that sense of accomplishment, it’s quite possibly the thing I’m proudest to have helped create.

Having it embraced by Dances With Films, which has treated us so well, is the perfect re-introduction to what is essentially my spiritual hometown. That work ethic that drives indie artists to get on with it and do their best in any situation fuels not only our project, but the festival and New York City itself.

(The remainder of the interview is from the Zoom chat in June before Dances With Films: L.A.) FF: Like you mentioned earlier, ‘World Twistories’ stars Paul Longley, Christopher Hatfield, Whit Spurgeon and Bill Pryor. What was the casting process like for the episode?

BW: It was delightful. They have been such boosters. When I showed them the script for this project, I kind of explained the idea to them.

I also said, “The idea itself is a little bit quirky. We’re trying to make a TV series about this idea, and this will be the first episode.” But they really embraced it.

They showed up and they had a brilliant time with it. They were the easiest people to direct because they’ve been around a while.

Everybody who works in the indie space knows Chris, Whit and Bill, and they are always chasing them to try to work with them. I still can’t get over the fact that we were able to get them for a day. We couldn’t have asked for a better cast to bring this to life. Everything that’s right about that sketch is because they made it right.

FF: Besides writing and directing the pilot, you also served as one of the producers. What was your experience like of balancing your helming and producing duties?

BW: It was beyond joyful. A lot of things just kept falling into place in a way that you wouldn’t expect.

It’s like if I were to sit you down, Karen, and say, “Hey, listen, I have a great idea for a TV show. I want you to get your checkbook because I’m going to need you to help me produce it.

“Here’s what I want to do: I’m going to shoot half of it in Los Angeles, and then I’m going to shoot the other half of it in London. We have to have an ancient building, a medieval priory with giant stained-glass windows full of color.

“I also want to find a composer (Roman Falkenstein) in Latvia who has some awards, and he’s going to compose the whole score. He’s going to record it with a chamber or orchestra in Latvia.

“By the way, have I mentioned that it’s a period piece? I also have no backing, and we’re going do this ourselves.”

You would think I’m trying to commit tax fraud! You would look at my IMDb and you say, “Oh my goodness, the last thing this guy put on film was a self-tape in his living room. I’m not doing this. I’m just going to nod and smile and say, ‘Oh, look at the time.’

But we actually pulled it off. Indie filmmakers who do it themselves aren’t supposed to do this kind of stuff. That’s why, as much as I am proud of the content of the people who came together to make it happen, I am just as proud at how far the indie spirit can really get you.

If you just have the right people involved and a little bit of confidence in yourself, and you don’t put roadblocks in your way, you’ll succeed…I’m as proud that this project exists at all as I am of the content and substance of it.