How it began

Newport, RI: The Series is an idea born from a gallery viewing of William Heydt’s “Newportant People” watercolor series. The people who were in the paintings were there that night. Each painting grew bolder and more vibrant as Tom C. Erb spoke with them and watched their personalities come to life.

Later, each character came to life as a story. What were they really like in person, where did they live, what were their family dynamics? The series takes Heydt’s paintings and gives each one a scripted episode, with his Newport landscapes woven through every story and short interviews with the real people closing each one.