This star-studded pilot could be a New Bedford filmmaker's big break

NEW BEDFORD — A filmmaker from New Bedford is hoping a star-studded show pilot he worked on will be a hit — he and the crew just need to get it before the right eyes.

Ethan de Aguiar, a city resident and 2007 graduate of New Bedford High, was given the chance to serve as director of photography and co-director for a "mockumentary" pilot for an aspiring series called "Pickleball is Life: Dill With It!," starring the likes of Catherine Curtin ("Stranger Things," "Orange is the New Black,") Johanna Day ("Madam Secretary,") Tony Award-winner Tonya Pinkins ("Fear The Walking Dead,") and four-time Emmy nominee Sharon Lawrence ("NYPD Blue.")

While de Aguiar, 34, has a wealth of filmmaking experience from shooting documentaries and films for clients, he says working on "Pickleball" — shot in Cape May, New Jersey over a five-day period back in May — was a new milestone for his career.

"I’ve done some small productions before and, even though this was an indie project, it very much felt like a bigger, Hollywood-esque type of production for me," de Aguiar said. "It was the first time I’ve worked with professional actors, so seeing all these people I've seen on TV was a wild experience."

How'd it come together?

After de Aguiar made his award-winning short film documentary "Love Letters for New Bedford" during the pandemic, Standard-Times reporter and screenwriter/producer Seth Chitwood interviewed him for a story about the film, and the two quickly connected over their passion for filmmaking. So when Chitwood, whose series "Luna, The Witch" is featured on Amazon Prime, was enlisted by "Pickleball" star and creator Carol Ann DeMarco to produce the pilot, de Aguiar came to mind as someone to bring onboard.

"His editing and cinematography skills left me completely impressed," Chitwood said. "At the same time, I had been brought on to help produce 'Pickleball is Life,' a project that required someone with multiple abilities, and given Ethan's documentary experience, I knew he would make an ideal team member with a little guidance."

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"He [Chitwood] wanted me to meet the executive producers, Carol Ann Demarco and Leigh Anne West, and just see how we kind of vibed," de Aguiar said. "As soon we I met them, I just liked their energy, I liked what they wanted to do."

De Aguiar said he also liked that the project is largely women-led.

"The creators of the show are both women, a lot of female actors, most of the crew were all female," he said.

What's the show like?

Being a "mockumentary," de Aguiar says "Pickleball" is similar to other popular comedy series like "The Office" or "Parks and Recreation" in its constant switching between documentary-style footage and characters' interview-style asides. Being experienced in shooting candid reality-based footage for documentaries and other work, de Aguiar says he had a good sense of what shots should look and feel like.

"The way a mockumentary is sometimes filmed is like, the shots aren’t always perfect, they’re not always set up ahead of time because you want it to feel like we’re a real documentary crew filming these people even though it’s a scripted show," he said. "It felt very comfortable from a technical standpoint."

Filming on location in Cape May, de Aguiar said there were even times when the unexpected would occur and enhance a scene.

"As we were getting B-roll of this pickleball court ... the pickleball court owner's dog would come in and sniff around so that's just the kind of thing where we didn't plan this, but it's working so let's capture it."

A familiar feel

The show and its setting are the result of the "Pickleball" creator's love of the sport and her home community.

"What began as a desire to combine my love for Cape May, NJ, my addiction to pickleball and my passion as an actor developed into this incredible TV pilot," DeMarco said.

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While filming, de Aguiar says the small coastal city reminded him of New Bedford in many ways.

"It's almost like the city itself is a character in the show," he said. "It's a smaller community, there's these old Victorian homes and things like that. In the downtown coastal area some of the houses are bright and colorful and reminded me of a lot of houses in the West End of New Bedford.

"I hope the similarities between the communities come across when people watch it."

What now?

With the pilot shot, de Aguiar says he's currently in the process of editing the footage into a final version which will be pitched out in hopes of garnering the right attention.

"Once it's all cut up and everybody's happy with it, we're going to try to shop it around to different streaming services, investors and things like that," he said. "We’ve posted teasers and promoted it so people can get an idea of what we’re going for. If we can show it already has some legs under it, hopefully it will get greenlit.

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"Especially now with Pickleball being so popular, it’s kind of the perfect time for a show like this to come out and take off."

Show your support

To show your support or learn more about "Pickleball is Life: Dill With It!," visit and follow on social media at facebook.com/PickleballIsLifeSeries and instagram.com/pickleballislife_series.

For more on de Aguiar's work, visit instagram.com/ethan.de.aguiar, facebook.com/ethan.deaguiar.338, and visit his YouTube channel at tinyurl.com/Ethan-deAguiar.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford filmmaker pitching show pilot 'Pickleball is Life'