Cassie Haze’s retrospect on ebsaga.

I recently realized that EB Saga fans only know my side of the story involving the breakup with Cassie Haze (Paula) and me during the production of EB Saga

I personally imagine that it must be kind of interesting from a fan’s perspective to find out “what was happening behind the movie.”

So I asked Cassie to write a review of her experiences during the production; here’s what she said.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started dating Jeff Benson. I didn’t know how big his and Robbie’s aspirations were at the age of 15 and 17 to become filmmakers. I had never heard of Earthbound until I met them. It started when Jeff and Robbie started pulling out their old VHS tapes with their childhood reenactments of the game. I remember when the decision was made to shoot the first Chapter of the Saga. It was on a whim and essentially out of boredom. I don’t think anyone expected the kind of recognition it ended up getting from both UbseyMovies fans and Earthbound fans.

Many know me in Earthbound as Paula, but I was actually Paula, Tracy, and a Happy Happyist cult member. Originally, I didn’t want to be any of these characters. I’m shy, I don’t like being in front of cameras, I had never acted before, and ultimately didn’t want any part in a role in the Saga. I was willing to help with anything else in the Earthbound production except being a character. Well, that didn’t seem like it was an option for me. I was Jeff’s girlfriend and was always at the Benson household as it was. With so few resources at hand, the guys became excellent at convincing and improvising.

When I was on the “set” for Earthbound, everything was always haphazard. Things would be somewhat planned, would fall apart, and yet there would always be a happy accident that would result from it. I remember most of the shooting I did with them took place in the summer and a lot of the situations we found ourselves in weren’t exactly ideal. There would be long, hot days of shooting in garages and sheds that were extremely cramped and uncomfortable. We couldn’t open windows or doors because it would affect the lighting so everything was musky and humid. When I was an Insane Cultist, I had to run around in a mechanic’s jumpsuit in the heat. I found it very easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed in these situations. In retrospect, I’m amazed at the scenarios we put ourselves through and yet everyone still remained focused on completing the task at hand and getting good footage.

Dating Jeff while working on Earthbound (or really any project that UbseyMovies was working on) was difficult in itself. Most of the time, I was just another helper while Jeff, Robbie, and Jon were incredibly deep into their projects. I was there when needed, but otherwise, our relationship would be put on hold. It came to the point where our relationship was so much a part of UbseyMovies that we didn’t really have one anymore. Ultimately, I became just another member of the crew and I feel this greatly led to our break up. However, if it wasn’t for Jeff, I wouldn’t know or have been a part of UbseyMovies for 3 years I was.

Prior to writing this, I had never seen Chapter 4. I had no idea who replaced me as Paula. I had a feeling it would be Morgan because she’s the only other blonde girl that the guys really knew and was readily available. At the same time though, I didn’t really want to know. After Jeff and I broke up, I didn’t want anything to do with UbseyMovies anymore. I wasn’t at all curious on following up with them and I wanted to put everything involving UbseyMovies in the back of my mind. I never watched any of the films they had done after we broke up. I’m not sure if I didn’t watch their more recent films because I wanted to forget my relationship with Jeff and UbseyMovies or if I just didn’t want to see what kinds of things they were doing without me. As for being replaced, it was just something that had to happen. I knew they weren’t going to come back to me and ask me to be Paula after Jeff and I had broken up. I thought it was hilarious how they slipped Morgan in like nothing was different. I especially liked the scenes where it alternates between me and Morgan both playing Paula. I hope the guys keep up with that theme of switching out different girls that are supposed to be playing the same character.

Now, 2 years later, I’m happy to say that I was a part of UbseyMovies and the production of the Earthbound Saga. Despite the fact that I unwillingly played the role of Paula, it gives me something to look back on and laugh about. Since I’ve learned about Earthbound as a game, I’ve completed it twice and still love it. Although I’ve moved on and moved away from California, I think I can safely say that if the guys of UbseyMovies came back to me and offered me the role, I’d accept it.”