The Making of The In-Betweens of Holly Malone

On the Leesh is asked a lot how we make our web series. How long does it take? How big is the crew? Who on the team does what?

In response, we made a little making of video with our Flip camera. Have a look!

Episode 17 - Watch it Now!

Episode 17: The Garden of Earthly Delights
It's the night of the party. Is Holly's decoy up to the task?

Watch Episode 15

The Decoy
Holly's got a plan, and it involves a hot man.

Episode 14 - Watch is now!

Episode 14: Intermission Mission
Holly tries to find out more about Dimitri over red wine and puppets...

Watch Episode 13 HERE!

Episode 13: Promise Sneakers
llen pays Holly a visit at work and asks a favor...

Watch Episode 12!

Episode 12: Open House, Insert Foot
Francesca schools Holly on how to handle men... and real estate.

Watch Episode 11 of Holly

Episode 11: May the Force be With You or Without You
Holly makes a discovery in Dimitri's closet.

2 Holly Episodes Headed to Computer Screens Near You!

Yesterday OTL, along with Holly Malone stars: Jessica Arinella, Brian Patacca and Julie Tortorici shot 2 more episodes of our flagship webseries: The In-Betweens of Holly Malone.



Both episodes were written by Phil Kain and were directed by our own Alicia Arinella.



Be on the lookout for these two funny epi's in the next few weeks!

Watch Episode 10

EPISODE 10: EX MARKS HER SPOT
Holly runs his ex past Dimitri

What Constitutes A Season

Since Webseries are still very much like the Wild West, they don't necessarily follow the same models that are displayed by television shows. This brings up a very interesting question: How do you differentiate between seasons?


For In the Can, the answer is simple. We write each season - with a finite number of episodes in blocks. Because of this, we know what we want to happen in any given Season: there is a very clear through line. Since we have the hopes that In the Can will have a life as a half hour show, we break each season down and call it an episode. This "episode" is then made up of parts. When those parts are strung together you have a season. For instance - Season 1 (Episode One) is made up of 7 episodes (or parts). Got it? Wow, it seems much more confusing now that I've written it.

Watch it at: inthecan.ontheleesh.com





For The Sexually, we have a similar game plan. We know the outline of a season and then Jeff writes the episodes and we throw in a bunch of improved sketches. The sketches came out of need to create content while competing with busy schedules. Out of necessity, these created a great place for the boys to really stretch out their characters and provide us with a lot of backstory that we no longer need to jam into a three minute episode. Even though this was our master plan, our story lines have changed as the series has developed. We didn't conceive of the park episodes until we realized we needed a through line. Since we started filming the improved interviews, and the boys brought such intricicacies to their characters, Jeff needed to weave it all together. Thus the park scenes. So...breaking down the sexually so far has been a bit tougher. I look at Season 1 as the Lawyer office episodes and the Central Park episodes. Season 2 are the interviews. Moving forward we have a more clear cut idea of the next couple of seasons - Season 3 brings the boys to therapy. We will still feature both improv and scripted episodes, but they will have a central focus behind them.


Watch it at: www.thesexually.com

This brings us to The In-Betweens of Holly Malone. When we started Holly, we had a lot to learn. She was our flagship show, and we were still getting our feet wet on creating the language of a webseries. The first season of Holly - episodes 1 through 17 have a clear over arching story line. As we progressed, we realized that fast and funny was best and that our audience was willing to overlook certain expositional plot points in exchange for funny jokes. We also learned to keep the episodes current. Now we have jokes about the Oscars, politics and the economy. Right now we're still in Season 2 of Holly, but this season could go on indefinitely. Since we haven't delineated the idea of what marks a season in Holly, we're likely to just keep creating and not worrying about seasons.




Watch it here: hollymalone.ontheleesh.com


However, these theories could all go out the window as each series develops!


In other news, we've been tossing around ideas to combine all three series into an "On the Leesh Webseries Special." We don't have a plot line yet, but our idea is that all the characters would meet and interact. Imagine Holly up against Johnnie or Juice with Phillipa...

Stay Tuned!

Things I've Learned About, Producing for the Web

When we first started producing The In-Betweens of Holly Malone, in 2005, web-series were such uncharted territory, they didn't even have a real name yet. We were calling them nano-series. There were a few serial based programs on the web, but mostly the web was a place where you'd look for one-off entertainment involving people falling down, exploding mentos or the like. We've learned a lot of things over the past few years, and I wanted to share some information for those who are interested in starting their own series.

1. Get in and get out.
When watching programs on the web, people have a very short attention span. Think music video. People will generally give you about 3 minutes of their time before they click off. Now what's strange is people are more willing to watch four three minute episodes than one twelve minute video. I can't tell you why this happens, as I am not a scientist, but this is what we've learned time and again. Three minutes is a magic number.

2. Comedy plays better than drama.
To this day, I've only seen a couple of dramatic web-series. Typically, people seek out comedic content on the internet. Perhaps it's not such a leap from looking up a funny video on youtube, to watching a serialized story. This may change over the next few years, but for now, aim for comedy.

3. People are willing to forgive more on the internet.
Production value is a key factor that you should always have in mind. If something sounds like it's down a very hollow tunnel, or it's not in focus, people won't be interested. However, the type of camera that you use is not as important. People are used to watching videos posted by flip cameras on blogs, so you don't need the highest state of the art HD camera that George Lucas will be using to film his next Star Wars saga. Use what you can get your hands on, and make sure it's produced well. Story tends to outweigh production design.

4. Consistency is important.
For anything to gain a following, you need to maintain a consistent posting schedule. We try to post every other week, but if you are able to post weekly, that's ideal. Just don't post weekly for four weeks and then have nothing for three weeks and start posting again. It is better to post every other week and not have a lag in between. Also, plan on having at least three months of content - though six is ideal. You need time to build a following. You don't want to start to get interest and then have nothing left to post.

This means that when working on web content, you are likely to be working on it for a long time. Which brings me to my last point.

5. Make sure you have fun
Since this content is something you're likely to live with for at least 3 months, but closer to 6, make sure you pick material that you like to work on. Work with people who you have a good time with, and keep a clear perspective on the whole process. As it stands right now, you're not likely to make a lot of money working on a web-series. There are definite benefits, but getting labelled the next Bill Gates isn't one of them.

Check Out Episode 7

Episode 7: The Matt Coleman
Holly doesn't play games. She uses them as tools for dating advancement.

Episode 6: Stall Stall (Part 2)

Holly goes on a date so bad... she needed two episodes to finish it.

Click To Play

Holly Spreads It Around

The In-Betweens of Holly Malone is making its way throughout the web. Currently, The In-Betweens of Holly Malone - Episode 30 "A Very Holly Christmas, Part 2 - Santa and the Art of Good Head is being featured on blip.tv's main page. Check it out at: blip.tv! Or simply watch the episode now!



Holly was also featured on www.tilzy.tv. Launched in 2007 tilzy.tv describes itself this way: "Tilzy.TV is a guide to webshows. We sift, scrounge, and search through the countless hours of web video to bring you the best programming available on the internet."


Here's what tilzy.tv had to say about Holly:

Holly Malone is the quintessential single, nervous woman who manages to screw up any interaction that could possibly lead to a date. She lives in New York City, has a dog, her own apartment, a job, and of course, a token gay friend. She is basically a more believable Carrie Bradshaw. Episodes are generally around two minutes long and are shot at various locations throughout Manhattan. The first season follows Holly and her two friends, Dimitri and Francesca, as they participate in a rage of ridiculous activities such as shopping for sex toys in Episode 1 at The Pleasure Chest on 7th Avenue (which also happens to be a stop on the Sex In the City tour), or obsessively evaluating a message left by a possible date for Holly in Episode 4, shot in the Le Gamin Cafe on Hudson street in the West Village.

Much of this show relies on certain cultural references, such as the landmark adult toy shop mentioned above, or the fact that Holly is often eating Mr. Softie ice cream on the street, that are unique to New York City, and so, as someone living there, I feel a particular affection for these characters. I especially like watching episodes shot in familiar places like the Conservatory Garden in Central Park seen in Episode 10.

HAPPY HOLLYDAYS

The In-Betweens of Holly Malone - Episode 29 "A Very Holly Christmas Part 1-My Penises Are Burning

Christmas eve at Holly's....

Episode 5: Stall Stall (Part 1)

Holly goes on a date so bad...

Holly Malone Celebrates the HollyDays

In two weeks, OTL is shooting 3 more episodes of The In-Betweens of Holly Malone. Among the new episodes is a Holly Malone Christmas Special! While there's no singing or dancing, there is vodka and anatomy shaped baking tins. We're all holiday people over here, so we figured why shouldn't Holly be as well!

Stay tuned... it'll be coming out in mid-December!

Watch Episode 4

Episode 4 - Analysis Interruptus
If you can't share your neurosis with your best friends then what are you paying your therapist for

Watch Episode 3 Here!

Episode 3: Beep!

From Crackle: The InBetweens of Holly Malone - Episode 3

Holly Malone Featured on Showbiz Schmooze on Koldcast TV

Check out Koldcast TV's version of TMZ, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood. They call it Showbiz Schmooze and an episode of our webseries, The In-Betweens of Holly Malone is featured on the show at the end of the program. Check it out at:


Thanks for the love Koldcast!