Showing posts with label in the can productions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in the can productions. Show all posts

Friday, February 27, 2009

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!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Episode 8: Maybe He Went Away

Episode 8: Maybe He Went Away
Date. Wait for phone to ring. Rinse. Repeat.




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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Launching Holly Into Cyberspace

Planning a party is never easy. There are a million questions you must ask yourself. Where should it be? What's the best venue? What would make your guests happy? What's hip but not obnoxious? Will everyone come?

These questions are even more pressing when the party is for the launch of your latest project. With every hostessing question that comes to mind, you have to think of two promotional questions. Can we get press there? How can we keep everyone's mind on the project we're launching? Can we ensure that the guests will pass the word on about the project?

These were only a few of the questions we asked ourselves when working on the launch party for the "The In-Betweens of Holly Malone." While we've already released the first four episodes (and viewers can now vote about Holly and Dimitri's future on our website: www.ontheleesh.com/holly), we thought a party would be a great way to remind everyone that the episodes were out there while we get them ready for the next four.

We decided to hold the party at Elmo in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. They had a great downstairs room that we used with a separate bar and a dj playing. We had our list of people and got the invites out as soon as possible. We also made up some Holly coasters and matchbooks to give out which looked really cool. So when the big night rolled around we were ready but nervous.

With one drink down the hatch, we welcomed all our guests and offered them a free drink on us. The whole evening worked like clockwork which was awesome. People who hadn't seen the episodes yet got to watch them on computer screens we had set up and we had Joffre Myers going around getting some footage of the party. Lots of people came who had worked with On the Leesh on previous projects: Daria Polatin, writer of "Happen to Know," Thom Rivera, actor in "Soap Scum," Jeanie Dorsey, writer of "Compliments to Amanda" and Chris Borg, actor in "What Are the Odds," to name a few. What's so great about that is that, when you're in the midst of a project it's sometimes hard to get to know someone as just a cool person. So having the chance to hang out with all of these artists that we love working with and talking about lots of things that have nothing to do with work was incredible.

Now, did we keep people focused on the project at hand. I think so. Are people going to spread the word about Holly? We hope so. Did everyone have a good time. Seemed so. People drank, chatted, mingled, and enjoyed the matchbooks and coasters. What more can you ask for?

As for us, the night was a blast because it's always rewarding to kick back and enjoy what you were able to accomplish. Even if just for an evening...

Have a look at some of our pictures from the event below!



Party!



Desmond listens in to some Holly episodes.



People gather around the listening station.



PG Kain has a drink.



Jess and Marc have a photo op.



Julie and Alicia keep watch at the door to meet and greet.



Chris and Pete share some talk-time.



Daria and Julie discuss very pressing matters.

Episode 1

Enter Holly's World
Episode 1: Registration Indignation