Ever wanted to find out what it takes to write, cast, shoot, edit, and distribute a web series?
Well so did we, so we've decided to do it. Follow along with us as we create the pilot episode
for Jenn2.0, a show about a young social media consultant attempting to build her brand and
define herself in the ultimate connectivity of the Web 2.0 world.
It’s after midnight on the left coast, and though I know I need to go to bed there’s this midnight craving I have, it’s not for chocolate, but more of a desire to share something intimate, something real, and something only I could really add to this blog. Read More
When I write, I try to envision everything around the lines: how the characters move, the setting and maybe even the music. Most importantly, the words have to be true to the character and help move the story along. That’s what you ultimately need to see and, usually, that’s done through some form of conflict. However, I didn’t envision conflict on the set around the script. Read More
Tonight is our table read; the first time that all of the cast and crew will be in one place with the script. It’s a scary and exciting moment all at once. I’ve heard it in bits and pieces during auditions and have read through it in my head a thousand times, but now, it’s real. It’s really real. Not only will the script come to life as one full document, but the actors will now breathe real life into the characters. They will bring their nuances, their thoughts and their training to Jenn, Ian, Dave and Larissa. It’s also time for me to transition script and character responsibilities to Cody, the Director. Even though I’m not a parent, I can’t imagine handing off a 3-month old baby to someone I hardly know, but must inherently trust to my fullest capabilities. But, that’s what I will do. The script is “all groweds up tonight” as Double-Down Trent would say.
Joshua Cohen with with Tilzy.TV contacted us for our first press coverage since launching the makingjenn20.com blog. We greatly appreciate the interest in our show and hope to live up to the expectation of bringing something different to the world of web TV.
In a fantastic blend of self-promotion and entertainment, Jennifer will provide the inspiration for an online series with a premise that’s a slightly fictionalized version of her own life. Jenn2.0 is a lighthearted, dramatic comedy about a web-savvy twentysomething living in So Cal, trying to build a virtual cult of personality and “find balance between her online personas and her ever-present reality.” Sounds like The Guild, except for people who read Mashable and Chris Brogan instead of play World of Warcraft.
Things are starting to move along rather quickly with our web show now. We’ve pretty much completed the casting process, selected our actors, and are now ready to begin production on the pilot episode. It’s all so overwhelming…but in a good way.
Given that Jenn is based on a real person, you think it’d be easy to form the basis of her character. Ummm, no. As pointed out in an earlier post, we had to balance between the reality of Jenn and the privacy concerns of someone who is working hard to define herself. In the end, the character of Jenn became a very fictionalized version of her world, her relationships and her struggles. This was all very interesting and I have no idea how writers do two-hour biographical pics. It must be very difficult to draw that line as between “what I hear and see” vs. “what the audience needs to hear and see”. In the end, it comes down to the story and what is best for that.
Auditions went very well. We had callbacks and really confirmed some of our initial thoughts. It’s always good to hear your words read by others and I was pleasantly surprised by the actors that read. During lunch for the 1st auditions on Oct 4, we had a great, collaborative effort on the script, the characters, etc. Surprisingly, there was a long (really, really long) conversation about the stage of relationship between Ian and Jenn. Are they at 3 months? 6 months? Have they slept together? What does this all mean to the pilot and, thus, the series?
The first video of our casting process is finally up. Note to you videophobes: unfortunately, not being a part of the NAS crew I am more likely to make dumb mistakes. Like posting the interleaved MPEG2 version of this video instead of the progressive version. I’ll do my best to get this swapped out as soon as I can. - Rob
The original concept for Jenn2.0 involves following around Jenn Van Grove, a very talented real life person. We would be capturing both the real situations that she deals with and also the intriguing and edgy community of friends around her. We wrote a treatment and included a sample episode of fictional situations that we thought would be similar to what we might capture. Then came the hard part.
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The original concept for Jenn2.0 involves following around Jenn Van Grove, a very talented real life person. We would be capturing both the real situations that she deals with and also the intriguing and edgy community of friends around her. We wrote a treatment and included a sample episode of fictional situations that we thought would be similar to what we might capture. Then came the hard part.
