Not too long ago, I was reintroduced to
Josh Shayne at
Will's bird's funeral. (If you don't know what I'm referring to ... go
HERE and hurry back.)
At the end of the "service," he said, "So, I'm starting this online sitcom. Would you like to be in it?"
I agreed. He told me the plot revolves around him living at home with his parents in Boulder. Knowing the potential humor in THAT kind of story from my own first-hand experiences that lasted nine months, I thought, "Why not, right? How much acting experience do I have? None. But what do I have to lose?"
(Oh, wait. I was actually supposed to be in the background of
Catch and Release when
Jennifer Garner and her crew came to film scenes in Boulder last summer. I did in fact miss the first 10 minutes of that lame film -- so if you see it again -- which you really shouldn't -- but if you do -- I'm selling tickets in the Fox Theatre box office window as someone rides their bike past The Fox. ALL that took an entire day to prepare for -- and I'm pretty sure they cut the scene.)
Where was I?
So ... when Josh e-mailed me the script, things got serious. That's when the anxiety hit me. I realized that this guy knows what he's doing and will most likely work in film for the entirety of his life -- and if anyone was going to destroy his Saturday afternoon of shooting, it was going to be me.
Before I left for Boulder the afternoon of July 7, my roommate tested me on my lines. It was a disaster. I couldn't stop laughing or be serious for one moment. Then, all this practice time led me to leave my apartment at 12:30 p.m., when I in fact had to be at his house at 12:30 p.m. Thanks to the oh-so-trusty (NOT!)directions that
Mapquest continually ruins my life with, I got lost. How many times do I travel to Boulder in a week? How many years did I live there? So how did I manage to get lost? Long story.
As soon as I arrived, we hopped into the car to go film the first scene on Pearl Street. Not only was I gettin' the nervous sweats, but it was hotter than hell that day. Oh, and humid, too. So -- I'm pretty sure there was a dark, green circle on the back of my lime green shirt while we filmed. Cute. Real cute. My first time on camera I'm pittin' out and gettin' back sweat.
We ran through our lines squished in the backseat as Josh's dad drove. They must have thought I was an idiot. The moment I come into the scene, I'm supposed to yell, "
Tyler!!!" Any normal person would realize that once they yell someone's name and enter a scene, they don't need to re-yell that person's name mid-conversation. Not once, but twice -- I yelled "Tyler!" at times that I clearly wasn't supposed to. Where was my MIND?
We finally made it to Pearl Street, where bikers and onlookers would stop and watch like we were from Hollywood. (No, no folks, Jennifer Garner isn't back to film another movie. You can move along now). I bet after one look at me trying to be the big, bubbly, loud character I was attempting to play -- they probably realized it wasn't worth it and also thought, "That girl has bad back sweat. Eww." My hands were even shaking, for Christ's sake. Maybe most of that was due to the fact that I had to kiss the "guy I was dating" on the cheek about 20 times in a row, lick my thumb and rub around his mouth in a "motherly" fashion. Again -- since when do I get nervous to kiss boys on the cheek? This girl? The raging, walking hormone? Afraid to kiss a boy on the cheek? (This day brought out a plethora of emotions I thought had left my system.)
Then, came the dinner scene. I got to yell. A lot. You'll see when I finally link to the episode (which should be up in the next few weeks).
Enough about me. Let's talk about Josh. He's brilliant. I sent him some basic questions via e-mail to catch up on his background and to especially verify who
Vic Shayne (the other guy involved in writing the script) is. His e-mail was so great, that I simply pasted it below:
"I'm not originally from Boulder, but I grew up here. I am 23. Vic is my neither my cousin nor my brother, but my dad. We've been writing together for years beginning with a stageplay when I was in high school and on several projects since. We are currently collaborating on a feature screenplay in addition to these shows, but both of us also continue to work on other projects independently. I graduated with a B.A. in Film and Television from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2005. I've done several short films and commercials, have written numerous screenplays and one stageplay. This is my first foray into sitcom, Web or otherwise.
"Throughout February, my film
Le Voyeur ran on IFC (the Independent Film Channel), other awards and such are on the about us section of my website:
http://www.floatinglightbulbfilms.com).
"I got into film when I was in middle school when I began making comedic historical shorts for some of my classes. Since then, I developed a strong interest in film history, technique and the art of storytelling - particularly the masterful work of writer/directors like
Billy Wilder and
Woody Allen.
Lowered Expectations was inspired partially by real life - making a conscious choice to move home after college to write and develop feature projects rather than be bogged down initially with a job that would demand most of my time and energy. I noticed several of my friends were doing the same thing and when I decided I wanted to produce some kind of consistent web comedy, it seemed to be a funny/sad concept for a show that would be highly relatable. Further, I wanted to create a project that came close to some elements of reality while still being entirely concocted story-wise -- all the characters use their real names, etc. And lastly, the budget is at absolute zero. I buy tapes, occasional props and that's about it. This is primarily a fun side project between paying jobs and feature screenplays."
Are you dying to see episode one? View it here: