Still in its infancy, the web series has started to really make its mark on the world and the entertainment industry. No longer are actors, writers and directors held back from telling the stories they want to tell with a how, what, where, when and why they want to! Ok, maybe that’s pushing it just a little. But the web series has definitely opened up the playing field for the creative many to realize their dreams of the content they want to produce and speak for the audience’s whose voices are rarely heard. Now is the time to stand up, take their creativity into their own hands and build it themselves.
It’s good old-fashioned hard work. We’re the do-it-yourself home improvement types so why not take that same elbow grease and create your very own web series. Well that’s exactly what Tina Cesa Ward and Susan Miller, creators of the fan favorite web series “Anyone But Me”. I had the pleasure of sitting down recently with Susan Miller to chat about the series and this bold new world the Internet has opened up for her and so many just like her.
EclipseMagazine: Could you give a brief description of “Anyone But Me” for people who are new to the series?
Susan Miller: It’s really about introducing a new generation struggling with identity in modern relationships. Initially we had a tagline and it still applies but it’s so subtle that we decided to kind of change it, which was sort of post 9-11 world that they had to navigate…and it is! That’s still very much a part of it and because it takes place in New York City, we shoot it here…New York is kind of a character in the piece.
EM: Isn’t that why, I think anyway, that people like to film in New York, because New York itself becomes part of the story?
SM: Exactly. In this case, the character of Vivian (Rachel Hip-Flores)…her dad was a fire fighter in 9-11 and has some health problems so they have to move from the city to the suburbs and that plays into the story.
It’s a multi-ethnic cast because that also is very contemporary. It’s why I love New York too. It’s such a mix of people. We very much wanted, while this is very focused on relationships, but we wanted to be able to bring in the larger picture. No one is isolated anymore. Mostly I think that is for the better. We want these kids without making this an issue because it’s not an issue drama and yet it touches upon all the things we go through
EM: Why this story through the eyes of a teenage lead?
SM: You know, the thing is I think that we’re all still in high school in some way.
[We both break out laughing]
EM: I couldn’t agree with you more!
SM: I think it’s such a rich and difficult and exciting time that it’s enharently dramatic and in this case we’re trying to do something that is well it turns out to be partly anti Gossip Girl. It was not made in reaction to Gossip Girl however, but it’s interesting though. I think as we grow older and we need to fit into certain parts of society or we need to fill roles once we become older and it’s supposed to be stable.
We have an older audience that looks at this because we can relate to it. It is afterall about finding yourself, being able to say who you are in difficult circumstances, first love and sexuality. Also, I think from the point of view…well not necessarily from her point of view but let’s say the lead characters are girls and I just think boy the world in its understanding and treatment and development of girls is sad, if not tragic in many, many places. So that was really compelling and especially with two women running the series!! [Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward]
It’s democratic. There are young men in it too!
EM: Yes there are! What made taking this project to the web the right format to tell this story for you?
SM: Well here’s the thing, Tina [Tina Cesa Ward] brought the idea to me, and the work she had done on it. She was looking for a consulting producer and I had wanted to sort of get involved in the web and I don’t know, I guess it was the right moment…the opportunity, but without knowing how to go about it, where we were going to launch. It was like “What is this world?” But it is a do-it-yourself world. Not that it doesn’t take a lot of doing and money and immense effort but you don’t have to listen…my background is in theater; I’m a playwright, and film and television. But I didn’t want to go…you know I’d had it with pitching even though I’ve been very lucky and successful in pitching and getting work that way but we both thought…Tina had no other aspirations for it at that moment besides the web.
It is and it continues to be pioneering.
EM: It is. It’s an interesting thing. You know I’ve been aware of little projects here and there on the web. That’s the great thing about the Internet, you can have your own space, your own control. I’m sure that’s part of the reason most people go there.
SM: Yes, a big one.
EM: It’s really interesting that for a while now people have been saying it’s the future, it’s the future…well the future is now. The web series is now starting to really take hold to the point where now there’s The Streamy Awards and a series can gain recognition off of that and sponsorship in the way that IKEA was one of the big sponsors there.
Right now, the Internet is very broad and there aren’t a lot of rules at this point. Do you feel that is more where the entertainment industry is heading? Do you think that the web is going to be a great place but you’re still really going to have film, you’re really going to have television? Where do you think it will go?
SM: I think it’s going to be one more platform, genre world to inhabit. I think it’s going to be an important one. I can’t even imagine what will come along after that! I don’t think it will replace those other media.
EM: Because that seems to be a big fear. Television is dead…everything is going to be the Internet. I kind of have a hard time wrapping my head around that idea.
SM: I don’t think so but I think there will be more connections, which I’d like to see. Just more collaboration and how we present things to people. You know you mentioned sponsorship and I that is one of our big, big difficulties right now…most web series. Yes, particularly Mark Gantt’s “The Bannen Way”. There are few that are like the IKEA sponsored winning series and then they’ve got all of these wonderful stars so it’s happening but very slowly. It’s not like television or film but it counts, it really does.
EM: Because the number are there.
SM: And people are very loyal! They’re rabid fans if something is good or something appeals to them. I don’t think advertisers or sponsors should ignore that.
EM: It’s nothing to sneeze at when you’re getting several hundred thousand viewers. It may not be the millions that you’re getting on television but how many people DVR and how many people will watch a show live anymore. They’ll still watch it but it’s probably going to be on DVR or they’ll even go to the website of ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. to watch it and what makes me laugh is everyone says they’re not sure how to market or deal with online sponsors to online content. Well you’re using a system that is very antiquated. You can gauge how many people are watching, it may be limited to how much information you can get on the web but you can still gauge how many people, how many views, how many times something has been watched.
SM: Yes, you can. In the last two weeks we had, and this is just on blip.tv, this doesn’t count Hulu or Strike or Koldcast…we had three hundred thousand views over two weeks. That’s pretty great.
EM: That is pretty great!
SM: When we started out when we were with Strike TV December 8th a year and a-half ago, we got five hundred views that day. Which we thought was pretty cool! And for not knowing who we were it was. The thing is you have to build momentum and that means you have to stick around to build momentum and that’s what we’ve done, that’s what we’re doing.
DVD Giveaway
I have a special treat for one lucky fan. Susan has so generously given me a DVD of Season 1 of “Anyone But Me” to give away. So all you have to do is leave a comment, send me an email [td******@ec*************.com] or tweet me telling me what you think of the show. By the end of the week I will select a winner at random and contact you directly. Good luck!
To watch Season 1 and Season 2 of “Anyone But Me”, go to their website http://www.anyonebutmeseries.com/ and follow them on Twtitter @AnyoneButMe.
Interview by Tiffany N. D’Emidio
Twitter: TiffanyDEmidio
I think this show is amazing…It came along at a time when there was nothing else like it for the demographic that it was made for. I mean the community was starving for a new fresh approach to something we have and haven’t seen before. I think the reason people have claimed it as there own is we feel as though our own story whatever it may be is being told…that story of first love and the wonder of it all. With Anyone but Me you feel as if you’re seeing a whole new world even if it’s just a newer version of the same tale. I started watching this show the first night it premiered and I have stayed because it grabbed me and defied my expectations. I shared it with people I loved because from that first show I knew I was being let in on something that had the potential to change the world even in a small way…it gave voice and courage to a bigger picture than itself…Anyone but Me gives hope in a time where kids are not invited to their proms or not allowed in their own yearbooks… I really do love this show and all of the people involved have my respect and gratitude for not only a job well done but for allowing a small glimpse into a better brighter future where my struggles and hardships are present for the world to see…experience and talk about freely. It’s a brand new world and Anyone but Me is a bright shining example of that.
I started watching this show back when there were only two episodes out but those two were enough to hook me! I have always praised the writing, acting, & production values because there were not too many shows on the web like it. Without getting too personal, this show has filled a void in my life. It has become a form of escapism that I just did not have in a high school. Now that I’m in college, I appreciate that literally thousands of young lesbians have a show to watch to see themselves reflected in. I also love that it’s a human drama- I care deeply about every character on ABM & want to see the best for all them. I’m rambling now so I’m going to stop but I have to say thank you to Susan Miller & Tina Cesa Ward for following through on a idea that has blossomed into a story that many people are going to cherish!