Episode 9 is Alive

It's funny how life works out sometimes. I like to think that things happen for a reason and the casting of Episode 9 has definitely had several moments that fall into something of that sort.

As of last night, we finally have this episode fully cast.

Not that anything has gone horribly wrong (although I have on a couple of occasions joked about the universe not wanting this script to be produced)it's just the normal pitfalls of producing an online show. Hell, the normal pitfalls of producing in general.

But, in the end, fortune has smiled on us and the fixes have proven to be pretty darn awesome.

I can't wait for our rehearsal next week, to finally get all of these players into the same room and watch them interact.

So now we go into the midst of rehearsing, prop finding, costuming, location scouting and so on.

It's going to be good.

Very, very good.


Tanya

Snazzy

So, if you don't follow us on Twitter, or on Facebook (and why don't you, I ask?) then you may not know the latest news around these parts.

Life From The Inside has been a featured Podcast for the past few days - and we will be featured until Tuesday, April 7th!

So, if you follow this link http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=266697234

and go to our iTunes page, you can download all of you favorite LFTI episodes (I know, it's really hard to pick ONE that's your favorite, you should download them all to be fair) and you can take us with you on your iPhone or iPod. Then you can watch LFTI absolutely whenever you want. I know, it really blows the mind, doesn't it.

Seriously, this is just really awesome for us. We can't thank the Eric at Blip enough. Or Pete and Pat at iTunes. It's a huge honor and we're so excited that it happened.

So, go and rate/review the show! Show LFTI some love, baby!!

And don't forget to check out part 3 of Episode 8 - online Monday, April 6th!

Tanya

Cute Puppies Galore!

We are hard at work on Episode 8 at the LFTI headquarters. But every once in awhile we need a nice break. Nothing is better than watching puppies on a webcam. Enjoy!

So, when not entertaining myself with random things online, I am busy shopping for props for our next episode. This can be highly entertaining, but I can't divulge what exactly we are shopping for as it will give to much fun stuff away about the next full ep.

I will tell you that rehearsals have been great fun. Some of our characters will be a little different for this episode and it makes rehearsals more fun than usual. Although it does not help with the horrible "giggling when I am uncomfortable" thing I do.

Now I'm off to find more stuff! I'll give you a hint, I may be looking for one of these. Or I could just be spending too much time in YouTube. I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Tanya

Looping

It's a special Saturday post. How exciting!

Robb is getting ready for Laura to come over and loop her lines for the next short that will go up on Monday. Let's just say we were filming some place that made recording sound a bit of a problem (and it wasn't just the loud refrigerator in our apartment!).

I believe this is the last thing that needs to be done for the short. The credit sequence is finished and it looks amazing! I can't wait for everyone to see it, Robb really has outdone himself.

I guess that's really all that's going on around here. The new video will be up Monday - start your countdown now!

Tanya

Gettin' A Good Start On 8

It's Friday and I've actually remembered to post! That must mean the world is going to end or something.

You see, I'm the person who came up with the idea of each Producers posting once a week, that way our blog would get updated at least 3 times weekly. And now I'm the one who forgets the most often to post. Or, I actually remember, but then I'm too busy at my day job on Fridays to get anything done.

But not today! No sir! I'm even starting to write this before noon. Which is another miracle in of itself. I'm telling you people, you may want to go out and buy some bottled water or something, cause this may be a bad sign. Or a good one I guess, depends on if you like my slapped together writing style or not.

So, this week has been pretty exciting. We had our table read for Episode 8 on Wednesday, which was a ton of fun. It's always a good sign when a cast member starts laughing at the lines so hard that we have to stop and wait for her to catch her breathe and try to get through her lines without breaking. Both times we read through the scrip this happened! It was extremely amusing to watch.

So yeah, Episode 8, pretty darn funny, if I do say so myself. And I do.

We are also very excited about our guest star, Stephen Simon. He's part of the comedy team "Ten West" (if you have not seen them perform, you have no idea what you are missing out on. They are brilliant! Hi Jon!)

Mr. Simon was one of those "wouldn't it be great if we could get him" people. Lucky for us we could.

(As a side note, I am now only going to call him Mr. Simon because I have way too many Steve's, Stephen's, Steven's in my life to keep them all straight. And I'm not fond of calling people by their last name only like a football coach, I think it's because I spent a lot of my life having people holler "IHNEN" at me since my whole family was in sports and it was a hard habit for people to break seeing as how I'm the youngest.)

Um, so where was I? Oh yeah, Stephen Simon. He's pretty darn funny. And tall. And we can't wait to get this episode up and running. We haven't even started rehearsals yet!!

I guess that's all for now. I'm going to go and be overly proud of myself for not only posting today, but getting it done before my lunchtime.

Tanya

Holiday Speciality

We're in the middle of prepping to shoot this weekend. Should be fun and weird - now I understand when actors talk about how odd it is to shoot holiday stuff way before it happens.

See, we're getting ready to shoot a little holiday special - which is going to be very funny, but still, it's like 87 degrees here today and we have to get in the mindset of the holidays. Which I guess shouldn't be too hard since it's always still around 87 degrees here during the actual holidays. Ah Los Angeles, sometime I really hate your lack of "weather".

One of the hardest parts of getting a holiday special ready was trying to find all of the correct food type stuff without getting hosed on the prices. At least all of the stores already have decorations in stock. I know everyone makes jokes about the stores getting holiday stuff in earlier and earlier every year, but Costco has Christmas decorations up already! And while that may make Robb really excited, it just makes me sad. Of course you don't see me complaining when the Halloween candy is in the stores early.

Also, who knew it was so hard to find someone that owned a gravy boat? I mean, I don't own one, but I figured I must know someone who does?! Of course, I only asked 2 people, but still, I thought my odds were pretty good.

I will be able to tell you more about the special after it airs. It's been fun to get ready for this one, we even had a cast bar-b-que on Labor Day to hang out and make some props. Yes, we can multitask with the best of them! Unfortunately Corrie had the stomach flu on Labor Day, so she was sent home from the last rehearsal with supplies and told to make her own prop. I can't wait to see how it turned out!

Tanya

Thank You

We just want to send out a great big THANKS! to everyone who commented on this post over at TV Week.

We're seriously blushing over here, you guys said some really nice things about our show and the flattery is overwhelming!

I can't remember what else I was supposed to write about today. My parents are visiting this weekend and my mind is distracted with thoughts of "how quickly can I clean my apartment?" and "What would be a fun thing to do with my parents tomorrow?"

Oh yeah, our newest video will be online this coming Monday. Make sure you check it out.

And, we're already in rehearsals for our next video. It may have to do with an upcoming holiday - which would explain why we're getting together to make hats this weekend. I can't tell you what kind of hats - that would give it away! You'll just have to wait to be impressed by our awesome hat making.

Tanya

Introducing Laura

By now I'm sure you've seen our newest video and understand why we kept putting the word episode in quotes every time we described it.

I'm very proud to introduce Laura Neufeld as our newest main cast member - playing the part of Lou, Mason's new agent now that Kate has disappeared/run away to represent Dixon/whatever you may think.

I can't tell you how excited I am to have Laura in the cast. I met her when I auditioned for Culver City Public Theater's 2002 Season. From the first time I was in callbacks with her, I knew she was someone whose acting I would admire. She was so friendly, open, fun to be around and welcoming to new people. Laura is one of those people who makes you feel like a better actor when working with her.

Robb, Steve, Laura and myself were all together for the first time in a production of "Hotel Paradiso" at the Morgan Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica where yet again I had a blast working with her. Lucky for me, we stayed in touch (although somewhat loosely) through the years.

When we decided to do an internet show, we knew we had several friends that we wanted to use in our cast. Laura was one of those people that we kept not using because we knew we wanted the part we gave her to really showcase what a talented actor Laura is. Still, it was something that we talked about quite a bit, the fact that we really wanted to use Laura, but the timing just hadn't worked out right and we were all frustrated by this.

I can't believe how right it ended up working. Replacing Kathy and the character of Kate was no small task. We had several conversations about what we wanted to do with the character of Mason's agent, agreeing right away that we wanted the part to stay female. There was the idea tossed around to make Mason's agent much younger than the rest of us, but that idea was quickly tossed aside when we realized this was the perfect opportunity to finally get to have Laura in our cast, if she would have us!

Okay, I'm overlooking the fact that we actually DID use Laura in Episode 7. If you've watched the "Introducing Lou" short, you'll see that Laura and her wonderful daughter Sophie were in our baby parade, although fate was on our side that Laura wasn't really seen in the episode - but we did get a couple of takes where you could see her - which obviously came in handy for our short!

I can't tell you how much fun it's already been having Laura around. It's no easy feat to join a cast like ours, where everyone's been working together for years now and Laura has managed to do so with great aplomb. Not too mention the fact that we really threw her into the middle of things quickly, we shot quite soon after casting her - several shorts in which she is the driving force. Again, Laura rose to the occasion.

So, we welcome Laura with open arms and look forward to many, many episodes together. 

Tanya

Surprise! Not Just Yet!

We've hinted around a little that there are some new things happening around the set of LFTI.

Would you like another sneak peak?

Would you?

Okay fine, I will take your silence as a yes.

Here's another hint at a big change coming up on LFTI.

I wish I could tell you more!

I'm sure you have so many questions. What is going on in this photo? Does Mason become a lawyer? Is Jennifer carrying her tools around in a briefcase now instead of her toolbelt? Has Ashleigh become a pen salesman? What exactly is in that pile on the table? All questions will be answered soon.

I'm so excited for Monday!

This is bigger than the new couch, the new paintings, even bigger than the "Real Bigfoot" those guys in Georgia claim to have found.

Only 2 more days until the big reveal!!

Tanya

It's Friday Already?

I completely had myself convinced today that I didn't need to blog because it was only Thursday.

Which is really sad when you think about how much I've longed for it to be Friday all week. Add to that the fact that I was informed I could leave work an hour early today as a treat "just because it's Friday" and you have complete proof that I've lost my mind.

Why so scatter-brained you ask? Some would say it's a constant state of being for me. But I hate those people, so let's not give them any more thought.

It's actually because I'm always in a constant state of mental confusion when we are in production. This is what happens when you produce and star in your own projects, you completely lose your mind trying to figure out all of the details, on top of memorizing lines and worrying about your own performance. I've had several people stop me this week and ask if I'm okay as I seem to be in another world. How do I explain the thoughts that are swirling through my head? How do I explain just how many different things I'm thinking about/going over/obsessing about?

But, this weekend isn't the only filming we've been doing lately. Here's a sneak peak at something that's going to be online REAL SOON.



That photo looks so staged and yet, it was very real. That was something we filmed a couple of weekends ago and I'm very proud to say that I ran the camera for it. It was definitely a trial by fire as I've never ran the camera for anything yet - oh I've held it a time or two - even looked over other DP's shoulders to get an idea of how they framed the shot, but never actually ran the camera. So, it was definitely a trial by fire for me and I had a lot of fun doing it. But, I have A LOT to learn, so I'm really looking forward to my next experience.

Which (lucky for me) will be this weekend!

Tanya

A (Not-Quite) Goodbye

"Three's Company" replaced Chrissy with Cindy, "Wings" replaced Lowell with Bud, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" replaced Joel with Mike.


And now...


"Life From the Inside" is going to have to replace Kate.

We are very heartbroken to announce that Kathy has decided to leave the show. While we are going to miss her terribly, we know that this was a difficult and carefully considered decision.

Rest assured, we have no intentions of killing Kate off. We decided long ago that no one in the LFTI world is ever completely gone from the show as we never know when we're going to need a specific character in order to tell a story. So, while Kate will be gone, she will not be "departed". Also, killing one of your main characters on a sitcom is never a good way to get laughs. Unless we decide to turn this into some sort of zombie sitcom.

Zombie sitcom - that could be funny. Robb, write that idea down on a 3x5 card!

Now we embark on the journey of figuring out how to bring in a new character, knowing we are not going to just bring in a new actor and try to pass them off as Kate either (although I did once suggest we try that with the cheesy soap opera thing of announcing "the part of Kate will now be played by so and so" - but apparently I am the only person who finds this absolutely, oddly hysterical).

Nope, we decided that Kate is Kate and we're just going to have to find someone - or something - else to fill the void that Kathy is leaving.

Ideas we've already tossed around include a robot, a magic genie and David Spade. Yes, I realize he's already on "Rules of Engagement" but as soon as the producers realize the only funny people on the show are Patrick Warburton and Megyn Pryce, Mr. Spade will be looking for work. Again.

But I digress.

We are very sad to lose Kathy as part of LFTI. She is and always will be one of the three creators and developers of the show. A little bit of her heart and soul will still be in every episode we make.

And we will miss her.

Although, if she's anything like Joel Hodgson, she will enjoy amazing success touring the country with her new prop comedy show!

Tanya

No Longer Just a Blip on Blip

We have been featured on Blip.tv! Hooray for us! We have been placed on the front page. In fact, if you go to Blip.tv right now you’ll see…that we’re not on the front page anymore.

But that’s fine. The fact of the matter is that we were there once! Yesterday in fact. Here’s a screen grab for proof.



Sure, you’re thinking, “he could’ve Photoshopped that! Big deal! I have a picture of myself with my arm around Ghandi! That doesn’t mean that I met Ghandi or even know who Ghandi is!”

Again, what’s with your suspicious attitude? Have I ever given you reason to distrust me? And why would you have taken the time to Photoshop yourself into a picture with Ghandi if you don’t know who he is? That seems strange to me. No, I’m not judging you. I’m just saying that it doesn’t make much sense.

And yet, you’re the one who is questioning me? Maybe you should tend to your own house, friend.

Anyway, I’d like to thank Eric over at Blip for his support. And kudos to Tanya for playing publicist on this one. She rocks.

I’ve been wanting to get Blip’s attention for a while. Blip is seriously one of the best video hosting sites on the web. It’s even won awards for it. And it’s not just a big popularity contest on there. In fact, you don’t really know how popular shows on Blip are since they don’t let you see other people’s stats. And I like that. Not that we have bad stats. Our stats are good. But I don’t like the fact that stats can influence people’s taste and trends. I personally believe that the quality of a video should be more influential than a video’s popularity.

We’ve been on there for a long time. But that doesn’t mean that they had any idea that we existed. It’s the whole “if a tree falls in the forest…” thing. If an Internet sitcom is on the Internet but nobody see it, does it make a sound?

The answer is, “yes.” A lot of sounds. As the sound editor for the sitcom, I can tell you that it makes about 30-40 man-hours worth of sound. Horrible, horrible sound.

Was that an awkward transition?

I guess my point is that you should listen to some sounds from the show. Musical sounds to be exact. How about the Kate and Guy Theme from Episode 6? Sure, why not!

I was going for a sort of “duet” quality with this one. Piano and vibraphone. Hope you like it!

And thanks again, Blip.tv!

And if you want to see our show on blip.tv, go here!

ROBB

Out With the Old (Couch)

It's Friday, which means it's my turn to blog. You would think I would be better at remembering this, being the person who suggested we each take a day as our designated blogging day, but alas, I am not.

What usually happens is that I get to work on Friday and I think "I need to blog today." And then the rest of the day happens and it's suddenly 6 o'clock and I think "I forgot to blog today. I'll do it tonight when I get home."

And I don't. I fully place the blame on "Dr. Who" and Netflix.

But, not today! Today I remember to blog! Because I actually have something to write about.

There are big changes happening to some of the "set pieces" (also known as my living room) around here at LFTI.

Unfortunately, our couch has shuffled off this mortal coil and is no longer with us. Here it is, patiently waiting to be picked up and taken away to wherever couches go to "rest". (Please ignore the vacuum cleaner that is on the sofa. That has also gone to "rest". Well, it got a lot of rest at our place because it was not a good vacuum so we kind of stopped vacuuming very much with it. I know.).



I had hugely mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I was very happy to get rid of that couch. I mean, the frame was broken and it was a large couch that didn't provide a lot of seating area.

But, on the other hand, that couch was the first piece of furniture Robb and I purchased together. And, it was overall a good couch. It was comfortable, it hid dirt really well, and it was lightweight so it was easy to move around the apartment as needed.

Hours after the old couch was carted away, a new one was delivered. Here's a sneak peak...


I hate to say it, but I LOVE the new couch. It's really comfortable. It's smaller and yet there is more room to sit. But it is MUCH heavier than our old couch. It's also twice as expensive. Do they price couches by the pound?

I'm sorry, you want to see the the new couch in it's entirety? Well, you will just have to watch our next episode! Yes, I am that mean! I said it was a sneak peak, didn't I?!

The night before the old couch was removed, I told Robb we should take some photos of it. He laughed at me and reminded me "We have 7 Episodes of a show and promotional photographs that include that couch. I don't think we'll forget it."

And we won't.

Goodbye old couch

I leave you with a photo of the couch being hauled away. Robb has nicely protected the identity of the movers...

Writer Type Stuff

As Episode 7 nears completion (Part 1 will be up on Monday!) I thought I would turn my attention to the writer of the episode, Steven Rowley.

Steven is our first non-cast member to write a script for us and it has been a truly enjoyable experience.

As we are all extremely protective of our show, it can be hard on us to bring in "outsiders" to work with us. We haven't always been the easiest going people because of this, but we've tried to learn from past mistakes and use them to grow as producers. There's that learning curve thing again.

So that being said, we approached the idea of an "outsider" writing for us with a bit of hesitation. Would this person really understand us? Would they be able to write for our characters? Would we have a hard time giving him notes? Would he have a hard time taking notes? Are we ready to give up this much control?

We decided we had nothing to lose, Steven was a fan and a friend of Steve Lekowicz's (I know, there are a lot of Steve's hanging around here), plus, it was flattering to have someone approach us about writing for us.

Now's the part where my memory gets a bit fuzzy. I can't remember if the first time we met with him he already had ideas, or if that came after our first meeting. Either way, Steven came with several script ideas (at some point), we picked our favorite and off he went.

And then, of course, as per life, things got complicated. Steven sent us his first draft. We had a meeting to discuss our notes. But before we met could meet with Steven again, we had some internal changes to deal with as we lost Kathy as a producer.

So, poor Steven had to wait and wait for our notes while we figured out what end was up. When we finally got around to meeting with him, he was very gracious about all of the changes we were dealing with.

Turns out, Steven Rowly takes notes like a champion, which is very important when you're a writer (and actor and just generally in the entertainment industry, but you would be so surprised at how many people are not good at that).

So fast forward a little while later and we were ready to begin filming. Steven graciously offered to help out on set and we accepted, since we are not people to turn down free help.

And help he did. I will never forget the first time he heard us filming a scene and it was all he could do to not laugh out loud. There's nothing better than seeing a writer so pleased at how you've brought their script to life.

So, here we are, on the cusp of introducing the world to Episode 7. I can't wait to see what people think, it is definitely an episode that we are all proud of.

The best part of the whole thing? Steven is already working on his next script for us.

Oh yeah, and we've made a new friend. A new friend who makes some kick-ass cupcakes.

Those are definitely the best kind of friends to have.

Re-Re-Shoots

Well, folks, this will be a "warts and all" post. Because we want everyone to know the trials and tribulations of creating a show, not just the joys and triumphs.

We gathered together Saturday, as Tanya posted we would, to do some re-shoots for Episode 7. It took a couple hours, and we shot some great stuff. However, when it came time to do wild audio (we should talk about wild audio in a future post), we discovered that the camera had been switched to record the audio from the internal mics, not from the boom mics! Needless to say, this meant we got horrible, unusable audio on every take that day.

We will try again next Saturday.

So how does something like that happen? How could we not have noticed that the audio was improperly set?

Well, the real reason is that we are not yet "professionals." I put that in quotes because some of the stuff we do is, we feel, approaching professional-level caliber. However, we do not have the many, many years of experience under our belts that would have had us check, unthinkingly, the audio settings. Nor do we have a professional crew to look after this kind of minutiae for us.

There were definitely signs that should have led us to know something was amiss. I was running camera, and I did notice that the mic level knobs were set evenly. Tanya, who was running boom, asked for the headphone levels to be bumped up quite a bit. The audio level meters on the camera LCD would leap into the red when I was talking, even if the boom was far away. And the video settings had been changed, probably by Adam when he had used the camera to document our latest publicity photo shoot.

Normally, since we use a handheld boom in one mic input and a camera-mounted boom in the other, the mic level knobs are set differently. Tanya asking for the headphone level boost means something was not set the same as it usually is. If the levels read my voice even if the handheld boom is nowhere near me, it means the in-camera mics are picking me up. Duh! And, another big duh, if the video settings had been changed, that means the audio settings might have been changed as well.

These details are a huge 20/20 hindsight thing. None of the clues clued me in. As for Tanya, she is not a boom operator for a living, so while there might have been clues to the audio not working right, she might not have noticed them or they might not have been enough to clue her in, similar to the clues I missed.

It is incredibly exasperating when something like this happens. You feel both angry and stupid. Tempers run high. But what is always important to remember is that we will never let that happen again. That is what we in the sub-"professional" industry call a "learning process."

This is not the first technological snafu on Episode 7... I had somehow changed a camera setting while we were prepping to shoot the Jennifer with Batteries shots. (You'll know what that is soon enough!) I ended up shooting the rest of the day's scenes in 4x3 instead of our usual 4x3 anamorphic (that jargon is also a topic for another post). How I did not notice it in the viewfinder is beyond me because 4x3/anamorphic mix-ups are one of my peeves at work—our editor comes to me to check footage for 4x3 vs. anamorphic! On the set that day, however, there were lots of things to worry about, so maybe I was simply distracted. But you can believe that I now check the camera every time to make sure it is always on the correct setting! So it shall now be for sound.

No matter how good you get at shooting a show or a movie, there is always a learning process lurking in the shadows. Or out in full-view. We just hope to eventually get beyond the technically destructive learning processes and keep experimenting with the creative learning processes, the ones that can hopefully make our show better and better with each shoot.

Production Tip

When you have the brilliant idea of having your cast members climb under a table/through a doorway, pay attention to the fact that some of your cast may be too tall to fit comfortably under your table.

Joe (aka "Tall Cop" from Episode 6) was very understanding, even though he got stuck at least once and scraped his knee several times.

Also, make sure you cast awesome people (Like JOE!) who won't freak out when they realize they are really too tall to fit under your table, but will keep trying anyway.

Take after take after take.

Tanya

Check It Out

Hey You!

Episode 6 Part 3 is live and online. The saga continues to continue.

You can also check it out on Revver or Blip. And feel free to rate/comment/subscribe so you will never miss out on any new "Life From the Inside" action!

Part 4 is coming next week on Monday, March 24th. But you wouldn't have to remember that if you were a subscriber, would you? So, why haven't you subscribed already?!

(wink - wink)

Tanya

Winner!

So, the winner of the "Very First Contest" for Break A Leg was announced last night -and it's US!

Yay!

Here is the winning video again, in case you haven't checked it out.



I can't tell you how much fun this was to make. It took Robb and I about 3 hours all together to film - which doesn't include Robb recording the song and editing.

So, thanks Break A Leg people!

While it was fun to see everyone else's entries, I think you can figure out why I can't help but have a special fondness for this one.



Tanya

Congratulations!

So, we are a bit late for this, but we need to send HUGE congratulations to Joel (aka Eric) and Deven (aka Olava) who were married on October 14th.

Congratulations you two - we couldn't be happier for you!

I feel like I need to point out that this mean all three of our Recurring Guest Stars are now married/engaged. Apparently we at Katr are very good at helping our recurring cast find that special someone. Okay, fine, these people were all together when they started this project, but we'd like to pretend we had a hand in making this all happen.

Tanya

Congratulations!

A huge congratulations from all of us at Katr to Jimmy (aka Grocery Delivery Dude) and Lauren (aka the worlds most awesome web designer) as they got engaged this weekend!

Go check out GDD's short "Bagging" and make sure to leave a congratulatory comment for Jimmy and Lauren. (Oh yeah, I totally worked a plug into this post).

Congrats you two! We can't wait to hear the whole story.

Tanya