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Imagine you make a web series with your roommates.
You get an offer to make a pilot, then a full season.
You quit your job, hire your friends, and begin your career of living the dream full-time.
We made a season of this show for TBS with Abso Lutely Productions.
If you enjoy it, hey share and help us get it out there.
The show is hard to describe;Strangers with Candybut mellower?
This week, the creators decided to take the show off the shelf and uploaded episodes themselves toVimeo.
Donny Divanian:We were stunned.
Robb Boardman:Yeah, it was huge.We were all pretty ecstatic.
CL:TBS made an offer for the pilot presentation.
But then it takes awhile to cement that the lawyers and contracts.
Im driving for Lyft at the time.
Were all just working.
RB:Working at Trader Joes.
CL:Every email that comes in, youre hoping its the one.
And it just takes months and months and months.
But eventually we got green-lit for the pilot presentation.
And thats exciting, but its not life-changing not yet.
You cant quit your job.CL:Right, no.
So we spent the whole summer of 2015 writing and preparing for that.
We were supposed to shoot in September, but it got pushed to November for some contract thing.
DD:We turned it in at the end of January, I think.
In the meantime, were checking emails everyday.
Were broke, wonderingShould we work on something else?
Should we make more webisodes?Its paralyzing.
I remember July 1 was the day that they would let us know their decision about the season order.
DD:Robb had just gotten married.
And then June 29 is my birthday; were supposed to hear back July 1.
So then I come back and turn it on and its like They need more time.[Laughs.]
But finally you did get a series order to make ten half-hour episodes.
Cory was like Wait, does this mean we can celebrate?
Dave was like, Yeah.
You just sold a show.
CL:That was the happiest moment of my life.
I called my mom.
Then we all went out and had the best dinner and drinks.
And existentially, it was huge.
I remember sitting at a coffee shop a few days after and looking around and thinking,Fuck.
Everyone here wants to pitch a show.The overwhelming odds that are stacked against you …
I cant believe how lucky we got.
DD:It was unbelievable.
We werent thinking they were gonna do it.
But first you had to start writing the ten episodes.DD:We overwrote so much.
]We wrote two seasons pretty much, almost by accident.
CL:We came up with like four or five seasons of ideas.
I like shows where you’ve got the option to kind of escape into it.
Youre like,Okay, this is our job.
We had a great team, great crew.
But we had never been on a real set before, never had an art department.
We had to start making all of the decisions ahead of time.
That was a challenge.
It was easy because we all lived together.
Having seen the web series and the TV episodes, it looks identical.DD:Same furniture.
We shot from March 20 to June something.
Then we started editing over the summer.
We turned it in September, right?
RB:Yeah, but that wasnt the final cut.
CL:What were we doing in October?
DD:We started doing sound and color in October.
TBS was great about it, and the screening was really fun.
And were feeling that buzz like,Yeah, I dont know, that seemed great.But then nothing happened.
Then we had a call with our agent.
They were saying the show might debut around Christmastime.
RB:So we started writing some promo videos for that.
We were at Abso [Lutely production offices] when we had the call.
We went to the parking lot to get on the phone.
CL:We all went to sit in Robbs car, talking on speakerphone.
Theyre like, Yeah, so we talked to TBS.
Things have changed there, and we think theyre not going to air it.
RB:Were like Oh, not going to air it on Christmas Eve?
RB:Yeah, just not at all.
CL:It was an oddly mellow call.
We were like Was that, subtly, the worst news weve ever gotten?[Laughs.]
DD:That first one, though, it wasnt so certain.
It was like,Maybe next year they might air it.
CL:Yeah, thats right.
It wasnt like This show isdead.
But …
DD:We dont have an air date.
We dont know when its going to air.
In the beginning I was more optimistic.
I thought someone would buy it.
And then slowly over time it was just like,Oh, nobody is interested.
CL:Were thinking,Nobody?
Not even Gas Station TV or something?But nope.
DD:[Other networks] didnt want to buy something fully made, I think.
They want to develop it themselves.
Its just frustrating because its finished; its ready and its so funny.CL:Totally.
We just didnt see it coming.
I didnt even know this was a hoop you had to jump through.
Its like a breakup; you feel like youre being left at the altar, almost.
Creatively, you get used to funneling all your ideas into this world youve built.
That world wed built isnt really happening right now.
But wait, Im skipping something you guys also got into Sundance?CL:That was another mini-victory.
Sundance is a big opportunity, so its a whole process.
I dont know if thats gonna do anything.
We just want to share it.
Its just that the timelines are frustrating.
But then at the same time, every step made sense.
And everyone was helpful in trying to find a new home for the show it just didnt find one.
Its just a tough business.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Starting today, May 1, all episodes are available on the TBS app and VOD.
We reached out to the guys again about the news:
Congratulations!!
What changed?DD: Thank you so much!
We dont know, but my guess is that our recent videoCute Househas something to do with it.
CL:They didnt say, and I didnt want to ask.
Just went with it.
If felt like the energy was there for it.
When we posted episodes in February it had life in it.
Id like to think its some confluence of karma and good vibes …
But it could also just be that they needed content since Hollywood is shut down.
In a way it feels like the perfect time to release it.
It went viral on Facebook, and probably played a part in drawing more attention to the show.
I also think your Vulture piece was very helpful in putting it back on the radar.
And the fact that people are stuck inside, theres definitely a demand for new content.
Its probably some combination of those things.
At the end of the day, its out, and were very happy about it.
Weve poured our hearts into this.
