From “Glee” to “Girls,” television shows with story lines revolving around the concept of “making it” have become all too familiar.
But whether we’re following Rachel and Kurt struggle to make ends meet from their big-enough-to-do-cartwheels-in New York apartment or watching as Hannah’s freelance writing gig quickly develops into an eBook deal, it’s safe to say that most of us won’t experience this romanticized storybook struggle.
So when Rascal Productions set out to create the web series “Whatever This Is.,” they made it their mission to take this model and do something completely different: make it as true to life as possible.
“Every show is like these people are ‘figuring it out,’ but to see an actual show [about] people that are sweaty messes, running around and traipsing through the city, and like trying to make rent, and also trying to like their job, and figure out what they’re doing, this is for us,” Dylan Marron told MTV News.
In the six-episode series, Marron’s character, Ari, is a production assistant living in Brooklyn, New York, with his friends Sam and Lisa, played by Hunter Canning and Madeline Wise, respectively. In hopes of making their career-oriented dreams come true, the on-camera besties barely have the time or funds for any personal endeavors.
“It’s not idealized in a way like a lot of young, hip shows are,” Wise said when explaining the show’s ideology. “Like we wear the same clothes every day because we don’t have a lot of clothes, and we don’t want to spend our money on doing laundry, so we’re like stinky and tired and eating horrible Boca Burgers. And it’s certainly not gritty but it’s not, it just sort of feels like there’s an integrity there that I hope will resonate with people because it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been in a place where I literally have to be a hermit because I have to make rent, so I can’t socialize because socializing means spending at least $20.'”
While the “WTI.” characters may be struggling to make ends meet, the show itself recently surpassed its Kickstarter goal by raising more than $171,000.
The second episode of the series hits the web September 10, but it the meantime you can check out the first installment at http://whateverthisis.com/.
No Comments