How can I sum up the last 4 days for you?  Incredible?  Hilarious?  Exhausting?  FUN.  I learned a long

time ago that when you put the FUN first and foremost, everything else falls into place.  So yes, it's 

been FUN, FUN, FUN!

This past Thursday, we filmed our second day at our pageant location.  Thankfully, the temperature

came down from the weekend.  Yeah, from 100 plus to 90ish plus - but trust me - it made a big

difference.  We also made the decision to move as many of the previously planned exterior shots

and scenes, back inside to the air conditioned social hall.  Thursday was also the one day where 

we had to change up our makeup artists - cuz our regular folks couldn't make it - so there was a ton

of continuity coordinating to make sure everyone kept the same look from the previous days of 

shooting.

We had a whole lotta fun with our guest stars - including Jennifer Elise Cox, Alison Quinn, Ray

Proscia and Denise Alexander.  By Thursday night, Denise's guest appearance was all over

the internet - whuh??!  After 30 plus years on daytime, Denise has quite a following and 

someone - NOT ME - I swear - leaked it to the press.  All of a sudden, we're on multiple

soap opera themed websites.  YAY!  Any publicity is good publicity!

Friday the temperature in the valley dropped another 10 degrees - we were now in the 80s - 

and there was a breeze!  A breeze in the valley!  This is a big deal, people.  Thursday was fun,

but Friday was REALLY fun.  We shot some stuff that I soooo wanna tell you about - but I can't - 

you're gonna have to wait and see.  We spent the day laughing - A LOT of laughing was had.

And we finished our day about an hour ahead of schedule - YAY!

Saturday morning was our photo shoot, where the cast was photographed at the James Oviatt

Penthouse in downtown Los Angeles.  We brought in our incredible makeup team of 3 makeup artists, 

led by the brilliant Brenda Oen, then added in the phenomenal hair stylings of Penny Peyrot and

Melody House.  Plus two photographers - our same two-some from Season 1 - the fantastic

Veronica Zoleta and the kick-ass Jim Tsui.

Our idea for "the look" of the shoot was 1930s classic Hollywood - the golden years.  All our

ladies brought gowns and all our guys brought tuxedos.  Well, almost all of them.  On person who

shall remain nameless forgot their outfit and had to make a quick call to get it sent over.  In the end,

everyone was dressed, hair done, makeup on and ready to look PRETTY.  You can get a first look

at the results right now on our Facebook fanpage - PRETTY THE SERIES.  A huge huge HUGE

thanks to Ray for setting us up in the space.

Sunday morning - confessional day - plus a few extra scenes - including our top secret finale

scene for Season 2 - so top secret - only ONE cast member got the script - because they are the ONE

cast member in it...hmmmm...what could it be?  Again, so much FUN and laughter - and bruises...

Bruises?  Yeah, you can get some bruises when you're filming fight scenes...whoops...I said I wasn't

gonna give anything away, people!  A huge huge HUGE thanks to Michael and our friends at 

NOW CASTING for donating their office space for the second season in a row of PRETTY!

We're taking Labor Day weekend off, then we'll film one more weekend and it's a wrap on principal

photography of PRETTY Season 2.  Episode One is slated for release on Monday, November 1st.  

But you won't have to wait that long to get your first sneak-peak - our first teaser will go online

by the end of this week!  Hope you're ready to get PRETTY again --

More soon,

Steve.

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So how to explain exactly what went down in the last 48 hours…hmmm…I may need a little help.  Saturday started off at 10am with me picking up Kieran, one of our kick-ass production assistants, who lives right by me – See?  We’re ‘pretty’ ecologically-friendly (as we drove to the set in my Prius) – and we headed over the hill to Burbank for our first day.  Folks were already there loading stuff into our location.  Most importantly, the coffee urn was up and running.  Thank God.  Our cast and crew is obsessed with one thing:  “Where’s the coffee?”  I like to call them “Coffee Zombies.”  I could replace the coffee with diamonds and rubies and they’d still ask, “Where’s the coffee?” 

Not gonna lie, it was a little chaotic for the first hour, which is only natural when you arrive to a location on the first day.  As the director, everyone comes to you with questions first and that’s why I asked to gather the cast and crew right at the beginning of the day.  We took a few minutes, introduced everyone, gave everyone a breakdown of the day as planned, and then off we went. 

We had the plan of the day.  Then we had what some call “reality.”  Don’t get me wrong, it was a GREAT DAY – we got everything we needed and more.  But things didn’t go exactly as planned…

On the positive side, all our performers showed up before their call times;

On the negative side, there were a lot of people in that room, with the doors opening and closing to the 100 plus degrees outside, the air conditioning doing the best it can – IT.  WAS.  HOT.

On the positive side, everyone knew their lines;

On the negative side, a few people had more scenes with lines in them that they didn’t know about either because I failed to tell them (sorry Allie and Mari) or they failed to read the whole script, but back to the positive side – everything got learn’t and we got what we needed;

On the positive side, James did kick-ass makeup for the entire cast plus 7 extra pageant girls;

On the negative side, James did kick-ass makeup for the entire cast plus 7 extra pageant girls ON HIS OWN – in the kitchen area – which wouldn’t seem to ever cool down;

On the positive side, Heidi and Kieran never missed a beat with costumes;

On the negative side, I gotta go look at the script and the footage at the same time cuz we may have had one person in the wrong outfit at the wrong time – whoops!;

But here’s the biggest lesson learned THIS TIME shooting Season 2 compared to LAST TIME shooting Season 1:  FEED THE SEVEN PAGEANT GIRL EXTRAS PIZZA AND SODA RIGHT BEFORE FILMING THEIR SCENE AND YOU GET MUCH MORE ENERGIZED PERFORMANCES FROM THEM. 

Cast was great.  So funny.  So energized.  The core group of six work so well together.  And when we toss in the guest stars, everything just seems to work.  There were so many great and funny moments – Sam as “Michael” being interviewed by Allie Mac Kay, Alison Quinn and the pageant girl extras, and especially Isis Silva’s one line, which she slam-dunked her delivery on, to “Michael,” “Parker,” and “Annette” that had all of us covering our mouths so we didn’t laugh and ruin the take - I can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store…

Day 1 was almost 10 long hours – we got so much done – it was awesome!

Day 2 kicked off at 8am in the morning at our second location, with a much scaled back cast:  Sam, Stacy, Terri, Troy, Kirsten and Denise.  And the big difference was where with Day 1, we filmed short quick one-liners and short scenes, on Day 2, we filmed some of our longer scenes.  I think Day 2 was much more fun for the cast because they all got a lot more fish to fry, meat to grill, birds to hatch, gumdrops to unicorn…

Kirsten Vangsness fit right in – she’s a guest star yes – but she’s playing a new character that’s very closely tied to the Champagnes and will put her in every episode.  And Denise Alexander shot part one of her guest spot – and was a real trooper – having to stand, in the heat, by a very hot light – we almost fried her. 

Lessons learned on Day Two include:

It’s hot in the valley – who knew?  I live over the hill where it’s 20 degrees cooler;

Mumbling your line can be FUNNY AS F;

Terri Simmons refuses to take a bad picture;

And most importantly:  Togo’s is better than Subway.  Period.

Day 2 was a great day.  Now we’re gearing up for our next day of filming, back at our first location, this Thursday…

More soon,

Steve.

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After weeks of planning and meeting after meeting, the film is about to roll on our second season, and we're all "pretty" excited and I am personally (already) "pretty" exhausted.  I'll do my best to keep you updated on here, just like I did for Season 1.  Before I even get the chance to say "action!," I'd like to take a moment and say THANK YOU:

THANK YOU - John & Doug - for everything you've both done to get us to this point and all you have still to do.

THANK YOU - Barbara - you've been a beyond perfect fit for PRETTY and you've kept me sane.

THANK YOU - Heidi - for jumping on top of the costumes and keeping things organized.

THANK YOU - Julio - for setting us up at the last minute with your friend Joe who DONATED c-stands, apple boxes, and sandbags.

THANK YOU - Moira, JD, Tamara, Staci and Doug - in advance - for bringing your beautiful daughters to play pageant girls.

I'll have more THANK YOUs as we go - but this is our jumping off point.  We start filming at 11am...think good thoughts!

More soon,

Steve.

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Five things you need to know about Ribina Champagne and her portrayer -

Dee Freeman

before PRETTY Season 2 hits the web:

1.  Michael or Ethan?

Ribina:  Why the hell you asking me this?  It aint none of yo damn biz-ness.  Did I ask you about yo tired ass love life?  Yeah, I know I'm being paid, so what?  My husband Michael dont get to read this right?  I'm gonna come here and kick your ass if he does.  Here's the deal...even though I love my husband, I got this addiction to his brother Ethan.  He like crack cocaine.   I know he bad for me but I got hooked after the first time. I might need an innervention.

Dee: There's something very sexy about dating a rebel...when you're nineteen or twenty.  After the age of thirty, not so much.
 
2.  Who is/are your idols?

Ribina:  My grandmama Pearl.  She don't take no shit from nobody. 
Dee:  My mother is my idol.  Years ago, she left my father and came to California with eight kids.  That couldn't have been easy. I'm sure there were times she wanted to give up but she never did.  She got all of us to graduate high school, nearly all of us graduated college, and as a family, we're extremely close today.  She gets my vote hands down. 


3.  If you weren't a professional smoker/actor, what would you each have been?

Ribina:  I think I would design clothing. I can put some shit together.
Dee:  Probably a lawyer.  I'm a "true crime" buff.  I'm always watching Court t.v. and I watch shows like Forensic Files and The Investigators. And...I read a lot of legal thrillers, everything from Jonathan Kellerman and Sue Grafton to Ann Rule. 
4.  Top three movies of all time.

Ribina:  My favorite three movies of all time?  Shit!  You shoulda warned me I was gonna have to answer all this.  I hope you almost finished.  Anyway, one of them would have to be The Lion King.  I liked Scar.  He was so sexy.  I'd be in his pride anytime. Scar reminds me of my ex boyfriend Boo with his sexy voice and they way he prowls around.  And I liked Diary of a Mad Black Woman.  That shit was real.  When that hoe was in Madea's grand daughters house talking all that shit, I liked when Madea pulled out her gun and let her know what was up.  I laughed my ass off.  Madea reminds me of my grandmama Pearl.  She carried her piece with her all the time too.  In fact, she slept with it curled in her right hand.  You said three right?  Good.  I gotta say this next movie just in case my boss reads this...(they always checking up on my ass.  they nosy too) I LOVE "Thank You for Smoking".  (yall make sure you print that in capital letters) It was classic.  I think Bruce Willis was in it. He wasn't?  Well, it was some white dude that looked like Bruce Willis.

Dee:  It's very difficult to narrow it down to three but I'll try. One of my favorite movies of all time is Emotional Backgammon.  The acting was incredible, the directing was incredible, the story line was incredible.  Simply put...this movie was incredible.  It had so many twists and turns.   Having lived in Japan more than 6 years, I have to pull from their vault.  The Tomie Collection, which consists of 5 films.  It's one of the better horror collections out of Japan  about a high school girl named Tomie who keeps coming back from the dead.  And finally...a movie called Herpes Boy, that stars one of my closest friends Octavia Spencer, as well as Beth Grant and Ahna O'Reilly.  I didn't laugh while watching this movie, I screamed, along with everyone else in the theater.  Hands down, it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in 5 years. 


5.  What do you think of children's beauty pageants?

Ribina:  I could give a shit!  Now you finished?  Good! Peace out!
Dee:  I'm not really into children's beauty pageants.  I have a daughter and it never dawned on either of us to pursue that.  However, as an actress I can appreciate it because it's definitely a character study.   

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The man behind the PRETTY music is Bret Silverman - 

and if you're noticing a strangely familiar last name, yes they are related.  

We asked Bret to sound off on these

TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS!

1.  Let's start where everyone hopes we'll start:  "Gumdrop The Unicorn," PRETTY's theme song - Where did the idea come from?  How long did it take you to write?  And the most asked question:  Who sings it?

Steven sent me the poetic text to Gumdrop and asked me to compose a song on it.  I recall him asking me to write something that was the worst thing I'd ever heard.  So I sat down at the piano with the lyrics and began to sing mindlessly while accompanying myself.  It took about 45 seconds, and was finished.  The song has not changed since that moment.  The singer on the recording is none other than me.

2.  What is your opinion on children's pageants?

Although pageants can probably be good, morale-boosting experiences for some children, I think more often they are a sick way of parents playing out their own dramas by living vicariously through their children, pitting them against each other and layering on guilt and a false sense of self, which usually damages them for life.

3.  Who is/are your music idols?

Joni Mitchell, Donald Fagan, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Vaughan, J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms

4.  When creating music for PRETTY, what's your process?

I usually know what the story or visual situation is going to be so I start from there, finding a basic melody line and lyric.  After that I layer on the other instruments as necessary.

5.  If you were on an island and could have only THREE songs on your IPod for the rest of your life - what would those three songs be?

"Down to You" by Joni Mitchell; "Negative Girl" by Steely Dan; "From This Moment On" written by Cole Porter sung by Sarah Vaughan circa 1980.

6.  Who's your favorite PRETTY character?

Ribina, because she is completely self-absorbed and doesn't give a shit about anyone but herself.

7.  Rumor has it you've taught some American Idol kids over the years at your full time gig at the Boston Conservatory of Music - any tidbits on anyone you'd like to share?  We can give them fake names to keep it all anonymous...

Yes, in fact, Constantine Maroulis and Kat McPhee were both students of mine in ear-training class.

8.  You're stuck in an elevator with Sarah Palin - what do you do?  WHAT?  DO?  YOU?  DO?

It's what I DON'T do.  Don't assist with anything.  Let her get panicky and push buttons and ask questions; then I just stay bright and chipper and keep winking at her and saying things like "You betcha!"

9.  You and PRETTY Creator Steve Silverman are brothers -- what was growing up together like?  Any childhood story you'd like to share that will potentially embarrass Steve and/or humiliate him?

It was an adventure growing up together.  We shared a bedroom in our house in NJ, and we liked to pretend that we were staying in some fancy hotel, so on this cheesy magic marker board hanging by the door we had written "Silverman Hotel," "Dinner at seven in the dining room," etc.  One day when Grandpa Alex was over--Grandpa Alex was short and round and sounded sort of like a Jewish Santa Claus with a deviated septum--he barged right into our room, and as we withered in embarrassment he loudly read the magic marker board, saying: "Silverman Hotel.  Very nice, very nice!"

10.  And finally:  We know Gumdrop died last Tuesday, but what caused his demise?

I think it was malnutrition.

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With Season 2’s first shooting days fast approaching, we thought to ourselves,

“Who should answer the next TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS?”

PRETTY’S BIGGEST FANS OF COURSE!!

Here’s how regular, everyday, somewhat just as disturbed as the Champagnes are, PRETTY people answered these oh so PRETTY TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS…

6. What one piece of advice would you give Michael Champagne that you’re sure would guarantee a win at the next Miss Star Eyes Pageant?

Elizabeth K:  “More show tunes (for Annette's talent) OR maybe just maybe, Michael could suddenly discover some dirt on Parker.”

Michael K:  “Acting on the sexual tension between himself and Royce...we all make sacrifices for our children, or so I’ve heard.”

Denise N:  “Michael Champagne needs to take notice of other pageant parents - more bribes!! Give Annette a puppy, kitten, and more candy, etc.!”

Julie R:  “Michael should "suck up" to Royce...in an innocent way, of course!”

Pamela V:  “Take as much inspiration from former beauty queen Sarah Palin as possible.”

7. If you could cast ANYONE to guest star in Season 2, who would it be?

What part would they play?

Elizabeth K:  “Me, as a former child pageant contestant - and a rival of Parker's - named Fontaine Neely Crump. While Parker chose to remain childless, unmarried and "on the pageant circuit", Fontaine chose Jesus - and family (all children heavily involved in child pageants naturally) - if not me, then someone really cheesy. Like me.”

Michael K:  “GLEE’s Jane Lynch, she'd be selling counterfeit "flippers" and Nads hair removal systems.  Or DESIGNING WOMEN’s Delta Burke as Suzanne Sugarbakker......her daughter is played by Minnie Driver......Michael Champagne does not like competition so he and Annette teach them a lesson.....somehow.....”

Denise N:  “Amy Poehler!  As a pageant mom who is Michael Champagne's arch enemy!”

Julie R:  “Kathy Griffin, rival pageant mom!”

Pamela V:  “Tim Gunn as a guest judge. Or Charo.”

8. If YOU could play a character in Season 2, who would it be?

Elizabeth K:  “OMG - In school I always used to get in trouble for not reading the entire assignment and now look...”  (Elizabeth answered this in Question #7).

Michael K:  “I'd play Jamal, Rabina's brotha from anotha mutha, he visits for the weekend and has an affair with Ethan…”

Denise N:  “Ribina's new gal pal who develops a crush on Michael Champagne. He is oblivious to all her advances.”

Julie R:  “My daughter would be Kathy Griffin's pageant daughter and I would love to be a Pageant Coach.......just call me Ms. Julie!”

Pamela V:   “If I could play a character in Season 2, it would have to be Annette’s new speech coach in my dream episode where Michael reveals Annette’s newest talent - acting out scenes from old Bette Davis films.”

9. What do you think caused Annette’s sudden growth spurt?

Elizabeth K:  “Hmmm...either thyroid issues or too much meat. Doesn't meat have growth hormones in it?”

Michael K:  “Getting a hysterectomy at age 5.”

Denise N:   “Michael got a great deal on some pageant make-up sold to him by a door to door salesman. He didn't know that the make-up was in its’ experimental stages, thus, the great deal! The make-up company rented office space adjacent to a secret experimental laboratory. Don't drink the water!!!”

Julie R:  “Annette has been taking her uncle’s candy...but they are really steroids.”

Pamela V:  “Eating x-rayed Halloween candy.”

10. Do you have any thoughts, wishes, hopes, desires for Season 2?

Elizabeth K:  “Only for the characters to get more ridiculous and maybe for some to get a little raunchier. No fart jokes, though. Make it gayer!!!  More gay = more fabulous!”

Michael K:  “I wish to be with you all at every awards show PRETTY is nominated.”

Denise N:  “More Royce!!  Is he the secret glue that holds the pageant together??  Is there a secret something between him and Michael?  Does this work in Annette's favor for a pageant win?”

Julie R:  “More brilliant comedy from a great team!”

Pamela V:  “More episodes than first season!  Keep ‘em comin’!!!  And ringtones, dagnabbit! Ringtones!”

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With Season 2’s first shooting days fast approaching, we thought to ourselves,

“Who should answer the next TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS?”

PRETTY’S BIGGEST FANS OF COURSE!!

Here’s how regular, everyday, somewhat just as disturbed as the Champagnes are, PRETTY people answered these oh so PRETTY

TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS…

1. What’s your opinion on children’s pageants? Have you ever been to one?

Elizabeth K:  “They are a necessary evil to pre-determine the mean girls.  No, I've never been to one as I dislike children - especially toddlers who wear more makeup than I do.”

Michael K:  “I think the difference between Little League and children’s pageants are better shoes and glitter......Have never been to one, the pageant mothers frighten me.”

Denise N:  “They seem to be all about the pushy parents.  Pageant mothers are usually overweight and ugly and ride on their kid's coat tails!  I have never been to a pageant, but watching the parents reactions would be a hoot!!”

Julie R:  “Horrific!  No - but since watching PRETTY I have been trying to get my daughter to enter.....because I WANT a crown! (I am a Brit and always wanted to be a Queen.)”

Pamela V:  “I’ve never had the fuzzies to go see a kids’ pageant in person, but I feel the same way about children’s pageants as I do about marshmallow chickies:  They are terrible, awful, unhealthy abominations that should be outlawed, but since they’re not, I’ll take mine pink and sparkly, please.”

2. How did you first hear about PRETTY?

Elizabeth K:  “Stacy McQueen!!”

Michael K:  “One morning, I was going through posts on FB and Annette's picture popped up with the PRETTY logo.....clicked on it and fell in love instantly....the rest is history.”

Denise N:  “I heard about PRETTY from the shameless promotion of one of its stars, Michael Taylor Gray!!!”

Julie R:  “I was looking around Facebook and stumbled across it - immediately turning family and friends onto this gem!”

Pamela V:  “I first heard about PRETTY via a FACEBOOK update from (the incredibly talented and good looking) cast-member Michael Taylor Gray.”

3. Who’s your favorite character?

Elizabeth K:  “Oy vey - I really appreciate all of them because they are a brilliant ensemble. Seriously, this is a question of "Sophie's Choice”-like proportions.”

Michael K:  “That's a tough one......I can't watch Annette without laughing inside my head, although Michael Champagne's enthusiasm is contagious.....I will have to go TEAM ANNETTE.”

Denise N:  “Of course, it would be ROYCE!!!!”

Julie R:  “Split between Ribina and Annette.”

Pamela V:  “Since Michael is probably in earshot, I have to go with Royce on this one...but I will add that my new life-goal is to have a ringtone for my I-Phone of Ribina telling me to ‘Pick up the phone, b*tch.’”

4. Which cliffhanger do you want answered the most:

Did Annette win the pageant or is Ribina really pregnant and if so, who da daddy?

Elizabeth K:  “Both of these issues must be addressed in Season 2. Remember, Annette and Ribina are NOT Ross and Rachel. That being said, if Ribina IS pregnant, I think her baby-daddy needs to be some right-winged, Republican, semi-racist famous figure. I'm thinking Bill O'Reilly.”

Michael K:  “I'd like to know if Ethan is ANNETTE's daddy...LOL…”

Denise N:  “I have been waiting anxiously to find out if Annette won the pageant!!”

Julie R:  “I would like Annette to get a 2nd place (so Annette...oops sorry Michael has something to work for) and YES to Ribina being pregnant!”

Pamela V:  “Not fair! Both!”

5. If you have/had a daughter and you put her in pageants,

what would her talent portion be?

Elizabeth K:  “I would absolutely adore seeing any child of mine - male or female - sing a Liza Minnelli tribute in full drag. I mean this sincerely.”

Michael K:  “Cleaning.”

Denise N:  “If I had a daughter and she was in a pageant, her talent would definitely be singing! And, she would also be the best dressed little brat out there!!”

Julie R:  “When I asked my daughter, she said "knife throwing."

Pamela V:   “This one’s easy! Reciting the constitution while switching accents and doing costume quick-changes representing all the people of this great nation. Finale: Swarovski Crystal encrusted eagle head-dress (and the splits).”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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And now we pick up our conversation where we left last week:

NOW CASTING: Given your background in theatre and on-air promotions, how did creating a series for the web differ?

STEVE SILVERMAN: In on-air, I handle American Idol. I have thirty seconds to hopefully make twenty to thirty million people a week watch the show. So I make little mini-movies. I’m also under a deadline of getting them shipped every week. And so that really helped me in terms of time management and organization. We had one day on Pretty when we had fifty-three scenes to shoot. It’s a lot. But we blew through the first twelve in maybe thirty-five, forty minutes. They were all with Parker. One scene was supposed to be backstage, one walking down a hallway, another elsewhere—and so I made it all happen at the podium. I told my camera person, Gretchen, that the actors don’t need to move, we’ll move. We changed our angles and just kept moving.

The theatre background helped me a lot because I always tell people it’s called a play because we’re supposed to be playing and having a good time. That’s key. We had a ball doing this. We have a blooper reel and its all honest laughter.
NC: What did you learn as a director on this series?

SS: I really learned to listen. That’s a huge thing. You go in with all these ideas, and if something isn’t going to work the way you want it to, you’ve got to just listen to what’s going on. You have to look at an environment and be willing to say, “Okay, I don’t need it to be exactly this way because it’s going to be just as great if we do it here in this area.” Or a take doesn’t go exactly the way you want it, you don’t have to go nuts. You can say, “Okay, I can tweak it this way. I can tweak it that way.” And again, Rich Mikan, my fantastic editor, was phenomenal. It is unbelievable some of the edits he made. You don’t realize the littlest of things, especially when you’re shooting a group and the sightline is wrong with one person. Or you took it a little too low on somebody’s head, or “Oh I have to see the card in his hand.” That’s another thing as a director, I just sort off backed off and said to Rich, “You plan it out. You haven’t seen it, you see what makes sense, and then I’ll come in.” You just sort of let people do what they do.
NC: How does one market a web series?

SS: The first thing is, you’ve got to know what you’re selling. You have to have a logline and let the product sell itself. I tell people Pretty is the story of Michael Champagne, a proud pageant dad with one wish: to see his five year-old daughter win the Miss Star Eyes Pageant—with the five year-old daughter played by a thirty-plus year-old actress.

Marketing-wise, I hired a fantastic publicist named Julia Friedman from Maize Marketing, and she did a lot. I write press releases myself. So I wrote the press releases and she would rewrite them with a publicist’s eye. Then she went out to all the right places because she has connections. So if you have the money, yes, definitely hiring a publicist will help. But there is a lot you can do on your own. The internet is a fascinating place. Facebook, My Space, Twitter, are so powerful. I created a Facebook fan page in December before the February launch. Once we had our trailer up in early January we had almost six hundred people on board as fans. We had a photography session and I leaked pictures early. And I’m constantly giving things away online. When we launched an episode, I’d going on Facebook and say, “Hey the new episode is up. Post our link on your Facebook homepage and you’re eligible to win this Pretty prize.” And it would be a Pretty t-shirt or a Pretty mug. Or we gave away $25 Visa gift cards. I gave away $15 iTune cards. People were asking, “Where are you getting all of this stuff?” “Well, I’m going to the store and I’m buying them.” Why am I doing this? Because I’ll pay $15 to have someone who has three thousand friends post it on their page. And that’s how our views started.
There are other sites. We went on Funny or Die. We went on Meta Café. We went on all these place because when you start putting yourself out there what happens is people start stealing you—in a good way—and putting it on their own. “Oh my God, I love this” and putting it on their blog. We really focused on blogs to promote this. And it really paid off. I think a lot of people thought we would just go for the gay crowd, which we did, but I had no problem winning over the gay crowd. It’s Middle America I wanted to go after. So Julia Friedman went after soccer moms and focused on the soccer mom blogs. There are a bunch of them. She sent them press releases, invited them to our premiere, and sent out special screeners online so they could watch in advance of everybody else. Then the bloggers started blogging us. It was amazing because we got quite a few blogs. There’s a blog called Deep Dish Blog that we got on. Modern Tonic came to us—I don’t even know how they heard about us; probably through Facebook. And they asked us if they could send out a blast to their twenty-thousand people. We got onto places like LA Blogger Girl, After Elton.com, Mid-Life Bloggers, College Humor —AOL picked us up from Funny or Die. We were on one of the AOL Comedy Homepages. We focused on these two groups, the gay crowd and the soccer moms, and they sort of created a little audience for us. And you really hope your series will go what they call ‘viral’—that’s when you’re not doing the work but people are doing the work for you. It took us a while but it’s happened. Episode One has had over 16,000 views. All the other episodes have over 9,000 views each. We went after our friends, of course, but you’ve got to get past them and put yourself out into all different areas. We were asked in February to participate in ‘Shorts and Spirits Night’ where they screen six or seven web series, which has a jury panel and an Audience Choice Award and we took home both. So our next round of publicity is putting ourselves into all of the festivals. We went up in The LA Comedy Fest’s Shorts Night, where our entire web series of twenty-four minutes was screened at the Acme Theatre in Hollywood. It’s just cool. One piece of advice I give to anyone making a web series: be sure to put your web address somewhere at the end or have a little lower-third pop-up. I put that everywhere because if somebody is on AOL and they watch the episode and say, “Hey, I want to see more. What’s this?” That’s kind of how we did it. And it’s not like there are any rules on the internet, which is cool. TV is a much more difficult monster, but this one at least you have some control over.
NC: Is there anything I didn’t cover that you want to talk about?

SS: The most important thing is to have a story. If you’re an actor and you want to be in something, and you want to write it, write yourself the best that you can. Or find a project with someone who can do that for you. But if it’s not you, and you’re like I am, producing it, be smart enough to step out of the way for what is best for the project. Back to locations: we kept our budget within means by having people donate spaces. John and Doug donated their house. Michael Taylor Gray, God bless him, got the Now Casting offices for an entire day. If you go watch Pretty, all the confessionals were shot there. Anytime they’re sitting in front of the gold curtain—that was shot at Now Casting. The children behind the scene, the health insurance scene, the hallway scenes, all the bathroom scenes, and the lawyer scene—were all shot there. And then downstairs we set up a giant sheet on the first floor and did our entire photo session there too. So we love Now Casting, In fact, if you watch any episode, you’ll see special thanks.

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PRETTY’s leading man, SAM PANCAKE, is rev’ing up for Season 2!

Before cameras begin rolling on August 19^{th ---}

Sam takes on

TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS:

1.       What's been the best part of working on PRETTY?

“The gorgeous, sexy, sleek  designer outfits I get to wear.”  

2.       If you could pick one part you've played in your career - any part you like - to play again - which part would it be and why?  What would you bring to that character now that maybe you didn't when you originally played it?

“Here's my dream: I want to somehow do "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and play all four parts- Martha, George, Nick, Honey.  I think I'm up to that challenge, finally. Through cine-magic or stage trickery, we must  make this happen. I am not kidding.  I'm sorry, what was the question?”

3.  Clue or Monopoly?

“Clue. The game and the movie.  How can you go wrong with Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry AND Jane Wiedlin?  Glorious.”

4.  Is any part of Michael Champagne based on someone real you've known?  Or yourself?

“He's kind of a completely twisted version of me, had I made some ill-advised decisions in life - and...a ...gentleman...from my past who is very much alive and has internet access and is litigious so I will shut my sweet cakehole regarding this question now.”   

5.  Do you think web series are the future of entertainment?

“No.  I think the next platform will come along eventually, as it always does, but I'm grateful that it's a kick-ass launching ground for new talent and material (and a mind-blowing load of crap-- present company excluded, of course!) at this time in entertainment/tech history.  Hurrah!”

6.  Meryl Streep's best role ever is...?

“Are you kidding?  Like there's even ONE where she's just phoning it in, or less than brilliant?   C'mon!  She can do no wrong.  You know I have the entire script of "Postcards from the Edge" memorized - not just Meryl, EVERY PART- so I'm partial to that, but I love her no matter what.  Except for "Mamma Mia."  That almost killed me.”

7.  Do you know any pageant moms and dads?

“Ummm...I used to know many back in South Carolina. So, yes. Yes, I do/did.  And I have many stories, and ya ain't gittin' em out of me for free!”

8.  Who's your dream actor to perform opposite with?

“SO MANY!!!!! I don't even know where to start.”

9.  The question everyone wants to know:  Is Michael gay or not?

“Michael is straight. Deal with it.  Though I feel he could be persuaded to get up to all kinds of mischief if the right...person asked him...”

10.  When did you know "Yes, being an actor, this is what I am supposed to be?"

“Ever since the talkies came in, cuz my career in silent pictures was going nowhere.”

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Three of your favorite PRETTY people –

DEE “Ribina” FREEMAN

MICHAEL “Royce” TAYLOR GRAY

And

STACY “Annette” McQUEEN

answer Three Very Important Questions!

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO ABOUT FILMING SEASON 2?

Dee Freeman: “Getting to work with some of the most gifted, fabulous actors in Hollywood.” 

Michael Taylor Gray:  “Seeing just where I can fit in another “shorty-short pants” moment for Royce.  That and playing with our amazing cast and crew again!”

Stacy McQueen:  “I’m most looking forward to seeing if I can walk.” (Stacy's recovering from foot surgery.)

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE LINE YOU GET TO SAY IN OUR UPCOMING SEASON 2?

Dee Freeman: “The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit...And he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.“

Michael Taylor Gray:  “Please.  We’re throwing a gay pageant.  It’s definitely a Judy.”

Stacy McQueen:  “Daddy says midgets are people who could be tall if they wanted to.

They just stopped trying.”

IF YOU COULD GET ANYONE TO GUEST STAR, WHO WOULD IT BE?  WHAT PART WOULD THEY PLAY?

Dee Freeman:  “Samuel L. Jackson!   He would be Ribina's ex boyfriend, nicknamed Boo, who comes back into town looking for Ribina. Or...I could have a trash talking sister, played by my good friend Octavia Spencer.” 

Michael Taylor Gray:  “Elizabeth Taylor or Cher.  Either one would play Royce’s mother – his life’s inspiration.”    

Stacy McQueen:  “I would love to have Jason Bateman play my lover.  Or Bill Nighy.  Oh God,

how I adore Bill Nighy.”

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