INDIE SOAP BEAT: December 9, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production.


VENICE premiered on Friday night to mostly rave reviews. There were some issues with the website, much discussion about the $9.99 subscription price and lots of hype but in the end the show did a pretty good job of delivering. And it was also a "ratings" success. The show has been viewed over 86,000 times, received numerous YouTube honors and is still receiving them. The next episode will air Friday night and it will be interesting to see the response as the seasonal subscription kicks in. It will also be interesting to see how quickly the show is pirated around the web and how the show handles and prevents that. If you thought coming up with a workable business model was hard... UPDATE: VENICE has moved their second episode to Friday, December 18. The show will air a new teaser and behind the scenes footage this Friday instead.


GOTHAM aired its second episode on Monday night and we saw the debut of Maeve Kinkead as Dinah and Margaret Reed as Sheila. Both ladies are looking better than ever. Do they ever age? There was a bit more story development as Catherine and Richard had a brief encounter before Dinah swept them and Tina into the heard of the St. Jude party. Martha Byrne and Anne Sayre still have the same dynamic chemistry as Catherine and Tina that they had playing Rose and Mitzi on AS THE WORLD TURNS. Look for the next new episode on Monday, December 21. If you missed the We Love Soaps announcement that the amazing Melanie Smith is joining the cast, you can read it here along with our exclusive interview.


We Love Soaps attended a read through for season two of EMPIRE over the weekend. The script is excellent and the show is sure to be bigger and better when it returns in Spring 2010. Production begins next month. Toby Levin (Jake) previewed: "I'm very excited about the second season. The Haven family is a fun thing to be a part of and I'm excited to dig in deeper into their lives." Look for several interviews with the cast in the coming weeks.


The fourth episode of PPP, "Dirty Little Secrets," is now online. We Love Soaps recently spoke with the show's creators Tai Fauci and Jack Monroe. You can read our interview here.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: December 2, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production.


EMPIRE is gearing up for production on Season Two. We Love Soaps will be meeting with the cast and producers this weekend so look for a feature soon. GUIDING LIGHT producer David Brandon has joined the production team for season two, which is expected to debut in Spring 2010. Ryan Clardy (Cane) will be appearing in three episodes of ONE LIFE TO LIVE next week so look for him there.


Two more actresses have been announced as part of the GOTHAM cast. Soap vet Lisa Peluso will be playing Veronica, the ex-wife of Michael Park's Richard. Also, Brianne Moncrief has been cast as Richard's sexy secretary Samantha. The next episode will air on Monday, December 7 at 8 p.m. ET. Look for a single from producer/writer/star Martha Byrne to be released soon and included in an upcoming episode.


The wait is almost over! VENICE will premiere on Friday, December 4 at 11 p.m. ET. The show has added a countdown clock to the official website. If you haven't watched the teaser, check it out here. The theme song from Jen Foster, "Venice Beach," is haunting so buy a copy!


We Love Soaps published an interview with PALISADES POOL PARTY creators Tai Fauci and Jack Monroe this week. You can read it here. Monroe revealed: "We definitely draw inspiration from 90210, GOSSIP GIRL and THE O.C., but I’d say because of some of the outlandish storylines we have planned, we’re more like a condensed, powdered version of DEGRASSI – just add water!"


REALITY BYTES is now teasing us with lines from the show. In Episode #4, Victoria Radcliffe says, "It makes for a harsh day when you discover your reality is just a figment of your imagination." If you haven't weighed in on the show's theme song candidate, you can do so here.


The fifth episode of WED-LOCKED, "Surprise!!!" was released on Sunday at Saint-Victor.net. This was the best episode of the season and it featured appearances by GUIDING LIGHT stars Zack Conroy and Yvonna Kopacz Wright.


Episode #9 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, "Crying Is Not His Forte," is now online on the show's website. Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte was the special guest this week.


Season Two of the Lott 55 soap CONFESSIONS is underway. Look for the season premiere in January 2010. CONFESSIONS was created by Tuane Hearn and co-written by Tonya Naylor.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can find all our indie soap coverage at IndieSoapBeat.com.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: November 25, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production including the launch of GOTHAM and a sneak peak at our interview with the creators of PALISADES POOL PARTY.


GOTHAM launched on Monday night at GothamTheSeries.com following a chat with producer/star Martha Byrne. The premiere seemed to be well received by most. The biggest complaint by fans was wanting longer episodes (which is actually a good thing). During the chat, Byrne revealed that longtime GENERAL HOSPITAL star Kin Shriner was joining the cast. Look for more casting news soon.


PALISADES POOL PARTY creators Tai Fauci and Jack Monroe offered We Love Soaps insight into their indie soap in a new interview coming soon. Fauci reveals: "Jack and I were having a creative meeting and he says, 'PALISADES POOL PARTY', then we spent hours figuring out a concept to go along with his inspired title. The title was all his idea; the show was a fully collaborative process. Our first as a creative duo."


It is only nine days until the premiere of VENICE on December 4. If you haven't watched the show's teaser video you can do so here. YouTube has restored the teaser after removing it unexpectedly the day after it rolled out. Look for a make-over of the show's website before the show's premiere. Check out our recent Day of DAYS interview with VENICE producer/star Crystal Chappell here.


REALITY BYTES is looking for a theme song and may have found one. You can listen to "Swank," a potential theme, here and then let the producers know what you think.


The fourth episode of WED-LOCKED, "What's on the tube?" was released on Sunday at Saint-Victor.net. Who hasn't argued with their partners over what to watch on television? If you missed our video interview with with WED-LOCKED producers and stars Lawrence Saint-Victor (Robert) and Karla Mosley (Denise), you can watch it in three parts here, here and here.


Episode #8 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, "State of the Union," is now online on the show's website. Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte will appear on next week's show.


THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star will no longer be appearing on THE REPUBLIC, scheduled for a February 2010 launch. According to the show's website: "Melody was enthused about starring in THE REPUBLIC, and planned to give it her all, but at the last minute 'an emergency' came up and she had to withdraw. We’re glad she told us up front, because that was very helpful. We hope her emergency resolves and we wish her well."

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can find all our indie soap coverage at IndieSoapBeat.com.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: November 18, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production. The indie soap revolution continues!


There are only five more days to wait until the premiere of GOTHAM. Martha Byrne's new indie soap in which she stars with Michael Park, Anne Sayre, Maeve Kinkaed and others will premiere on Monday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET on the show's new website at gothamtheseries.com. There will a chat from 7-8 p.m. before the show airs. Be sure to stop by the GOTHAM store and purchase some official show merchandise.


VENICE released an exciting teaser on Monday night which became an instant YouTube smash. Unfortunately, the video was removed from YouTube for some unknown reason but you can still watch it here. In the teaser, the show revealed the premiere date would be December 4. The teaser also included the fabulous "Venice Beach" theme song from Jen Foster. Check out our recent Day of DAYS interview with VENICE producer/star Crystal Chappell here.


PALISADES POOL PARTY explores the world of teens living in the affluent beach community of the Pacific Palisades utilizing a unique brand of storytelling. Check it out and look for an interview with the producers coming soon to We Love Soaps.


REALITY BYTES announced the casting of Ben Hogestyn this week. Hogestyn will play Jacob Kaplan, the BEYOND REASON (soap within the soap) webmaster. In a recent interview with We Love Soaps, Tristan Rogers talked about his hopes for the soap: "We want to mess around with the way the story is being told. We want to employ a few different ideas. It's really important the show has a signature look. It's my idea to shoot this in Florida and shoot a lot of it outdoors. I want to get that Florida look. To attain a look on a show, it requires the director, the camera man, the lighting man, wardrobe, etc. to all be part of it."


The third episode of WED-LOCKED, "Babytalk," was released on Sunday at Saint-Victor.net. We Love Soaps recently caught up with WED-LOCKED producers and stars Lawrence Saint-Victor (Robert) and Karla Mosley (Denise). If you missed our video interview, you can watch it in three parts here, here and here.


The season finale of WORKSHOP, "Feel Free To Improv," is now online. The comedy was created by Nate Golon and Kimberly Legg and stars former PASSIONS actor Phillip Jeanmarie. The cast and crew had a season one screening party on Monday night at the Bungalow Club in Los Angeles. According to Golon, the second season is already written so look for details on production and release dates at some point soon.

In the season finale, Adam has a show role to decide on, Vivian has a meeting with a certain Junior Agent, Sarah is starting acting class, Matthew hears news about "Absolute Opposites", and are Jeff and Kaitlyn going to connect after all?


There was no new episode posted this week, but you can watch Episode #7 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, "The Third Hayes," on the show's website.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can find all our indie soap coverage at IndieSoapBeat.com.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: November 11, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production. The long-awaited debuts of VENICE and GOTHAM are almost here.


VENICE is set to premiere in just over two weeks on November 27. Chappell told We Love Soaps the show would premiere "the Friday after Thanksgiving." Look for a new Chappell interview from the "Day of DAYS" event coming soon. There will be 12 episodes in the first season with each approximately six minutes long. We Love Soaps west coast correspondent Stephanie Burke visited the set of VENICE recently and interviewed several cast members. In case you missed them, here are the links to interviews with Crystal Chappell, Jessica Leccia, Gina Tognoni, Michelle N. Carter, Harrison White, Nadia Bjorlin and Kim Turrisi.


GOTHAM will premiere on Monday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET on the show's new website at gothamtheseries.com and YouTube. There will a chat from 7-8 p.m. before the show airs. There is also a GOTHAM store now open so you can buy t-shirts or mugs and support indie soap production.


In Part Two of the We Love Soaps interview with REALITY BYTES producers Tristan Rogers and Kate Lang, the duo revealed how the soap is taking a different approach than some of the other shows in seeking financing up front. Rogers said, "It's all about the budget right now. We can't shoot this with zero budget. It's not designed for that. We have some feelers out to sponsors and we'll see how that goes. We've got a really interesting package to present to them."


The second episode of WED-LOCKED, "Backwash," was released on Sunday at Saint-Victor.net. We Love Soaps recently caught up with WED-LOCKED producers and stars Lawrence Saint-Victor (Robert) and Karla Mosley (Denise). If you missed our video interview, you can watch it in three parts here, here and here.


Episode #12 of WORKSHOP, "It's All About Connections," is now online. The comedy was created by Nate Golon and Kimberly Legg and stars former PASSIONS actor Phillip Jeanmarie. In the new episode, Adam has his big meeting with the network executive, Vivian and Sarah find out who booked "Iceberg", and Jeff and Kaitlyn's date continues.


Episode #7 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, "The Third Hayes," is now playing on the show's website. FOR is a web sitcom that revolves around a group of guys and their fantasy football league. Y&R's Vail Bloom, who plays Sarah Smith in the series, has been terrific on the show but does not appear in the new episode.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can find all our indie soap coverage at IndieSoapBeat.com.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: November 4, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production. This week we have an exclusive interview with VENICE star Gina Tognoni, an interview with REALITY BYTES producers Tristan Rogers and Kate Lang, and a premiere date for GOTHAM!


We Love Soaps west coast correspondent Stephanie Burke visited the set of VENICE last week and you can catch a sample of her interviews on the latest episode of WE LOVE SOAPS TV. Full versions of each interview will be online throughout the week starting with Gina Tognoni, who plays Sami. You can watch Tognoni's interview below.



A GOTHAM premiere date has been set! GOTHAM will debut Monday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET on gothamtheseries.com and YouTube. There will a chat from 7-8 p.m. before the show airs. Look for more details very soon and the launch of the GOTHAM website. Creator/Producer/Actress Martha Byrne has tweeted that she's in the editing process and is "getting excited."


In Part One of the We Love Soaps interview with REALITY BYTES producers Tristan Rogers and Kate Lang, Lang explained how the idea for the show came from a dream. Rogers predicted big things for the indie soap movement: "This time next year I think they'll probably ten shows, maybe more, that are active out there." Rogers also humorously added: "I've been telling peole for ages how to do better soap. Now we're about find out if I know what I'm talking about." Look for the rest of the interview to be transcribed later in the week.


The first episode of WED-LOCKED premiered on November 1 at Saint-Victor.net. We Love Soaps recently caught up with WED-LOCKED producers and stars Lawrence Saint-Victor (Robert) and Karla Mosley (Denise). If you missed our video interview, you can watch it in three parts here, here and here. The show is looking for feedback following the first episode. If you were the therapist, what would you instruct Robert and Denise to do?


PALISADES POOL PARTY explores the world of teens living in the affluent beach community of the Pacific Palisades utilizing a unique brand of storytelling.

“For as much as teens use the Internet as a source of entertainment, we felt there was a real lack of teen programming,” says director and co-creator, Jack Monroe. “And certainly in the serialized drama department; I can’t think of any other web series doing what we’re doing. There are user-generated teen shows, but they are mostly comedies and often lack production value.”


Episode #11 of WORKSHOP, "Time To Make Some Moves," is now online. The comedy was created by Nate Golon and Kimberly Legg and stars former PASSIONS actor Phillip Jeanmarie. In the new episode, Tension is bubbling to the surface for everyone! Matthew is getting chewed out by his agent, Adam's heading to his agent to tell her off, Sarah and Vivian are at the final callback for "Iceberg", and Jeff and Kaitlyn finally go out to dinner together.


Episode #6 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, the web sitcom that revolves around a group of guys and their fantasy football league, is now playing on the show's website. Y&R's Vail Bloom, who plays Sarah Smith in the series, once again shines in this comedic role.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: October 28, 2009

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production. We Love Soaps now has a shortcut to all our Indie Soap cover. You can view those posts by clicking the "Indie" option at the top of the page or by visiting IndieSoapBeat.com. You can get to any of the show's websites by clicking their logo.


In breaking casting news, Nadia Bjorlin's character has been changed. She was originally cast to play Jenna but due to Elizabeth Keener's illness, she took over the role of Lara. Keener will appear on the series as a different character in the second season. We Love Soaps was on the set of VENICE on Wednesday and will be bringing you videos interviews soon with Crystal Chappell (Gina), Jessica Leccia (Ani), Gina Tognoni (Sami), Harrison White (Jamie) and others. Look for a report on WE LOVE SOAPS TV on Monday.


We Love Soaps was on the set of GOTHAM recently with Lisa Brown directing. It's hard to believe this amazing actress has not won a Daytime Emmy. I'm hearing the footage is looking good and it's hard to believe that Martha Byrne's vision is going to be anything but successful. This woman has listened to the fans for years and knows what a soap fan wants. Look for the show's official website to debut soon.


Producers Tristan Rogers and Kate Lang appeared on the latest epsidoe of "We Love Soaps Radio" to discuss REALITY BYTES. The folks behind RB are taking a different approach than some of the other web series by lining up sponsors in advance and trying to create a sustainable long-term business model. Things are fluid at the moment but the tentative plan is to air the 8-minute show three days a week. You can listen to interview here. Look for a full transcript with other tidbits from Rogers and Lang later this week.


We Love Soaps recently caught up with WED-LOCKED producers and stars Lawrence Saint-Victor (Robert) and Karla Mosley (Denise). If you missed our video interview, you can watch it in three parts here, here and here.


The second season of EMPIRE is coming in early 2010. Look for some exciting casting news soon from producers Greg Turner and Brian Hewson.


Episode #10 of WORKSHOP, "Shake Your Money Maker," is now online. The comedy was created by Nate Golon and Kimberly Legg and stars former PASSIONS actor Phillip Jeanmarie. In the episode, Jeff is shooting his Sparkle White Gum commercial, Sarah and Vivian are competing for the same role, Matthew's causing a ruckus on set, and Kaitlyn is taking a workshop. The show is having a screening in L.A. to celebrate the first season on November 16.


The IMAGINARY BITCHES Emmy special featuring We Love Soaps continues to be a YouTube hit surpassing 24,000 views and still going strong.


The RELATIONSHIPS website has been updated and the show has just launched a Facebook page. There is a new Vicky's World page as she goes to a fashion show. It is all about her of course!


The latest episode of Lauralee Bell's web comedy, FAMILY DINNER, is now playing at FunnyorDie.com. As with Episode 3, this family dinner features guest star Cloris Leachman, who plays Bell's mother. The episode has over 5,400 views as of today.


Episode #5 of FANTASY OVER REALITY, the web sitcom that revolves around a group of guys and their fantasy football league, is now playing on the show's website. Y&R's Vail Bloom has significant screen time in this one and is quite funny. Bloom, a Patriots fan, plays Sarah Smith in the series.