INDIE SOAP BEAT: May 20, 2010

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature we reveal the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera and web series production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

Casting for the upcoming first season THE BAY is now complete. In addition to the previously announced Mary Beth Evans, Tristan Rogers, Martha Madison, John Callahan, Taylor Stanley, Sandra Robinson and Lilly Melgar, others in the cast are Derrell Whitt, Monti Sharp, Tanisha Lynn, Camden Toy, Kristos Andrews, Jade Harlow and Dylan Bruce. Bruce was last seen as Chris Hughes on AS THE WORLD TURNS. The show shot an opening sequence on Thursday in Pacific Palisades.

The second season of EMPIRE is well underway and the improvements in the look and feel of the show have not gone unnoticed by fans. If you've missed any of our recent features with the cast of EMPIRE, you can find them all on the We Love Soaps EMPIRE page. Video interviews with Christian Barber, Tina Sloan, Orlagh Cassidy and Kate Forsatz are included as well as an entire episode of WE LOVE SOAPS TV dedicated to the show.

THE CAVANAUGHS, from creator Adrian Morales, premiered on Thursday. The show is about a group of friends that reunite for the screening of an unsold sitcom pilot entitled 'The Cavanaughs', and the seed to return to the project is planted. THE CAVANAUGHS has filmed six episodes to date and will resume production in three weeks. New episodes will be released every Thursday.

The latest actor to join the cast of REALITY BYTES is Bryce Vine, son of Tracey Ross. Vine will be playing Xavier Armstrong while Tracey is playing Alex Armstrong on the upcoming series. On a recent episode of WE LOVE SOAPS TV, producer Tristan Rogers teased that a "huge announcement" about the show would be coming out in the near future. Stay tuned!

INDIE SOAP BEAT: February 19, 2010

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, GOTHAM shoots at Nicole Miller, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM releases another excellent episode, STEAMBOAT moves toward a release, and we reveal the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera and web series production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

STEAMBOAT is a new web comedy series written by longtime GUIDING LIGHT star Michael O'Leary and directed by former AS THE WORLD TURNS actor Scott Bryce. O'Leary was a guest on "Dayplayer Dish" on Sunday and previewed the series. The show was shot in one day on December 13. O'Leary wants to give fans something he thinks is missing in soaps today - humor and satire (the show is about the backstage happenings at a dying soap). You can listen to the entire interview here. The show is planning to debut on March 1st (first episode or teaser) on YouTube and hoping advertisers will like what they see. They shot 30 minutes which will be broken down into five webisodes. Kim Zimmer plays the executive producer of the soap spoofed in STEAMBOAT. Justin Deas plays the line producer. Orlagh Cassidy is a new age actress. Beth Chamberlin plays a character with drastic mood swings. Kurt McKinnery plays an upper crust actor trying to sell a skin line. Michael Park, who also stars on GOTHAM, plays O'Leary's (Michael) roommate, Dirk, in the series and O'Leary says he's "off the charts funny."

The first episode is about the Daytime Emmys and the things people will do to get votes. Dirk and Michael throw a barbecue to suck up to voters. At the end of the first episode, someone is shot. The show is being shopped to cable networks as well. The show will integrate products into the show in a satirical way.

GOTHAM taped scenes at the Nicole Miller Fashion Week show last Friday. Then on Wednesday, new cast member Matt Crane (Perry), along with Martha Byrne (Catherine) and LaMont Craig (Jayqui), taped on location to the Nicole Miller offices. You can check out photos from the shoot here. The next episode of GOTHAM will air on March 1 and will featuring the opening song, "Love Makes The World Go 'Round," performed as a duet between Byrne and Michael Park.

ANYONE BUT ME will air its next new episode of ANYONE BUT ME will air February 23. Producers/Writers Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward appeared on "Sister's Talk Radio" on Thursday night and you can listen to their interview here. The first question is about their Indie Soap Award wins.

We Love Soaps caught up with VENICE actress Gina Tognoni (Sami) at the ONE LIFE TO LIVE studio this week. She said she taped two episodes for season one (the first of which was the scene with dust blowing all round Sami's date with Owen). She enjoyed it and would love to do more. In last week's epiosde Nadia Bjorlin debuted as Lara and had mad chemistry with Jessica Leccia's Ani.

INDIE SOAP BEAT: February 12, 2010

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look back at the recent signing of some indie web series by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), Crystal Chappell directs VENICE, and we reveal the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera and web series production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

GOTHAM is now a WGAE signatory show. WGAE executive director Lowell Peterson told We Love Soaps that the writers' strike in 2007-08 was focused on web content but more for rebroadcast of television shows: "More recently we've been focusing our resources and analysis on made-for the web shows." Read our entire interview with Peterson here. GOTHAM recently reached a million page views since the show's website was launched. The show also edited the first four episodes together to make it easier for fans to catch up on the saga of Richard and Catherine. You can watch the new edit at gothamtheseries.com.

Winner for Best Indie Soap at the 1st Annual Indie Soap Awards, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM, returned on Thursday with an all new episode. Look for Season Two to play out every Thursday through March 25. The show is directed and produced by Robert Townsend and stars Monica Calhoun, Valery Ortiz and Janice Lynde, along with Richard Roundtree and Billy Dee Williams.

ANACOSTIA is back today with a new episode! You can watch it here. The episodes starts out by the cast giving fans a "taste of DC." This is must watch! ANACOSTIA is one of the longer web shows. This episode runs over 38 minutes including the fun intro. The show takes place in DC's Anacostia community neighborhood.

ALL'S FAIRE returned on Thursday with a new episode. King Gary investigates the camp of the enemy; Sir Drederick encounters a foreign invader; the women of the faire behold Sir Robert (former GUIDING LIGHT Robert Bogue). If you haven't checked out this absurd and hilarious comedy, check it out.