BORO: How did you meet? Blaire: Steven and I met our senior year of high school when we both auditioned for an acting scholarship at West Virginia University, seven years ago. We have been best friends since. 38 | BOROMAG.COM | FEBRUARY 2014 BORO: When did you realize you should make a web series? Blaire: We were going on a ton of auditions for student films and independent theater, where the writing wasn’t the best, or the project just wasn’t something that excited us. We wanted to create something fun, funny and something we felt passionate about. Steven: I met with a filmmaker friend at NYU, and we decided to collaborate on a project I would write. I started writing real life moments that Blaire and I have shared together, and a few months later we had the first season of Tough Love BORO: How close are the characters to the real Blaire and Steven? Blaire: The characters are definitely heightened versions of both of us. Each episode is based loosely on real life situations, but I’m not quite that crazy and Steven is not quite that up tight. Steven: The characters are just us. Blaire is a train wreck and sort of a lesbian, and I’m the most uptight homosexual in New York City. For some reason this comedic combination just works. The plot is a mix of heightened real life experiences and also fictional situations based loosely on moments or archetypes we’ve found in the city. BORO: You are gaining a lot of momentum. Can you talk about how you got picked up by the Damn Channel... Steven: I took my first class at Upright Citizens Brigade this year, and befriended a guy named Nick Douglas. He is the current editor of the Slacktory channels on MDC (My Damn Channel) on YouTube. He became a big fan of Tough Love, and saw an opportunity to take the show to the next level. The second season of Tough Love will be released on Slacktory, and will reach a much larger audience. BORO: How many episodes are in season 1? Blaire: There are 8 episodes in Season 1. BORO: When will season 2 be released? Steven: It will be premiering sometime in February. You can watch both seasons 1 and 2 at watchtoughlove.com BORO: Any bloopers you can share? Steven: We have a ton of clips of me giving directions to the crew in between my acting takes. It’s really embarrassing to watch myself as an actor in the scene, and then suddenly break away to tell the DP that we are running behind schedule BORO: What audience do you hope to reach? Blaire: There are a lot of universal themes in the content we are creating that people can relate to. But, we hope to reach more of the LGBTQ Community with this new season. ENTERTAINMENT A new web series called Tough Love, which is written by two Astorians, has been gathering some exciting momentum. Written by Steven Bell, the series features a glimpse into the lives of Steven and his best friend, Blaire Wendel. BORO checked in to learn a little bit more about the show. publisher my damn channel actor/writer/producer steven bell actor/producer blaire wendel actor/writer/producer nick douglas director of photography brendan swift editor/sound designer cody ball gaffer michael lamarra boom operator francesco chen boom operator/ assistant camera operator brandon pro
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