Ah, life in the dorms ““ that special time filled with bizarre late night happenings, weird floor-mates, and psycho RA’s.
While most students simply complain about this, a creative set of former and current UCLA students have channeled their experiences into a comedic project, if not a career starter.
Inspired by their experiences living in the dorms at UCLA, seven multi-talented writers, directors and producers created a web series titled “Dorm Life” that premieres today at www.dorm-life.com.
The first four episodes will be shown today, with one new episode following every Monday night through the season finale in June.
Having met while a part of the Spring Sing Company for the past couple of years, the team behind “Dorm Life” decided to continue to collaborate on entertaining skits and produce something substantial.
“We all got really excited about the potential for a series to exploit that year of your life (that is) life-changing, fun, crazy,” Jim Brandon, a 2007 communication studies graduate said.
Brandon, who plays the character of wild “˜n’ crazy party boy Gopher, said that the group decided that a “mockumentary” format (in the veins of “The Office” or “Best in Show”) set on a college dorm floor would be an entertaining route to take, but it wasn’t until they started talking about various characters that the project really took off.
“When we all started talking, there were universal characters that we all interacted with and thought were really funny,” Brandon said. “There were a lot of common experiences and the stuff that makes the dorms a fantastic time in your life. Living in a dorm with a bunch of college kids, especially a bunch of freshmen that are new to college, is very fun.”
But the writing process was a little more difficult to arrange. 2006 communications studies graduate Brian Singleton, who plays the floor’s RA Marshall (and, coincidentally, was an RA for Rieber Hall while at UCLA), said that although the group members were at various stages of their adult or student lives, the enthusiasm for the project allowed them to meet up and write when their busy schedules permitted it.
“We were at different parts of life ““ some of us had full-time jobs, some of us were still students, some of us were … “˜other,'” Singelton said. “It was a challenge to meet the schedules of seven very different lives.
“We would typically start our writing meetings around 7, 8, or 9 o’clock at night and we would go into the early morning and everyone would have to take off and go to school and carry on with their lives. But at the same time we were trying to write what turned out to be much longer than a feature film.”
Jessie Gaskell, a 2005 international development studies graduate who plays the part of overzealous dorm enthusiast Steph, said that there was so much potential for material, the writing process was filled with foresight into episodes in the distant future based on their real-life past experiences with similar characters.
“We were already anticipating what was going to happen to them in the 20th episode in the first episode, and with that in mind, put in little indications of where this person was going to develop to,” Gaskell said.
After they wrote, filmed and produced the pilot episode last June on their own, “Dorm Life” was picked up by the production company Attention Span Media, where Singleton had been working.
When the co-founders saw it, they gave the project the green light, funding high-quality production and an elaborate Web site.
But rather than broadcast it through a traditional medium like film or television, they decided to put episodes on the internet in a “webisode” format, meaning each show would be about five minutes in length ““ which kept costs down and convenience for busy viewers up.
“I think the audience we’re looking for, the college-aged audience, are the ones who aren’t watching TV as much,” said Garret Law, co-founder of Attention Span Media.
“Given where the creative team is coming from with their ideas and style of comedy, and their style of production, it did really lend itself well to shorter pieces.”
Designed to look like a flamboyantly decorated bulletin board, the Web site includes photos from “5 South” floor events, character profiles, and webcam shorts from the different characters.
By utilizing the free advertising of Facebook groups and mock cast profiles, the “Dorm Life” creators have found ways to spread the word about their show at low costs.
The aim of the interactivity of the site is to add another element to the “Dorm Life” experience, while also making it look professional and reflect the hard work the team put into the project as a whole.
But, according to Singleton, what distinguishes “Dorm Life” from other generic, amateur web content is the story and relatable characters.
“Something that I’m very proud of is that throughout the 20 episodes, you as a viewer grow to really love these people,” Singleton said.
“At the end of the season you’re left very attached to the dorm and share the feeling of “˜I’m on this dorm floor with these people whom I love.’ And I think that was sort of our experience on our dorm floors also.”