It’s not every day that your college experiences become the basis for the one of the all-time most-watched Web series on Hulu. But for a group of UCLA students and recent alumni, that’s just what happened.
“Dorm Life” began as an after-school project more than a year ago, based on real-life experiences of students while living in the dorms at UCLA. This group of writers and actors, most of whom met through Spring Sing’s Company, developed this mockumentary-style Web series that follows a fictional dorm floor and all of the hilarity and awkwardness that comes along with it.
“Dorm Life” has evolved into one of the most successful Web series with a handful of prestigious Web awards under its belt. The show has even beaten out the Neil Patrick Harris-starring “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” on Hulu.
The residents of 5 South return to mockument their second semester of college for the second season of “Dorm Life,” which premieres on dorm-life.com today.
Only a number of weeks have gone by in “Dorm Life” time as the undergrads return from winter break. But in real life, the cast and crew took a nine-month hiatus and fans around the world sounded off on their impatience via outlets such as Facebook.
Fourth-year psychology student Jordan Riggs writes for the series, and also plays the meticulous, sweater-vest-wearing Danny B.
“We felt (the wait) too,” Riggs said. “We’ve all felt it.”
A majority of this hiatus was the question of whether “Dorm Life” would even continue after the first season. Thanks in large part to the relationship between its producer, Attention Span Media, and Web distributors like Hulu, in addition to strong word-of-mouth endorsements, “Dorm Life” got picked up for a second season as it gained acclaim from people all over the country.
“My friend from Sonoma State showed it to me over the summer,” said Kelsey Spencer, a second-year UC Santa Cruz student. “She just said it was something I had to see, and I just thought it was hilarious and so relatable. I’m extremely excited for it to be back on.”
Brian Singleton, a 2006 UCLA graduate, produces, writes and plays the fiery resident assistant Marshall Adams whom viewers love to hate on the series. Singleton said all of the show’s video content has more than five million hits and reaches more than 500 school campuses across the country. With exposure like that, it’s no wonder “Dorm Life” has changed the lives of those involved with its development. With the major success of the first season came the onset of celebrity, but not necessarily instructions on what to do with it.
“The fact that people that I don’t know watch the show and recognize me, … that’s a huge compliment and I love it,” Riggs said. “I promise not to be too awkward, but if I am awkward, I apologize ahead of time.”
As a head writer for the Style Network’s “The Dish,” Jessie Gaskell, who graduated in 2005 with a degree in International Development Studies, inspired fans to be themselves through her zany alter-ego, “Floor Fun Facilitator” Steph. She has a hand-drawn picture and letter from a fan to prove it.
“That was part of what I wanted Steph to be ““ this person who didn’t care what everybody else thought, because college is this place where it’s cool to be yourself,” Gaskell said. “I don’t even know how to thank this person enough for what they said.”
Encouraging self-confidence is one thing, but the craze that is “Dorm Life” may even be responsible for inspiring a fan to move out of her parent’s house.
“She won a T-shirt (from us), but it sounded like her parents were very controlling, and she said she wasn’t allowed to give out her home address to people online, which is understandable,” Singleton said. “But then a few months later, she wrote us and said, “˜I moved out! Send me the T-shirt!'”
And then there’s the 17-year-old girl who unsuccessfully asked 2007 graduate Jim Brandon, who plays the part of party-animal Gopher, to prom.
The creators of “Dorm Life” know they have some of the best fans in the world, and those fans demand more than season one’s precedent of five-minute weekly webisodes. Therefore, “Dorm Life” will return with a season of 21 episodes, each 10 minutes in length, in addition to a mid-season special “spring break” mini-series.
It appears that the gang is back in full force and ready to tackle this season’s weighty topics.
“(The second season is about) awareness, relationships and awareness of relationships,” Riggs said.
The creators promise to answer all questions about romantic relationships like that of Danny B. and his “Mystery Hot Girl” as well as that of Marshall and Steph. This season, however, goes even deeper by bringing in the factor of relationships students have with those people outside the college environment: parents. A special parents’ weekend episode will give viewers insight on how some of the characters’ unique personalities came to be. This includes the equally intriguing and scary thought of meeting rambunctious Steph’s mom and dad played by two UCLA theater professors, Joe and Catherine Olivieri.
“I worked at Disneyland, and I’m the kind of guy that wants to do magic tricks at cocktail parties,” Joe Olivieri said of his character’s back story. “Our characters cause conflict in other people because they can’t handle our effusive happiness boiling over.”
The second season also brings with it everyone from season one, including Marshall’s lovable twin William, a number of new characters and plenty more uncomfortable moments.
“Danny B.’s romantic life just skyrockets, but that might just be a biased opinion because how can you skyrocket from zero to … something?” Riggs said. “(He reaches) third base, but not of his own fruition. … That’s too much of a teaser. Spoiler alert!”
“Dorm Life” is back, and it wants people to know the past nine months were well-spent. The creators will soon release a season one DVD, but Singleton wants to do a little more than that.
“I’ve been pushing for a campus bus tour,” Singleton said. “We could tape the whole thing in character. Each character could throw a party; just break into a dorm floor and throw a party. So right now we’re trying to line up the sponsor for that, actually.”
As the much-awaited premiere unveils, the creators don’t know yet if there will be a third season, but that hasn’t stopped them and fans alike from considering the future of the “Dorm Life” franchise.
“I think (“Dorm Life”) could be huge,” Olivieri said. “It’s as good as anything out there, and I think it’s only going to keep going.”