When a struggling artist/clean freak gets kicked out of her apartment, she can only find one place to go – her inventor boyfriend’s digs. Originally, he lets her stay for a few days, but after a night of hot action in the sack, he lets her stay “forever,” only to see her gradually take over the whole place!
The new comedy web series HIS AND HERS, produced by co-stars Kate Bowen and David Scott, and directed by Ken Schefler, stars Bowen as Maggie, whose obsession with cleanliness collides with that of her boyfriend Matt (Scott), proud inventor of “clear squeeze bottles” (and proud enough to have them littered all over the apartment when they meet).
Together, they try to navigate the ups and downs of love – and sharing an apartment – in spite of their eccentric quirks. The show also stars Drew Seeley (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, ANOTHER CINDERELLA STORY, PITCH PERFECT) as Jason, Maggie’s friend from acting class, and Rebecca Zamolo (THE MUMBLESTEENS, BONER KILLERS) as her best friend Beth. Seven episodes are scheduled for the show’s debut season, which premiered on February 4th. New episodes will air every Tuesday for the next six weeks on its official Youtube page. In addition to the show’s Youtube page, HIS AND HERS also has a substantial social media outreach, with Maggie’s character having her own page on Twitter.
Bowen and Scott developed HIS AND HERS after several meetings last summer. The two had previously worked together on the yet-to-be released horror film THE BUNNYMAN MASSACRE. “I was like, ‘well, I’ve been working on this idea, I’ve been writing a few scenes about this OCD woman, and they live together,’ and he (Scott) was like, ‘okay, cool, send me what you have!’ So, we didn’t end up using those scripts but that was kind of the basis for everything, and then we both knew Ken (Schefler) from working with him on previous projects, so we brought him in. The three of us really came up with the concept and the arc for the season. Ken is a writer by trade and he’s brilliant, so he really helped form the whole season. It was very organic the way it came about.”
Producing HIS AND HERS was a learning experience for Bowen and the entire cast and crew, but thanks to them the daunting process of filming each episode was more fun than expected. “To be in this industry with things like Youtube, and all these different platforms for social media, the way to separate yourself is to create your own work, and we were all realizing that. We all liked working with each other, so we wanted to come up with something to give us practice, give us something that we did ourselves and just to have a good time, and not necessarily have a goal with it, but just to create something for the pure beauty of creation and having fun, and just put it out there and hopefully (have) people laugh.”
HIS AND HERS also takes a unique approach to social media. “Maggie has her own Twitter, and she has more followers than I do in real life. She tweets about her life with her fake boyfriend. We also have a blog that we’re doing as our characters. It’s like call and response. I’ll make up a scenario about (how) I got hair extensions, and I include a picture of myself, and we create this stupid story about how he thought it was weird that I had fake hair. I write about it, and he responds. I write about going to the bathroom and he responds, just silly, stupid stuff like that,” Bowen says.
Bowen feels that HIS AND HERS stands apart from many other web series comedies in its approach to the often ridiculous situations that come with being a couple (especially those who live together). “What sets it apart is that we took scenarios grounded in real life that everyone can relate to, and just made it ridiculous and heightened. The characters that we created react to the world in a very different way. I liken David’s humor to more of a Will Ferrell or Jim Carrey type of humor, and mine is derived from Jewish storytelling (primarily the comedy of Larry David, writer/creator of SEINFELD and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM). It’s kind of just heightening everyday situations and just being ridiculous. I think people will relate to it, and I think that’s funny, but it’s also just a little absurd, so that’s funny.”
Like many web series creators, Bowen hopes that her show can succeed with viewers, which could lead to an even bigger platform for HIS AND HERS. “Financially, my goal and my dream are two different things. My goal for it is not to have any expectations, in all honesty. It’s literally just to create and to gain experience for me as a writer and as an actress, to write and act and see how I can communicate with people, just to do it, to get practice and to have fun. Obviously, the dream would be if it got a good enough response to get picked up by a network, and we can make a full television show. We can have a great budget, and produce it on a high level,” she says.
Yet, she also hopes that making the show will help her grow as a writer and actress. “I hope to be well rounded. I want to be an actress and a writer and a producer. I enjoy the intellectual side of writing, and I enjoy the emotional, physical side of acting. Web series are a really wonderful way for us to get our voices out there, and to try things, be creative, have fun and connect with the world.”
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreMattAndMaggie
Follow Maggie on Twitter @FlyMaggieFly
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