Hollywood is filled with dreamers from all walks of life and from all parts of the world. While the odds of achieving stardom are always long, those who have already hit it big have one thing in common: they’re represented by some of the biggest talent agents in the industry. One of them is Hollywood superagent Benji Cohen, the main protagonist of the new comedy web series BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS. Co-created by series co-stars Rob Bruner and Campbell Massie, the series’ 8 episode first season is now streaming on its official web site and Youtube page, along with the popular video web sites MyDamnChannel and TownSpotTV.

Despite his successful career at Hollywood talent agency CEA, and the high profile world he inhabits, Benji (played by Rob Bruner of SUPERNATURAL, PSYCH and the movie BABY GENIUSES) soon finds himself unsatisfied with his life and is desperate to find meaning in it. Upon a chance meeting with Wanda, an up and coming Los Angeles psychic (Lara Doucette, TIKIBAR TV), Benji learns that he will die of cancer unless he gives up his lucrative job as a talent agent. The tradeoff? In order to save himself, he must become a manager to some of Hollywood’s unknown, unappreciated and undiscovered talents who all seek to become the next big thing.

Among them: Bari Clunkman (played by Josh Sussman of GLEE and FISH HOOKS), a struggling actor from Nebraska who’s a street mime during the week and a kid’s clown on the weekends. Naive and unaware of just how to make it in showbiz, Bari hounds Benji constantly in hopes that he will be his latest client. The cast also includes Dino Antoniou as Benji’s fellow agent, Rupert Sowerbaum. Rupert assumes the role of the agency’s second most powerful agent – but he’s highly envious of Benji’s success. Once Benji leaves his cushy job at CEA, Rupert sees an opening to both emerge from Benji’s shadow and to become the agency’s top dog.

Other notables include Patrick Pankhurst (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3) as Hollywood’s “physician to the stars” Dr. Marty Schlick, who is not only a gifted (and highly paid) medical doctor but also has a secret desire to be a celebrity impersonator. Andy Pandini (PROGRESS, BABY GENIUSES) plays Patrick Powers (formerly Patty), who underwent a sex change operation when work began to dry up as a result of her becoming plus sized. As a man, Patrick hopes to finally become one of the silver screen’s newest tough guys.

There’s also Candice (Tess Hunt), a beautiful woman who left the world of porn to try to achieve mainstream success and who hopes to do so with Benji’s help. Rounding out the cast is Massie as the mysterious Beverly Hills Shaman, a figure that roams the streets of L.A. and provides Hollywood’s stars with a road map to their souls. Of course, whether or not he’s real or imagined depends on one’s perspective.

Anyone who’s ever tried to make it big in the world of entertainment knows just how big and intimidating Hollywood can be, and no one knows that better than Bruner and Massie. They also know that for every person who’s already on top, there are those at the bottom who have yet to achieve their first big break.

For Massie, those two factors converged during a simple walk down the streets of L.A. “Campbell Massie was walking in Hollywood humming the song ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ (written by Bart Howard, famously sung by Frank Sinatra and many others). It occurred to him in that moment that Hollywood is not like anywhere else, (and) it’s like a planet all on its own. And the idea was born. He was intrigued by all the actors and performers in Hollywood who live under the radar – the dreamers who aren’t even noticed,” says Bruner.

Bruner elaborates further on the show’s conception: “When Campbell pitched it to me I thought the characters were great and worth exploring. Later on Dino Antoniou came on board and helped us with story editing and offered to produce it. Then the great Vancouver based DP Pieter Stathis, who shot my short ‘The Workshop Junkie’ came on board and brought his 2 RED EPIC cameras down to LA. We got the rest of the crew here,” Bruner recalls.

BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS was filmed over 5 days in Los Angeles (guerrilla style, as Bruner describes it) and the production process was made easier thanks to some unexpected and welcome developments. “We got lucky with some great locations.  When our real psychic’s shop fell through (due to a death in the family – how did she not know?), Dino offered up his guest house – which actually worked much better since it was a controlled environment,” Bruner says.

As Bruner explains, BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS is different from many comedy web series because of its approach to episodic storytelling and also because of the main message it hopes to send to viewers – that of perseverance and of finding what people are truly made of amid the greatest of odds. “We think it has more of a narrative arc than most comedies we see. It feels more like a TV show, but shorter episodes obviously. There is also a theme behind it that has legs – the idea of creating greater purpose beyond yourself, championing the underdog and shaking up the status quo.”

Another key element that adds to the effectiveness of the series is its characters; people who don’t necessarily fit the mold of the young, beautiful and sleek. “The characters are quite unique – not the standard bunch of 20 somethings sitting around talking about their relationship problems as we see in so many web series these days,” Bruner says.

BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS hilariously portrays characters who try to achieve success in a notoriously tough town. For Bruner, his goal of telling stories of all those who come to Hollywood in hopes of being discovered proved to be the major inspiration for the creation of his series. “Some are not connected to reality at all, but others are incredibly talented and can’t get anyone to notice them. We wanted to give those folks a voice and show their stories,” he says.

Bruner hopes to continue to bring viewers those stories in season 2 of BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS. “Benji and his clients are going to go on some pretty interesting journeys in season 2. We will also be introducing some antagonistic characters who want to thwart what Benji is doing. Also, Harvey Weinstein (indie film mogul) gets wind and thinks Benji is up to something big – so he tries to stop him.  We also plan to introduce celebrity cameos,” he adds.

BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS is a comedy that proves that no matter how difficult it can be for anyone to conquer Hollywood, or how big and seemingly daunting the city can be, there are still those who seek to make the journey of navigating the rough waters of a fickle industry a little easier every day. “Well, some of it is parody, obviously, of an industry that takes itself too seriously and can also be mean spirited and very exclusive. But Benji is on a journey to find the good in himself and ultimately on a mission to transform Hollywood into a better, kinder place that rewards talent and ingenuity more than ‘who you know,” he says.

Adds Bruner: “There’s also the message that everyone is invited, one way or another to account for their actions and lives. Some do it the hard way and ignore their inner voice. Some listen to it and make sure they are not sacrificing happiness and purpose in favor of money and prestige. Those external things don’t usually bring fulfillment. In the end though – we just want to entertain folks, write about what we know and make people laugh.”

(Note: Bruner says that BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS is not currently closed captioned, but will be once the series achieves wider distribution.)

ON THE WEB: www.betweenjupiterandmars.com

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/BetJupiterandMars

MY DAMN CHANNEL: http://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel/between_jupiter_and_mars_8752

TOWNSPOT.tv: http://www.townspot.tv/los-angeles/videos/2401/between+jupiter+and+mars+-+s1+e1

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