As has been seen on this blog over the past several months, New Orleans has not only been a major hub for studio-backed movie and TV production, but it has also boasted many locally produced web series. The new comedy web series W.I.N.O. (WET IN NEW ORLEANS) continues that trend as it depicts the story of four dysfunctional young adults, each of them roommates who struggle not only to get along with each other but also to figure out what life is all about. The series, whose “unofficial” pilot episode has twice screened publicly in New Orleans, will debut soon on Youtube. In addition, the series’ creators (who also happen to be the show’s cast, more on that later) are currently in production for their “official” pilot episode which they hope to use to pitch as a regular TV series.
W.I.N.O. stars Dean J. West as Berney, the group’s stubborn ‘ringleader’. Aaron Jay Rome plays Jay, who not only believes he’s a ‘superhero’, but also tends to believe just about anything anyone tells him. Isaiah LaBorde plays the group’s resident oddball and stoner, Stephen Landry, and Michelle West rounds out the cast as Mindy, Berney’s wife and the only female in a house full of otherwise immature guys. Both Dean and Michelle West, plus Rome and LaBorde, not only star in the series, but also comprise its production team through their company, ALLaborde Productions.
For the Wests, plus Rome and LaBorde, it wasn’t hard to find creative inspiration for their show. “We all met in Los Angeles and all being like-minded film makers, it was easy to come up with our own show, (loosely) based around us as characters. We knew we could accurately portray New Orleans for all its beauty and charm, as well as its craziness. And we needed a shooting style that would fit our low budget and fast pace, so we’re very close to that of IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA or THE OFFICE,” the show’s creators say. Like many web series, production was a matter of timing, and W.I.N.O. was no exception. Yet, the hard work paid off in a very short time. “We all have hectic and unpredictable schedules, so when we found 4 days to shoot, we scheduled, cast, location scouted and script locked in about 4 days leading up to shooting days. Given the time we had, we ended up with a very successful product, and focused our aim on what we want out of our next episode,” they say.
While the overall goal for W.I.N.O. is to become a regular television series, the show’s core creative team have found that creating a web series has provided them with a chance to flex their creative muscle and to put their extensive production experience to work, while moving toward their goal of making W.I.N.O. the next big TV comedy. “This show was created as a vehicle to get us to the next step. We all have different goals, and this is a common calling card we can all use to showcase our individual talents. Financially, we’d love to continue shooting and have it pay our bills too,” the show’s creative team says. W.I.N.O. pokes fun at some of life’s serious aspects with its own brand of unsophisticated humor, and as the show’s creators point out, it also provides a positive message: “Don’t ever let people tell you something is impossible. There’s always a way. We also want to allow people to laugh at things that aren’t always P.C., I guess you could say. We feel like the world invests too much in the negative aspects of problems and issues when sometimes, they just need to be laughed at.”
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