What would you do if all memories of your life vanished completely? How would you react if all the good and bad times you experienced were suddenly erased from your memory? That’s the dilemma that a young woman named Freddie Ames faced in season 1 of the popular web series comedy MISDIRECTED, and the mystery of her predicament continues in season 2. This time, Freddie seeks to find out the answers behind how and why she’s stuck in that mess – and the answers she gets could change her life.
Created, written and directed by Marion Kerr, MISDIRECTED’s 10 episode sophomore season debuted May 7th on its official Youtube page, and stars Lauren Mora as Freddie, whose life was changed instantly after a car accident left her with amnesia and with no memory of the life she lived before. New episodes of MISDIRECTED will air every Monday on its Youtube page, and the series recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign which funded production of its second season.
As season 1 progressed, she desperately tried to make sense of her ‘new’ life with a group of friends who try to help her rediscover who she is. There’s Josh (played by John T. Woods), a bartender who claims to be Freddie’s best friend.
Also helping Freddie as she attempts to rebuild her life are two of her closest friends who knew her before her life changing accident: the talented and often narcissistic indie filmmaker Cameron (Joel Kelley Dauten), and Freddie’s ad agency co-worker, Gerald (Ross Philips). Along with those characters is Melanie (played by Erika Ishii), a shy barista at a local coffee shop who suddenly takes a liking to Freddie, while possessing a real infatuation with Gerald.
Yet, as Freddie found out toward the end of season 1, not everything was as clear cut as it seemed when it came to her ‘friends’, and a key part of her past would soon reemerge when Andy, Freddie’s caring, loving ex-fiancee (played by Hart Turner) arrived on Freddie’s doorstep in the season finale. In season 2, Andy’s role becomes even more prominent as he tries to figure out what’s happened to his former love, and while he’s never trusted Josh, Gerald and Cameron, that mistrust has only increased since Freddie’s accident.
Rounding out the cast is Teddy Goldsmith as Mr. Kennedy, the bumbling junior partner of Freddie’s ad agency (and son of its owner) who tries to make a good impression but always seems to screw up in the end.
All these characters converge to make Freddie’s hectic life even more unpredictable as she tries to rebuild her life – and to figure out who she can really trust.
Kerr based MISDIRECTED on an intriguing, yet simple concept – what would it be like to lose all memories of the life you always knew, and as a result, how would you view your life as a whole? “Like if you had no memory of anyone or anything and you could look at your own life objectively, what would you think? Would you like your friends, your job, your house? What would you really think of things if you didn’t have these memories attached to them? But it was a very vague concept only. No idea if it’d be a short film or feature or what,” she recalls.
That concept would become more clear as time went on, and after Kerr pitched the idea to Mora, who she had worked with on a past feature film she directed, everything began to fall into place.
“And then the idea of your friends not being the best people in the world and lying to you about your life came into my head and the concept became sort of funny, so it seemed like I could explore all these potential story lines based on this concept in some sort of serialized storytelling format. And a web series just seemed like the easiest way. So I wrote the first three or so episodes and gave them to Lauren and luckily, she liked it and the rest is history,” remembers Kerr.
After its first season, MISDIRECTED has already achieved both an incredible online fan following, plus critical acclaim from fans and industry observers, and has won several awards at major web series festivals. It’s praise that has resonated throughout the industry, and has made quite an impact on Mora.
“I started compiling all my favorite quotes that we received from our viewers (you can find the link on our homepage). The positivity is overwhelming. One of the best things people can tell us (and they consistently do), is that our episodes aren’t long enough and that they want more,” she says. In fact, several episodes of season 2 are longer, running up to 7 minutes in some cases.
As is the case with every movie, TV show or web series, the success of those projects depends solely on the fans who view them. No one knows that more than Mora, Kerr and the cast of MISDIRECTED, and it’s the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the show itself that has made quite an impact on them.
“The most bizarre and thrilling (reaction to the series), of course, is when someone you don’t know at all makes an effort to come up to you, or message you and say how much they love the show. They’re no one’s parents or relatives who have that familial obligation to be supportive. They just found the show, enjoy it, and want us to know it. It’s absolutely incredible,” Mora adds.
While the hilarious and mysterious tale of a smart, beautiful young woman who tries desperately to rebuild her life (or some semblance of the one she had before) continues in season 2 of MISDIRECTED, viewers can expect both new characters, new situations, and longer episodes with more laughs and more suspense.
Yet, the show’s distinctive blend of comedy and mystery remains intact, and Kerr sought to create a show that would combine the best of both worlds.
“I’m a big fan of shows that aren’t just one genre. I like comedies that have the ability to make me cry or dramas that can make me laugh. So I wanted to create a show where we could do a bit of everything,” she says.
That unique mix of genres was fully evident as the show’s filming progressed, and it’s on full display in every episode of MISDIRECTED. “Play a scene straight, do some slapstick, have a cliffhanger (or five, in our show’s case), create some fast-talking repartee, then a monologue, etc. And yet try to make it all serve the narrative of the show. I also think having some fun with the web television genre sets us apart. Doing our silly ‘previously on’s which rarely make any sense. Having ridiculous end credits instead of white text on black. Just try to be as creative as possible from start to finish,” Kerr adds.
Thanks to the incredible talents of Mora and the entire ensemble cast of MISDIRECTED, production of season 2 was an even more rewarding process than ever before, but it was also more extensive thanks to the show’s fans wanting to see longer episodes.
“Marion gave me the script for Season Two, which I couldn’t help but notice had double the pages of Season One. People had asked for more, and by god, we were going to give it to them. Our first season, we shot 5 days consecutively. Because we now had 1 additional episode this season, and each of them were slightly longer, we extended our shooting schedule to 7 days for Season Two. But trying to get everyone available for 7 consecutive days was unrealistic, so we split it up over 2 weekends,” Mora recalls.
Despite the longer shooting schedule, the production process did come with some advantages. “We shot Friday – Sunday, then Friday – Monday, and having that break in between ended up being crucial to recharge myself for the next round. I think that could be said of everyone. We shot in a lot of the same places as season one, which brings a certain level of comfort. And, though we introduce a few new locations, it was actually easier to find and secure them this time around,” adds Mora.
Described by Mora as NEW GIRL meets SAMANTHA WHO? season 2 of MISDIRECTED continues to prove that no matter what’s happened in your life or when it happened, there’s no time like the present and no greater time to change your life for the better. It’s a lesson that Freddie tries to learn throughout the series, as she tries to begin a new life while trying to recapture a little of her old one.
Says Kerr: “I think Freddie found she got a sort of second chance with her life to become someone she truly wants to be and do things she truly wants to do regardless of where she was headed. I think it’s about trying to look at your life in the present rather than being anxious about the future or nostalgic about your past. And it’s never too late to change things and alter course, if that’s what you truly want. I think all the characters discover that to various degrees in the second season, especially.” Adds Mora: “And don’t depend on others to tell you who you are, or what you want, kids. Decide for yourself!”
(Note: The show is currently closed captioned.)
ON THE WEB: www.misdirectedshow.com
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/MisdirectedShow
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Misdirected.Show
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ShowMisdirected
TUMBLR: http://misdirectedshow.tumblr.com/
PINTEREST: http://pinterest.com/misdirectedshow/
The first episode of season 2 of MISDIRECTED can be viewed here: