Over the past few years, Facebook has become the world’s leading social network, with over a million users accessing the network every single day. As a result, more and more people are now connected with each other, and together they share the most important moments of their everyday lives.

However, it’s become more and more apparent that for some people, just how much of a meaningful life they do have has become completely defined by what’s posted on their Facebook page, or “wall”. The seemingly heightened emphasis on an active social life as defined by social networking sites such as Facebook has caused considerable problems for many whose offline, real world experiences (or lack of them) aren’t as exciting as their online friends, including those they consider to be friends in real life.

Now, a new comedy series seeks to explore those problems, and how they impact the lives of a group of young adults whose lives are dominated by social media – regardless of their seemingly unexciting social status. Co-created and co-starring Lena Buda and Dorrie Lipman, the pilot episode of the new comedy web series F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG debuted August 26th on its official website, Vimeo and Youtube pages. The pilot episode video is embedded at the end of this article.

The series is produced by Cameron Moir, Cynthia Bain, and David Vendette (through his production company Vendertainment). In addition, an IndieGoGo campaign for season 1 is now underway.

Buda and Lipman hope to produce 8 episodes for the show’s first season, with the goal of raising $20,000 via the IndieGoGo funding drive by its deadline of November 15th.

Along with the pilot episode, F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG’s Facebook and Twitter pages will also feature short pitch sketches, produced by and starring Buda and Lipman, as another way of gaining attention towards the show’s IndieGoGo campaign.

The series (named after the iconic founder of Facebook) pokes fun at the often topsy turvy world of social media, and just how much of an impact it makes on the lives of those who use it, as seen through the eyes of four young adult friends whose virtual and actual life statuses are highly questionable.

Among them is Grace Duggard (played by Buda), is 23 years old, jobless and meandering through life while watching her all time favorite TV series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. On the other side of the spectrum is 22 year old Sparrow Lapinsky (played by Lipman). While born into wealth and privilege, she continually struggles in social situations but somehow manages to make up for those shortcomings with smarts and a vivid imagination.

The ensemble cast also features Max Wilbur as the handsome and successful Liam Denim, a man whose debonair appearance and accomplishments belie a more gentle, soft spoken personality, and Meghann Kurth as Grace’s best friend Charlie Manning. At 22 years of age, Charlie loves boys and all of life itself, but is sometimes held back by her otherwise insecure manner.

For Buda and Lipman, the idea for F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG came about, interestingly enough, while both co-stars/co-creators were checking their own personal pages on the popular social network.

As they explain, while both originally believed that fans of the popular Joss Whedon series, as well as “potheads” would gravitate towards the series, it turned out that the positive reaction and audience that their show received was a pleasant surprise.

“When we started writing this show, we thought this would mostly connect with people in their 20’s. After the pilot aired, we started getting feedback from all different age groups. I think that’s what sets our show apart, it resonates with a variety of people,” they say.

While both cite their strong desire to create opportunities for themselves in the always up and down world of acting as the main inspiration for the show’s creation, both would soon find that as first time web series creators, the dream of bringing their own independently produced comedy to the screen did not come without difficulties.

Even though Buda and Lipman knew where to look for the best actors to play the roles of Liam and Charlie (the acting class they all attended), another part of the audition process would end up becoming a debacle.

“We did have a scene that didn’t make our pilot. It was a WEST SIDE STORY sequence that Grace imagines as she is getting high and watching TV. Casting those 5 actors was really tough. When we eventually casted our 5 dancers/singers, 3 dropped last minute, and we scrambled to find 3 more. I can honestly say that the casting process was our least favorite part of production. While waiting for actors to come unprepared or not show up at all, we spent several hours in the casting room photoshopping cats onto pictures of us and our friends.”

Perhaps the most physically exhausting part of the pilot episode shoot came during filming of one of its key scenes.

“We shot the party scene outside in December. Most of our cast was born and raised in Los Angeles, and not too familiar with ‘cold’ weather. For us, 40 degrees was inhumane working circumstances. Throats were sore, people were shaking and shivering, and someone might have gotten frostbite, but seriously, it was really cold.”

Nevertheless, the tough task of filming the episode was an important learning experience for cast and crew alike. “One thing about filming that you always hear about is that it truly should be a collaboration. Going into this, we had no idea what that meant. We figured that each person had their own role, and when it came to shooting, each person would do the task they were there to do,” the show’s creators say.

“What we learned was that everyone does everything, and during those few days of filming, you feel incredibly connected to everyone. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there were no separate trailers, everyone sh*ts in the same place, and at 6 am you see the same face you just said good night to 4 hours ago. It was an amazing experience,” they add.

Both creators say the biggest part of F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG’s production was the contributions of its producer/editor David Vendette. Buda and Lipman credit him especially for giving them the opportunity to get the show from initial concept to its final completed pilot episode, and beyond. “He was very instrumental in our pilot being made and we couldn’t have done it without his amazing talent and support,” Buda and Lipman say.

Although Buda and Lipman are just getting started as filmmakers, their overall creative inspirations are many.

“I never really considered myself a filmmaker until I filmed this pilot, but growing up, I was addicted to shows with strong female leads. I was obsessed with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and later, anything Joss Whedon. While I’m still inspired by strong female leads, I enjoy watching characters where you can see their faults,” Buda says.

For Lipman, the chance to create a comedy that stood apart from most of the other fare on TV or the web provided her with the impetus to develop F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG with Buda. In addition, the fact that both enjoyed different kinds of TV shows was also a factor as they began working on putting the show together.

“I don’t know what inspires me as a filmmaker, but what I do know is that I wanted to try something new. I wanted to write something that I could relate to that I haven’t seen before. Some comedic shows that inspired me were SUMMER HEIGHTS HIGH and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Lena and I have such different tastes in shows, (and) I think that part of our dynamic has inspired me to continue to want to film more episodes.”

Overall, F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG is a comedy that will not only make viewers laugh out loud, but also bring viewers a story of four friends just trying to make it in a world where one’s social standing is frequently measured by who you are, what you do, and, for better or worse, by how many Facebook friends you do or don’t have.

While Buda and Lipman hope that the show succeeds financially and in viewership, the laughs they seek in each episode may well be the biggest “likes” they can achieve. “I feel like if we can make you laugh or you can relate to our characters in any way, we’ve accomplished our goal. F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG is a show inspired by the love of BUFFY; battling life after college, while under the influence of marijuana.”

(Note: Buda and Lipman say that the show is not currently closed-captioned, but they plan to utilize captioning in the future.)

To contribute to the show’s IndieGoGo campaign, visit:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fuck-you-mark-zuckerberg-the-series

ON THE WEB: http://www.fuckyoumarkzuckerberg.com/

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L03Jnh3JF78

VIMEO: https://vimeo.com/106348774

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fuck-You-Mark-Zuckerberg/235124229988872

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/FUZuckerberg

To view the pilot episode of F*CK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG, watch the embedded video below: