So I got this press release from New Form a couple of days ago and I didn’t think much about it at first. I tend to get things from companies on a fairly regular basis and sometimes it’s hard to decide which releases are relevant and which aren’t. I was going to pass this one over but after taking a closer look, I realized there might be some (myself included) who are actually interested in what this particular announcement was all about, so I decided to share. Because I’m cool like that. *snickers*
For those of you unfamiliar with New Form, they are an entertainment studio who’s set out to redefine how stories are developed, packaged and distributed. Just this morning they announced the release of seven all-new premium, original pilots from its most recent Incubator Series, Incubator “Gold Mine.”
Named by this newest class of participating creators, “Gold Mine” will continue New Form’s history of merging traditional expertise with digital-savvy concepts and new creators though a series of projects by and starring television talent. This round includes Is or Isn’t Entertainment’s Lisa Kudrow (“Friends,” “The Comeback”) and Dan Bucatinsky (“Scandal, “24: Legacy”), Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Gossip Girl”), Lucas Neff (“Raising Hope”) and writer/producer Megan Amram (“Silicon Valley,” “Parks and Recreation”).
While seeing such familiar names may be what draws most people in, it’s the fact that each of the seven pilots has either been created by or features women in lead roles, that initially piqued my interest in this new series of pilots. Beyond the integral role women have played in bringing this series to life, the story-lines themselves tackle several social issues which is something which I always appreciate.
Kathleen Grace, CEO at New Form, sees this diversity in programming as a good thing. “People in the marketplace are often surprised by the kinds of pilots that we greenlight; the odd, the risky, the black sheep. But we do this because we have the audaciousness to believe in people and different kinds of stories, that’s what Incubator is all about. We regularly engage with creators who represent all perspectives and could not be more thrilled to share this with our audiences.”
With seven new pilots launching at once, it’s kind of hard to decide where to start first. That’s why I’ve included them all for you, as well as a quick synopsis. Of course, with all of this sounding very un-Hallyu-ish, you might be wondering why the heck I’m spending so much time talking about all of this. Well… Keep scrolling and you’ll find out!
MOURNERS INC.
Created by: Cristina Gomez & Luke Eve
Starring: Melissa Fumero and Eric Ochoa
Former child-star, Monica, is now broke and barely clinging to her sobriety when the father, who abandoned her fifteen years ago, dies and leaves her the Latino family business. She inherits Mourners Inc, a company that supplies à la carte mourners for wakes and funerals (think escorts, but more death). But, there’s a catch– to take ownership of the biz, Monica must deliver a shiny, loving eulogy at her father’s funeral, a man she barely knew.
CAMPUS CATWALK
Created by: Louise Rozett
Executive Producers: Is Or Isn’t Entertainment (Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky)
Starring: Nisalda Gonzales and Alexa Losey
Tally Lopez is a blue-state girl who just doesn’t fit in at her red-state college. When this undocumented Valor College freshman is bullied online after wearing a traditional Mexican dress to a political rally, she starts an Instagram feed to champion self-expression through fashion. Her mission? To celebrate the personal style of everyone—friend and foe—on campus.
KATE OF THE DAMNED
Created by: Nerdist’s Andrew Bowser, Ben Mekler, & Jason Nguyen
Starring: Megan Amram, Jim O’Heir, Shannon Woodward and Lucas Neff
When 30-year old burnout Kate is bitten on the neck by a mysterious figure, she wakes up to find that she is now a vampire. Even worse, she is now Queen of the Vampires. This new title apparently comes with an entourage of minions who expect Kate to reign over them– not to mention end a centuries old war between her kind and the werewolves. The only problem, Kate could not give less of a shit.
ANTI-SOCIAL
Created by: Manon Mathews and Jason Zumwalt
Starring: Manon Mathews
Brielle, a model famous for her Instagram, good looks and sexy snaps, loses her famous boyfriend and most of her followers when the world discovers she’s a high school dropout. To get back the guy (and the fame), she re-enters as a freshman at Chandler High. When she is finally forced to put down her phone, she just might learn that it’s not how the world looks at her that’s important, but how she looks at the world.
BOY TOYS
Created by: Sunny Tripathy
Starring: Cody Ko
A group of attractive, charming millennial guys attempt to woo wealthy women in the hopes of changing their own misfortune. Their leader (and perpetual man-boy) Kyle, is always looking for shortcuts in life and he must stay competitive in order to win the affection (and lifestyle) of LA’s most prominent women. But the game of playing people, comes at a price. And for Kyle, that includes losing the love of his life.
GOOD FACE
Created by: Lina Suh and Helen Krieger
Clara, a young Korean-American doctor’s assistant with dreams of being an artist, has a secret that would shame her strict, traditional parents: she has a white boyfriend…and she’s living with him. When one fateful night brings the different pieces of her life into conflict, she must confront her unsettled identity to have any hope of reconciling herself and her two lives.
@THEREALASSISTANT
Created by: New Form
Starring: Madeleine Byrne
This vertically shot, frantic buddy-comedy follows Christiana, an ambitious yet naive young woman who scores an assistant job to a high profile, wrecking-ball of a social media star: SMASHLEY. Week in and week out she finds herself thrown into a proverbial wood chipper–one insane request after another.
Did you find the one that particularly caught my attention??
Yup! It’s Lina Suh and Helen Krieger’s Good Face.
And why did it catch my attention???
Probably because I fell in love before the pilot even finished playing. Not only does the story-line feel like something inspired by a K-drama but Sean Dulake is in it and OH MY CHEESE! (Yeah… I’m still not over meeting him in LA last year so I might be having a bit of a fangirl moment…) Of course now that I’ve seen this first clip I’m very much wanting to watch the rest. And that’s exactly why I’m sharing all of this. Because sometimes you find something that has the potential to be great and you just can’t keep it to yourself!
