Monday, June 29, 2015

Full-Time Focus

Friday was my last day at my full-time job, as I decided to pursue Unbreakable Missy & Lori full-time. It was a bold move, but I wanted to seize this opportunity to focus on our LA-based parody of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt while the show is relevant. I also knew that I needed to see how much I could truly achieve with this project, and in order to do so, it would require my time and attention. 

Today was my first day as full-time Producer, Writer, and Lead Actress (Kelly Smith) for Unbreakable Missy & Lori. It was a busy day of organizing, meeting with someone to discuss a potential celebrity collaboration, working on our social media, responding to emails, and editing the script for Episode 2. Missy also uploaded our bloopers video which I'm eager to share below:


I recently felt that I needed some literary inspiration and guidance for this project. I happened to come across Amy Poehler's Yes Please and it has provided exactly the type of insight I was seeking. Here are some interesting thoughts I've had while reading the book:

  1. Seth Meyers says in the book, "Doing comedy for a living is, in a lot of ways, like a pony and a camel trying to escape from the zoo. It's a ridiculous endeavor and has a low probability of success, but most importantly, it is way easier if you're with a friend." I can honestly say that working on this web series with my best friend Missy has made the entire process so much fun and way easier than any other collaborative effort I've had in the past.
  2. The book has actually had me crying, more than laughing. I didn't think this would be the case, given Poehler's comedic background but I appreciated her heartfelt story about an SNL skit she regretted and later apologized for. I then laughed out loud when I read the perfectly-timed "Don't cry, sexy" in the book, advice given to Maya Rudolph during a distressing time at SNL.
  3. I think Amy Poehler may have helped inspire Tina Fey to write the plot for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I realize this may be a stretch, but in the book, Poehler admits to obsessing over true-life crime and at one point was particularly fascinated with the Josef Fritzl story. Also, Poehler had an Upright Citizens Brigade show that centered around them working out of an underground bunker.

I am aware that everything makes me think of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, since so much of my energy is focused on the show and my LA version. Even a brief note about Roseanne Barr in the book had me thinking, pinot noir? (For clarification regarding this reference, click here.)

Friday, June 12, 2015

LA Parody Adventures Have Begun!

My name is Lori and for, the most part, I'll be the one documenting the adventures of Unbreakable Missy & Lori here unless otherwise specified.

Missy and I are two best friends who live in LA, although we are both originally from New Jersey. We were introduced to each other in LA through mutual friends when our friends realized that we had a lot in common  - we're both from Jersey, love country music, work in Silicon Beach, and are part of the LGBTQ community. When we met on June 22, 2014, it was BFFs at first sight!

Our first outing! July 4, 2014

Missy and I were friends for a year before we started to think about the idea of working together, perhaps a YouTube series. The details of the initial collaborative discussion can be found on my personal blog, but suffice it to say that, we eventually settled on the idea of creating a project inspired by the Netflix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

We settled on the idea of an LA-based parody of the show, with me starring as the Kimmy Schmidt character (renamed Kelly Smith) and Missy in the Xanthippe Voorhees role (renamed Xanadu Lauries). On May 24, 2015, our first episode entitled "Episode 1:  Kelly Smith & Xanadu Lauries meet" launched on our Unbreakable Missy & Lori YouTube channel. See the episode below:



Once the episode launched, we were able to begin working on our Indiegogo campaign to raise money for our next five episodes. We are currently 11 days into our campaign with 7% of the needed funds raised. We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed, helped to share the word, and supported us on our YouTube efforts.

Also, we had an exciting week, meeting the cast of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt here in LA. Below are a couple photos, but more can be found on our Instagram account.

(From left to right) Me, star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Ellie Kemper, and Missy

Jane Krakowski and me
We are so excited to see what the future holds for our project - we know that there are many journeys in store for us!