In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature, we take a look at the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera production.
VENICE - THE SERIES
Mimi Torchin announed in Monday's "Soapgeist" column that Crystal Chappell would indeed, as many suspected, be playing the lead role of Gina on the series. Monday also saw the release of a fabulous New York Times article on Chappell/Otalia and VENICE which has since been republished and repackaged on a variety of websites including Gawker, Huffinton Post and Eclipse Magazine.
Producing VENICE is a labor of love as everyone is working without pay for now. Ms. Chappell recruited as cast mates the actors Hillary B. Smith (ONE LIFE TO LIVE), Jordan Clarke and Daniel Cosgrove (both from GUIDING LIGHT), and Elizabeth Keener (THE L WORD). 'I can’t pay you anything,' she said she told them. 'How’s that for an opening line?' (She’ll cover food and transportation, she said.)
Camera equipment was donated by friends. And her partners in the newly formed Open Book Productions — Kim Turrisi, the writer for VENICE, and Hope Royaltey, the series’s director — are also donating their services.
It’s a business model that costs next to nothing — only one Web designer is paid. And now Ms. Chappell has taken the next step: calling on fans to design the logo and music for VENICE through contests. Ms. Chappell’s fan club president, Cathie Wagner, a 54-year-old married kindergarten teacher from Ohio, oversees 15 volunteers for Ms. Chappell’s Facebook page and Web site.