UCLA alumni duo pursue development of comedy web series ‘Losing It’
In the web series ‘Losing It,’ written by Vika Stubblebine and Samantha Cardona, the protagonist Jillian struggles with the importance of becoming an adult, and what that might imply.
By Andrew Bain
July 22, 2013 12:00 a.m.
Perhaps more than any other industry, the world of film and television relies heavily on personal connections, so the idea that a group of graduating UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television students would be their own best connection could seem counterintuitive.
But it seems perfectly natural for Vika Stubblebine and Samantha Cardona.
Stubblebine, a UCLA alumna, took an introductory playwriting class last year in which she was assigned to write a 10-minute one-act play. After writing a Quentin Tarantino-esque drama, Stubblebine said she decided she wanted to try her hand at comedy.
This led to “Losing It,” a play about a girl trying to lose her virginity, as opposed to movies such as “American Pie,” in which the quest for sex is portrayed as a males-only pursuit. But Stubblebine said she didn’t want “Losing It” to be simply a bro-comedy from a female perspective.
Jillian, the show’s protagonist, is dealing with a lot of issues and attaches a lot of importance to losing her virginity, Stubblebine said.
“(She thinks) that means she’s going to be able to be a real adult and be able to handle the world and be able to take on everything she’s ever wanted to,” Stubblebine said. “And somehow this will all happen if she just manages to lose it.”
After receiving positive feedback from her playwriting class, Stubblebine said she continued writing, which eventually led to her writing partnership with Cardona, another UCLA alumna and friend of Stubblebine. Together, the duo pursued expanding “Losing It” into a web series.
“We had always talked about writing a web series together,” Cardona said. “Just so we and our friends could have something for our reels to show potential agents and casting directors once we graduated from school.”
Coming up with and writing a miniseries is one thing. Gathering the funds and necessary permits and materials to shoot the entirety of such a series, however, is another thing altogether.
Stubblebine said she financed the first episode herself, but realized that she wouldn’t be able to finance the rest of the season alone.
“I’m a college student, I’m broke. I didn’t have any money left. So I realized that, as much as this is a low-budget project, if you’re starting from zero, you still need to fundraise.”
After discussing fundraising ideaswith her mother, Stubblebine and the crew of “Losing It” arrived at the idea of creating an Indiegogo for the web series, both to spread word about the series and attract fundraisers for the project. Indiegogo, like other platforms such as Kickstarter, gives people the chance to crowdsource funding for their project by creating a profile page and encouraging web surfers and acquaintances to donate toward a set fundraising goal.
Tyler McClain, a UCLA alumnus and recent graduate of UCLA’s playwriting program, taught the class in which Stubblebine first wrote “Losing It,” and advocated its use for independent projects like Stubblebine’s.
“Indiegogo and crowdsourcing are supremely useful. … It’s just an easy way to (avoid asking) a financier to help pay for something. And then, at the end of it, if you have a good product, that becomes a really good sample to get you real work,” McClain said.
McClain also said that the classmate collaboration approach of “Losing It” is a novel approach in the individually driven world of film and television.
“It’s really cool to, at the very least, try and elevate your classmates with you,” he said. “Everyone is scrambling to make a name for themselves, and the only way to do that is to have the support of, at least, your peers.”
“Losing It” and its Indiegogo page have until the end of July to meet their fundraising goal of $20,000. As of press time, they have raised more than $3,000.
Stubblebine and her friends are taking a leap into the world of film and television. And, regardless of the result, Stubblebine said it’s been an amazing experience.
“You just have to just keep trusting your instincts and go for it, because if you don’t go for it and you sit around, you’ll never know what could have happened.”
