Feature: GERTY AND FRIENDS, The Real Misfits of Texas

God I love reality television. I don't know if it's the over the top antics you come to expect from the genre or the oxymoron that comes with the term "reality television," but I'm addicted. However, like reality, reality television can be boring and downright disappointing. To combat this reality television slump I've been feeling, I've recently discovered an upcoming web series called Gerty and Friends, which combines both my obsession for reality television and southern antics.

Created by, co-written, and starring Atlanta based performers Randi Garza and Ashley Prince, this quirky web series follows the misadventures of Gerty Gertrude Byrd working at a news station in Texas, where she hosts a morning news segment called "Gerty and Friends." Unexpectedly, she gets fired for smoking a cigarette on the air, and the video goes viral on YouTube! Shortly after, a reality show producer sees it and flies down with his assistant to pitch Gerty her own show. Little do they know, Gerty has a shut-in older sister, William Bradford Byrd, who hasn't left the house since the day Michael Jackson died.

Something that separates Gerty and Friends from most internet series is locale. Filming in Atlanta, Randi and Ashley have made it their mission to showcase the talent and hard work of their fellow Atlanta-based artists. "We're using local everything." Ashley explains, "We even have local chickens in this thing (that are not harmed or eaten)! Atlanta is small-ish, but we are fortunate to have an abundance of talent and help within this community that we love, so using local cast and crew was a no-brainer."

Sharing her co-star's love for Atlanta, Randi expresses, "We want to create opportunities for newcomers and to explore the talent of actors we feel hadn't been showcased. The theatre and film scene here is rapidly growing, but it will only continue if everyone starts creating art instead of expecting opportunity."

Currently in pre-production, Gerty and Friends will also be using the popular crowdfunding website, Indiegogo, to help finance the web series. "Indiegogo is great because we get to keep whatever we get. We've raised over 4,000 in a month and still have some time to go." Ashley shares, "Randi and I are doing the project for free but also putting our own money into it. The money raised goes to props, crew, set dressings, location rentals, equipment, and craft services. Everyone on set is a working professional, and being reimbursed for your work is very very important to us."

Continuing the love, Randi and Ashley promise Gerty and Friends will be more than the crazy antics and catchphrases audiences might expect from shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians or The Real Housewives of (pick any city), but instead will have a great deal of heart we sometimes feel is missing from reality television. As Randi explains, "On the surface it's about a woman with an over-the-top, love-me-or-leave-me attitude which makes for great television but is toxic to the people she comes in contact with every day. It's also about hearing a person's story before you make fun of them and write them off as helpless idiots."

Gerty and Friends will debut this summer on an internet near you. Swing by Gerty and Friends main website www.gertyandfriends.com where you can find out more about the show and get the latest updates on Gerty's rise to fame. And don't forget to check out and donate to Gerty and Friends' Indiegogo campaign by clicking here. All donors will receive a personal invite to a wrap party with the Gerty and Friends cast/crew for a live screening of their first full episode. If you want to be one of the first to see it, donate today!

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