Series creators and producers Suzy Evans and Molly McGaughey have announced the debut of the Season 1 of Rom.Dot.Com! The pilot episode is now available on YouTube, and a new episode will debut every Monday at noon. Click below to watch the first episode!
"We're so excited to finally be able to share this series with everyone!" says McGaughey, who directed the series. "It's really been a labor of love, and we could not be more grateful to everyone who contributed their time and talents to making this show a reality!" adds Evans, who also wrote the series. "We can't wait for people to start watching it!"
Inspired by an actual Craigslist ad, Rom.Dot.Com is an "unromantic" comedy web series about an unemployed 20-something journalist living in her kooky and marriage-minded grandmother's basement who succumbs to taking the only writing job she can find: ghostwriting online dating profiles.
"I lived at my grandfather's house upstate New York right after college, and now that I live in the city, I periodically visit him," Evans remembers. "On one visit, his niece was staying him, and she was considering taking a job off Craigslist as an online dating ghostwriter. And I immediately thought, 'If I hadn't found a job after college, would that be me?' And then I thought, 'This has to be a TV show.'"
Evans met Broadway actor Mikaela Feely-Lehmann at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Evans was at the festival as part of her job as the senior editor of Backstage, and Feely-Lehmann was working in the education department. The pair immediately clicked, and the web series was off and running.
Evans and McGaughey met through a mutual friend-and McGaughey's former roommate-and their connection was also immediate. Pre-production began in November 2012, and the series filmed in New York in March and April 2013.
Feely-Lehmann, last seen in Stay at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Cyrano on Broadway, stars as Kate. The series regulars include Kay Copeland (Blue Bloods, Breath In) as Kate's OCD suburban mom best friend Elizabeth, Keith Rubin (Upright Citizen's Brigade, The P.I.T.) as Kate's neurotic-yet-charming boss Lester, Elaine Barrow (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Broadway) as Kate's crazy grandmother, Nick Ryan (The Shallot, Manhattan Repertory Theatre) as Kate's douchebag of an ex-boyfriend Jared, and Megan Lynch (Upright Citizen's Brigade) as Kate's grad school archnemesis and Manhattan socialite Avery.
Thanks to 84 donors on Indiegogo, Rom.Dot.Com raised $4,845 in February 2013 and donated $485 to Make-a-Wish Foundation. Rom.Dot.Com hosted its official premiere party on October 12, 2013 at The Delancey in Manhattan.
"The show truly captures what it means to be a 20-something from a fresh perspective and captures the ripe comic territory of online dating," says McGaughey. "We can't wait to hear what people think!"
Trailer and opening credits feature "Every Day" by Magic Man from the band's You Are Here EP, available on iTunes. For more information, visit www.RomDotComSeries.com, and follow Rom.Dot.Com on Facebook and Twitter!Videos