Writer-producer Marta Kauffman could rest on her “Friends” laurels. Instead, she’s delving into the online series world to explore offbeat material and a new role.
Kauffman turned official first-time director for “Georgia,” a short Web series about a warmhearted yoga instructor-therapist who needs to heal herself when it comes to romance and family.
“Georgia,” with Mary Elizabeth Ellis (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) as the title character and Harold Perrineau (“Lost,” ”Sons of Anarchy”) as her fiance, is on the WIGS YouTube channel. Each of the three episodes runs between five to eight minutes.
“It was so much fun,” Kauffman said of the series, which she wrote and directed. “It was a little bit like guerrilla television. We shot seven pages (of script) a day, and that’s a lot.”
WIGS, which launched last March, is the brainchild of two high-profile filmmakers, Jon Avnet (“Black Swan,” ”Fried Green Tomatoes”) and Rodrigo Garcia (“Albert Nobbs,” TV’s “In Treatment”), who are turning the spotlight on women.
The lineup on WIGS (an acronym for the tag line “Where it gets interesting”) includes original series, short films and documentaries. All feature lead female characters and stories that the channel promises will be provocative and “addictive.”
Avnet and Garcia “want to do grittier, edgier stories about women than you normally see,” both dramatic and comedic, Kauffman said.
“This was an opportunity to tell stories about many different women,” she said of their channel. “Younger, older, whatever the writer wanted to bring to it.”
In her case, Kauffman said, it also allowed her to assume a director’s full arsenal.
“I’m not going to say this was a lifelong dream. But in the process of reinventing myself after ‘Friends,’ I did a version of directing without the camera stuff for many, many years,” she said. “So I was really thrilled to get a chance to do it for real.”
Kauffman and David Crane created “Friends,” the NBC hit that aired from 1994 to 2004.
Others actresses featured on WIGS include Jennifer Garner, Jena Malone, Virginia Madsen, America Ferrera and Julia Stiles. Besides Perrineau, actors who are appearing include Alfred Molina and Stephen Moyer.
New episodes debut Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the channel.
FireAid Concert Features Major Music Stars, Shares Stories Of Loss To Raise Money For L.A. Wildfire Relief
Pop stars, first responders, rock stars and those who've lost everything in the devastating LA-area wildfires came together for FireAid, a massive benefit concert Thursday that combined spectacular performances with moving storytelling from survivors and reminders of the destruction.
In a night full of surprises, a reunion of Nirvana — fronted by St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Joan Jett in the place of the late Kurt Cobain — tops the list. They launched into "Breed," "School" and "Territorial Pissings" respectively, inspired and unexpected choices.
Drummer Dave Grohl's daughter, Violet, then emerged on stage for "All Apologies."
Closer Lady Gaga, after powering through the Oscar-award winning "Shallow" and "Always Remember Us This Way" from "A Star Is Born," played a new song on the piano. "It's just for tonight, it's just for you," she said of the song she wrote with fiancé businessman Michael Polansky. "Time is a healer."
"All I need is time," she sang in the folk-y pop chorus. "To heal my broken wings and then I'll soar."
Green Day kicked off the massive show by launching into "Last Night on Earth" at the Kia Forum and were soon joined by Billie Eilish for the first surprise of the night. The lyrics are surprisingly astute: "If I lose everything in the fire / I'm sending all my love to you."
After their set, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong hugged actor Billy Crystal, who was there to welcome to the crowd at the Kia Forum.
"Our goal is simple tonight, to spend more money than the Dodgers spent on free agents," he joked. He told the audience U2 offered the first big donation of the night: $1 million dollars.
Crystal said he was wearing the clothes he had on when he evacuated. He lost his home in... Read More