‘Is That Yours?’ Web series illustrates wealth of film talent on the Seacoast

A few years ago, Web TV existed on a miniscule level. Now, as rolling snowballs will, it’s gathering speed and picking up mass. It began with small bits shown by the average Joe on YouTube, then pieces like Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” and shows like Felicia Day’s “The Guild.” The great news is—this ain’t just for Hollywood folk anymore. If you’ve got a good script, a camera, and some actors, you can actually have your own show. (Well, as long as you’re willing to work your butt off for months on end with equally talented friends by your side.)

Enter writer/film producer Anne Continelli, who’s worked extensively in this area. She’s done shows at The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth (“Gender Bender”) and taken plays by other artists from The Ring and produced them at the Boston Center for the Arts (“Just Say Love,” “Dear Daddy, Love, Cassie”). She’s also had readings of her plays staged at the Mill Pond Center for the Arts in Durham (“Absent Meaning,” “The Last Little Porn Shop in Manhattan”).

The entertainment company Continelli runs with business partner Deb Malone, Twenty American Dollars, made a sharp turn into film last year and is currently in the process of what promises to be a successful Web series, “Is That Yours?” Based on a short film that won an Audience Choice Award recently at Boston’s 48 Hour Film Project; the show has been compared to “Absolutely Fabulous” (in that it’s about 40-something drunken women landing in trouble) and “Seinfeld” (in that it’s about snippets of life, not major events).

“There were a lot of great films showing that weekend. By no means did I think we’d be a shoe-in,” Continelli said. Still, she admits, “During the screening it was nonstop laughter. Based on that kind of reaction, there was no question we would stop there.”

Continelli decided to take matters into her own hands, rather than shopping a script around Hollywood. “It was a huge challenge, deciding to produce it ourselves,” she said. Continelli and Malone were extremely versed in theater but had only one other film under their belts—“Absent Meaning,” a dark comedy that made the competition rounds last year. “Learning how things are done to sell a Web series is the most challenging thing, because there isn’t a set formula yet. Previously, you would write a pilot, shoot it, then shop it around. But now, in the age of Web TV, you can create a whole show, develop a fan base, and generate a buzz that will take you much further than just approaching the TV execs with a pilot,” she said. Thinking about it more, Continelli muses, “But it’s too new for there to be ‘one’ way of doing things, which I kind of like, to be honest.”

Using local actresses to flesh out the series (the Seacoast’s Nancy Pearson, and Boston area’s Katie Graycar), Continelli and Malone carry the leading roles themselves while also writing and producing. Pearson’s character, Nancy, is an aloof bombshell who loves money and is accustomed to having lots of it. Continelli’s character, Anne, is fixated on the details of life—so much so that she often misses huge events happening right in front of her (for example, the pilot episode shows her effusing the benefits of the South Beach diet and her newly found cheekbones to an officer who is at her home to investigate a homicide). Malone’s character, Deb, is the drunk of the group—although they all partake quite heavily—and is always causing a ruckus. Graycar’s character, Carlotta (the only actress not using her actual first name), shows up mysteriously and appears to be Nancy’s former lesbian fling back to rekindle the affair.

“It was so hard to write it (the second episode), because we were restricted. We had to tie up ends versus having the creative freedom to just come up with new situations,” Continelli said.

The team is relying on a cast and crew that work for free but have strong faith in the project. “We plan on attending NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) in January,” Continelli reveals. She recently decided which episode to send and determined how to cut it down to the competition’s regulation five minutes.

“NAPTE’s an expo/conference for television executives and people trying to sell a show. You rent a booth and show your show, and the execs roam around sampling the shows,” she explained. The minimum booth rental is $4,200—that’s for a 10-foot by 10-foot booth with one outlet. So, there’s funding to be sought, plus airfare, lodging, etc. “But we realize we have to do it,” Continelli said emphatically, “because we have to get this show seen by the people who decide to buy shows.”

It’s people like Continelli and Malone (and their loyal cast and crew) who prove that it’s not just the wealthy who make it—it’s the talented and determined, as well. In this area alone, filmmaker Todd Hunter of Rolling Die Productions has produced “Summer Blink,” and Laurelin Films, of Portsmouth, has produced the film version of “Sharp Dressed Men,” which won Best Feature at the Slightly North of Boston (SNOB) Film Festival in 2006. Let’s not forget “The Norman Rockwell Code,” by Alfred Catalfo, which was so popular that it screened at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Just a few years back, it seemed like the Seacoast was a place to shop a play you’d been working on. But thanks to the Internet, we’re no longer restricted to a small roomful of viewers. With a growing array of entertainment sources (DVD, NetFlix, online IMDB viewing), the times, they are a-changing.

Episodes of “Is That Yours?” can be viewed at www.isthatyours.com.