How did you get a web series on TV? What’s Laura Silverman really like to work with? How do you get to be so damn good looking?

I get questions all the time so I’ve decided to answer the best! You can come catch me and some of the Goodnight Burbank cast over at Formspring.me and ask us WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!! Granted, we don’t have to answer you but it doesn’t stop you from asking!

So head over to Formspring where you can find HaydenBlack (Gordon), MiracleLaurie (Elizabeth), AmericaYoung (Holly), CameronBender (Chilton), AdrienneWilk (Paisley Parker) & DiahnnaNB (Genevieve) all waiting to answer your questions!!

It’s the same old story. You dream up an idea for a half hour show, you write all 6 episodes, shoot it in your garage and then the day it premieres on the web, it’s watched by Mark Cuban who makes you an offer the next day.
It’s absolutely crazy – trust me, no one was more knocked off their socks than myself – but the first time I ever set about doing my own half-hour comedy has already landed a TV deal here in the US and Canada? Crazy!!!

It wasn’t without its hurdles. I had a full time temp job that began the very day we started shooting. The budget was ultra-low-shoestring so if we discovered later that there was an audio problem it was too late to do anything. Oh, and you’ll like this; on one shoot, a guest actress decided not to show up but took it one step further and didn’t even bother telling me until I called her asking where she was! When I realized we were a person down, we had 45 minutes to all scramble into action and find an actor to take over the role (the amazing Austin Grehan, Ep4).
While we were editing the first few shows, we got our first bit of good news. Zodiak Rights, the third largest TV production company and distribution agency in the world, saw some early edits and wanted to grab the rights and sell it to TV (I know some people over there because they’d taken an interest in my work a couple of years ago). So that was nice – I mean we hadn’t even debuted on the web yet. But no one could have predicted what happened next. I am not making this up.

We debuted on Hulu on April 25th, 2011 and apparently Mark Cuban was watching. Not sure why. Pure chance, I think. And the man with very expensive taste – and very good taste, (hah!) – decided he wanted the show for his cable/satellite network HDnet. He had his people contact me the very next morning at 9am on April 26th, 2011 asking if they could acquire the series. And that’s kinda how it went down.
I sent him a Facebook friend request with a note saying “Hey, thanks for digging Goodnight Burbank” partially because I couldn’t believe it. But he accepted within minutes and emailed me back asking me how many episodes there were. Surreal, I know.

So never having written a half-hour show before – let alone 6 – and also never having produced a half hour series before, oh, and never having co-starred in a half-hour comedy before – let’s not forget that – I was rather amazed that this little creation blew up within a day. And should you be wondering, I do NOT have an agent NOR do I have a manager. No agents have wanted to rep me (well, that’s not entirely true; I have turned a couple down).

So what next? You can see Season One on HDnet and Hulu. Pretty soon we’ll be offering the option to purchase each episode and an accompanying outtakes package that will be made available to people around the world. Zodiak are hoping to sell the series worldwide to more TV networks so our fingers are crossed. We’re developing an iPad/iPhone/Android app that delivers the best headlines/punchlines fresh every day from our twitter account (@goodniteburbank). I’m trying to work in some time to dream up Season Two. And I’m wondering if I should Facebook Mr. Cuban to see if he wants to do drinks now. Hope he pays.

Mark Cuban was interviewed yesterday on Shira Lazar’s “What’s Trending” and you can hear him talk about GNB and picking it up at 2:28 in!

And here is the announcement in the Hollywood Reporter!

Can you believe we’re at the season’s end? It seems like only 6 weeks ago that..Oh. Wait. It was. We’ve had such a fun ride and had such great feedback from you guys that we want to do it all again. But we need your help to do that – we need you to tweet it, facebook it, share it EVERYWHERE. Plus you can stop by the GNB store to pick up this week’s limited-edition t-shirts (7 days and they’re gone forever). And you can add the twitter account if you haven’t already.
This week, Gordon is finally auditioning for Burbank Confidential but it’s the same night that Larry the dead lighting guy’s family come to pay their last respects. And someone is fired. Actually two people are. That can’t be good. Plus an interview you have to see to believe with John Barrowman as he gives us the REAL dish on Dr. Who and Torchwod. Co-starring Deanna Russo (Gossip Girl).

This week’s brand new episode of Goodnight Burbank might just wind up your favorite. If you like it, please tweet and facebook the living crap out of it – we need your help to be a success and if you’d like to see more episodes, this is what you need to do. You can also check out the Goodnight Burbank store for some limited-edition goodies – they’ll only be there for the week so grab ‘em before they’re gone!

In this episode, the Fire Marshall comes to visit and he threatens to shut the show down if he sees a fire hazard – which is probably gonna happen because young Priscilla has left a “farewell gift” that…Well, you’ll see. Co-starring Jim Rash (Community) and Miracle Laurie May’s real-life husband Chris May shows up as Whitney’s husband!

We’re getting loads of requests about the genius that is John Barrowman; how we got him, what Goodnight Burbank is about, and when will it be available outside the US. So how about a quick blog to answer some of those queries?

First off, let’s briefly describe what the show is about. Goodnight Burbank is a look at the newscasters who bring us the news – only while they’re bringing it. Imagine what your anchors are saying when they’ve thrown to a package and they’re “off-air” – and you’re halfway there – as the show takes place in real time during a fictional half-hour newscast. Sort of like 24 only…well, I guess you could call it 30 and funny. It stars Laura Silverman (the most amazing comic actress ever) who plays a very nasty person but who’s a little broken inside so make of her what you will. It’s also the first ever half-hour comedy made for the web and Hulu are distributing the first 6 episodes. And for everyone outside the US who’ve been asking, it will be made available in other countries and on DVD so keep your hats on – just subscribe to the mailing list on the front page and you’ll be the first to learn when!

Okay, on to the next question. How did we get Mr. B?! Well this was a simple one; all we did was ask his very lovely agent. It was an unusual request to be sure; Would John appear as himself being interviewed by someone with Asperger’s Syndrome and then say outrageous things about Dr. Who and Torchwood? I was over the moon when the word came back; “yes.” Maybe we should define what Asperger’s is, in case you don’t know. From Wikipedia (Asperger Syndrome) : “Asperger’s is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.” And a part of that means the person with Asperger’s is a lot more honest than other people because their ability for social interaction is impaired.

If you’ve ever watched an entertainment news program, you’ll know how crawly-bum-lick entertainment reporters can be – they ask all the “careful” questions and never rock the boat because they want the studio to keep giving them access to the stars. Well Goodnight Burbank’s entertainment reporter, Elizabeth Chivers (played amazingly by the uber-talented Miracle Laurie whom you’ll recognize from Dollhouse), has Asperger’s and as such doesn’t have a filter. And poor John doesn’t know that and mistakes it for honesty and, tired of sycophantic reporters, gets real honest back.

So now he’s said yes to the script, there’s the teensy-tiny problem of how to shoot him. You see, we’re over here in LA and – at the time – John was in London. Next stop Facebook.

Via FB, I reached out to a British director friend in London and asked if he knew anyone who could shoot and direct John from over there. Within minutes I was introduced to the brilliant Henry Dalton who does some of his own very funny videos for the BBC. Within a month or so, Henry and his team met John at a small apartment in West London and boom – just like that it was all done. I’ve asked Henry to put something together about what the shoot itself was like as I was sleeping at the time (With the time difference, it was 2am LA time!). But I do know they shot in a tiny apartment and separately went and shot London Bridge as a background.

We got the footage a week later and I was absolutely blown away with the enthusiasm and passion John brought to the project. We hadn’t even shot any of the actual show yet but I remember walking (I like to walk) and thinking “I can’t believe this. When people see this their mouths will be on the floor!” I felt very special.

We teased John in Ep4 with a very small bit that he completely improvised himself (next loveliest John Barrowman surprise I had; how brilliant he is at comedy and improvisation). But it’s Ep6 that the full interview unfurls – and hearing him talk about Dr. Who and Torchwood in a way you’ve NEVER heard before is going to rock fandom.

We had to edit down the interview by a couple of minutes but once we get a DVD out, we’ll include the full interview AND some fun out-takes! Again, the best way for you to find out where and when you can get all that stuff, sign up to the mailing list and our twitter account, @goodniteburbank

Just leave any other questions below and we’ll answer them here!

Brand new week? Brand new Goodnight Burbank. If you’ve been digging what you’ve seen so far, please help us out by tweeting and facebooking the links – and if you’ve already been doing it, a big thank you, and may we suggest you do it all again! This is the world of do-it-yourself entertainment and we need all the help you can give us!!

You can also check out the GNB store for some limited-edition amazeballs of goodness (they’re only up for 1 week so they’re sure to become collector’s items) and add the twitter for daily jokeries!

In this week’s episode, Whitney is mentoring a young girl she met at Church and brings her to work. Thing is, the kid’s the spawn of Satan and you know it’s not going to end well. Oh, and John Barrowman (Torchwood) shows up.

Episode One “What Goes Up” Outtakes V1

Episode One “What Goes Up” Outtakes V2

We’re not prone to hype (well, not that prone) but we honestly think this is one of the best episodes of the season. If you like it, please help us out by tweeting, facebooking and everything-elsing you can to let the world know about it. We don’t have a budget, you know – just word of mouth – so we really need you!!! Oh, and have you checked out the GNB store yet? We have limited-edition stuff in there that’s up for this week only.
In this episode, an armed woman takes Holly hostage until the Goodnight Burbank team let her read her demands on air. It’s a very tension filled episode co-starring Stacey Scowley who you may recognize from Dollhouse and (maybe her voice only) from Family Guy.

I’m proud to announce our very first Goodnight Burbank competition to win a personalized answering machine message from our very own comedy-superstar Laura Silverman! That’s right – Laura will leave her own voice & personalized message on your voicemail so people calling you will get to a celebrity BEFORE they get to you. She’ll create the message and customize it to YOU and YOU ALONE. Cool, right? Hellz yeah! So what do you have to do to win it?

First off, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET OFF YOUR ASS! Right there you’re already half-way there. Personally, I love a competition where I don’t actually have to move to be a part of it. Secondly, SIMPLY RETWEET a simple message and all who do will instantly be entered into the sweepstakes (is it a sweepstakes? No idea but it sounds very fancy). The MORE you retweet, the MORE your name will be entered!

Huzzah for simplicity!! And here’s the message:

Check out @GoodniteBurbank at http://bit.ly/glshAf and follow them on twitter! Unless you hate laughing. Then do it for the irony.

You can change it up if you want as long as you include the Twitter handle and link. In fact, the better ones that catch our eye will count for two entries!! The competition starts right now and ends Sun May 15th at 12AM PST. So what you waiting for? Get tweeting!!!

PS – And you’d better be following us on Twitter already!