Tucky Williams (left) is taking her new webseries, Girl/Girl Scene (G/GS), where no lesbian webseries has gone before. Ambitious in scope, bold in style, and distinctly proud of its angst, G/GS hopes to deliver the proverbial dodo bird of lesbian drama – the quality to match the making out.
It’s one thing to get your webseries made with no budget; it’s another to get people to watch it. G/GS debuted just under two weeks ago, and has already garnered thousands of views and a flurry of discussion. Tucky, who is not only the writer and creator, but also plays the lead, has an idea or two about what lesbians want to watch.
She took the time to answer our questions and talk James Dean, The L Word, and why we love a badass.
Cherry Grrl (CG): The pilot episode is unique in that it is 38:07, while most webseries clock in under 10 minutes. Will you continue the episodes at this length, or is that pilot-only? What made you decide to go for this length?
Tucky Williams (TW): I wasn’t thinking in terms of a webseries; I was thinking of what I as a viewer would want to watch. I was inspired by half-hour dramedies like Nurse Jackie. My screenplay for episode one clocked-in at about 35 minutes. I figured the director would cut some stuff out, but he kept everything in. He added even more visual and musical elements, so we ended up at 38 minutes. We’re going to keep the shows that length. I’ll keep turning in 30-minute screenplays, and the finished product will probably end up closer to 40 minutes.
CG: We hear a lot about the challenges of creating a sustainable series for the web – with promotion, financing, etc. – how have you tackled some of these challenges with G/GS? How many seasons do you have in mind for it?
TW: Our budget is literally $0. This was a labor of love, not just for me, but for the cast and crew as well. Right now we’re just trying to get through season one. Most shows like this seem to run for five seasons. I like that. It’s good to quit while you’re ahead.
CG: Along with those challenges, the web provides incredible creative freedom. What is your favorite thing so far about creating for the web?
TW: That I don’t have to censor myself creatively. I’m not just talking about profanity and sexuality – I love that I can write morally ambiguous characters who don’t ever seem to learn their lesson or get what’s coming to them. It’s like real life.
CG: The tagline for GGS is, “To Hell with the L” – one of my favorite things about the series. Can you explain what exactly is meant that?
TW: I feel bad about that. I loved The L Word and I respect what they did. But it seemed like they didn’t want to give the viewers what they wanted to see. Some of the supporting characters were way more interesting than the main characters, and they did nothing to capitalize on that. (continued on next page)
