Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie: Chapter 6 – Things Fall Apart

by Leesa Dean

Ok. Before I continue with the Rollo saga I’m gonna kick this off with first, saying R.I.P. to brilliant writer Chinua Achebe who just passed away and second, a few random unrelated observations from the trenches:

1) The word “genius” is bandied about at an alarming rate.
2) I’ve yet to meet anybody who’s an actual genius since I’ve started. Smart, yes. Genius, no.
3) Doing a web series is similar to having a serious disease in that when it jumps off, you find out pretty quickly who your real friends are. And the results, at least for me, have been surprising. And sometimes depressing.
4) When someone says they want to “build” with you, it’s usually a codeword for, “you’re never ever getting paid.”

So Rollo, that’s what you came for, right?

He calls, I agree to meet him the next day (and, btw, when I say “agree” what I really mean is: I couldn’t WAIT to hear why he was MIA.)

I meet him directly after yet another awesome YouTube meeting. Got to hang with Kai Alexandre from Potty Mouth TV (who’s putting together an absolutely incredible project) and Nick Uhas the rollerblading phenom (yes, we’re doing a collab and yes, I am GEEKED about it.) Jake from uber-successful/dope channel vsauce3 gave really great tips and let’s just say I have a lot of housecleaning to do including changing the way a lot of the thumbnails look. YouTube just changed it’s channel format. At first, I was skeptical about it, but after this meeting I’m not only sold, I can’t wait to change over (a lot of prep work for me cause it means doing a lot more animation.) One of the great things about the new format is everything looks the same on mobile. It’s gonna be dope.

Rollo’s waiting for me when I arrive at “our” coffeehouse. I settle in. Look at him. Something’s definitely up. He’s unpressed. Not exactly deflated, but I can tell his ego’s been taken down a notch or two.

There are problems with his other project. One of the TWO MAJOR ATTACHED CELEBS(!!) has bailed and it might now be in jeopardy. I’m thinking, Ok, I thought this project was a done deal. It turns out the celeb who bailed was how he got in in the first place. He’s holding on by his fingernails and, I’m guessing, scrambling to stay in the mix.

My mind goes wild. How is this dude paying the rent? Is he some low-rent, over-the-hill hipster male escort with a crazy ad on Craigslist? Card shark? Probably more like bowling shark, if that even exists. Sadly, he’s probably a telemarketer and mainly living off his girlfriend.

He stresses he’s still committed to helping me with Chilltown and says he can definitely make things happen. So in my brain, he’s now hard-shifted to “back burner” status. But he’s still got a couple of surprises up his sleeve…

Author: ChilltownTV

I'm primarily a writer. Sold a few series to tv networks and production companies but never had anything get on the air. So I taught myself how to animate and completed 3 digital series, launching two. The first, Chilltown has been named one of "Five Web Series That Should Be on Your Radar" by ABCNews/Univision and a "Show to Watch" by Tubefilter. The second, Lele's Ratchet Advice Show, garnered a fanatic cult following. As a result, I now do Lele's 60 Second Wrap Up, a weekly comedic entertainment report (which I write & perform) that airs on urban radio stations Rhythm 105.9fm and the Just Wake Up Morning Show on WWRNfm. View all posts by ChilltownTV