CULTURE INTERVIEW:
IN REAL LIFE
The online and offline world collide in Bobby Del Rio’s twelve episode web series, In Real Life.
The self started project showed Del Rio just how quickly a take to social media out of boredom can create an incredibly well done web series with each episode delving into a new story to share a similar message.
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Where did the idea for the show series come from?
B: I had wanted to create a piece of art around the theme of social media for years. I had experienced some very negative events via online platforms, and was eager to dive into how things like that could happen in society…
Where did the inspiration come form for the series?
B: From our cast & writing team. We spent 6 – 12 months improvising stories around the theme of social media with our core cast, then refined them in the writing room with a separate team of talented writers.
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Why do you think the messages and stories in the series are important in today’s world?
B: I think social media defines the current generation – and most/all of contemporary problems. I think social media platforms accelerate/exacerbate all incidents (good and bad) – forcing us to live in an exponentially fast culture. Andy Warhol famously said everybody gets 15 minutes of fame. Today, that’s about 15 seconds.
Were the situations in the series inspired by situations you have experienced yourself? Each one explores a different individual or group of people and the ways the online world affected them, how did these ideas play out in the creation and writing process?
B: The show is an anthology series – so each episode has a different tone/feel. We utilize many different genres, and each episode functions autonomously and as part of a greater narrative.
For the episodes I wrote, the online bullying was based on things I had experienced myself. For Stardom (episode 9, the sexual assault episode), it was based on experiences of personal friends of mine – and incidents from the mainstream media.
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Since we had so many different writers on the show – and all ideas were originally based on several months of improvs & discussion with our ensemble – it can be hard to articulate who exactly is responsible for which particular ideas. We all bounced many ideas off one another – both in person and via a private Facebook group – so in a way, we all wrote everything together.
With that said, in the end, each individual writer on the writing team scripted his/her own scripts – so while all actors and writing team members all inspired/informed each other, ultimately one individual voice was responsible for each and every script.
What is one specific moment or episode that stands out to you during your time working on this project?
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B: It would have to be the random way the entire project started: I was literally bored one day, and posted on Facebook (in the ACTRA YEAA Facebook group) that I was bored and wanted to make a film project. I said I would hire anyone who replied to the thread.
I assumed 5 – 10 people would be interested in making a short film together. Instead, 65 people signed up in 36 hours. At that point, I realized I had to create a much larger project than I had anticipated…
That is how IRL the Series started. Pretty amazing to see how far we’ve come from that random beginning…
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Interview by Maddie Stiles