CULTURE INTERVIEW:
MY ROOMMATE'S AN ESCORT
May 3 2017
Katie Uhlmann and Trish Rainone are the minds behind My Roommate’s an Escort. Using inspirations from their lives, the two have created a story of their own and are sharing it with the world online.
Both born in Canada and currently living and working in Toronto, Katie and Trish are the stars and creators of My Roommates An Escort. From writing to directing and all that happens in between, this powerhouse has delivered a hilarious web series.
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Uhlmann and Rainone have both worked in film and shared a strong desire to create content made by and about women. After meeting, the two started writing almost immediately.
Quickly, their web series was on its way to becoming a reality. Raising over $23,000 for the project on their own, the two had the ball rolling before the help of a production and crew joined the team.
With the help of business sponsors, fans, and friends alike, My Roommates an Escort was able to take off.
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We spoke with them about the idea for their show, the creation process and what it took to get there.
Q: What is the writing and creation process like?
K: "Everything has been inspired by things that have happened to us, when we sit down to write we talk about our lives, and we come up with scripts based on our experiences."
T: "I think because we are both actors that is where we come from when we are writing. We really do get into the characters’ heads, and we have really gotten to know Kesha and Heather. We really think what would each character say or do in this situation, and ask ourselves what is the important story to tell in each episode."
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Q: Can you expand on the approach/process when writing for the series?
T: “We do it all together, usually in a coffee shop. We bounce ideas off of each other and then we write together. We both have a similar sense of humour, and we both find a lot of things funny in real life. We are finding the funny in peoples behaviours around us and we are using that for fuel for our writing. You have to take the real life moments and get inspired by that and channel it into your writing."
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K: "As a writer, you are a gatherer of information".
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Balancing a day job, while creating professional content can be an uphill battle. Sacrifices need to be made in order to get your ideas out there. But its not all about the work, while the girls mentioned that they have less time to see friends and attend social events, they have found themselves getting more and more involved in the industry, attending social events and gatherings within the filmmaking community.
“Nothing comes easily, if you want to do something you have to put time, energy, and hours and love and passion into it” – Trish Rainone
Looking back on what has been created, the pay off seems clear when all is said and done. The duo seems to agree that as creators; goals need to be set in order to get ideas out in to the world. Commitment is necessary, and one can’t be scared to put in the hours to reach this kind of success.
The eleven episode mini series premiered on YouTube on April 3rd and continues to receive a positive response. Katie and Trish continue to develop and expand upon the concept of My Roommate's an Escort.
“We love these characters and we definitely think we could expand on their world”.
- Katie Uhlmann
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We look forward to what the future holds for My Roommate's an Escort.
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Written by Jered Harrison and Maddie Stiles
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Q: Who has inspired you in your careers and impacted you creatively?
K: "There are certainly a lot of people that inspire me now in my career like Jodie Foster and Tina Fey. Women who are both actors and writers as well as directors, it’s great and I think it’s important to have your voice heard. "
Aside from acting, producing became an important and rewarding role for the two actresses, allowing them to stay involved in the project and really steer the direction and progress of their work while having creative control throughout the show’s development.
Q: Aside from starring in the show, how much of the creative side were you both involved in?
T: "For this project we did it all from the start to finish, and gathered others along the way that have brought a lot to the table with their producing. But we are still always present through all of that and provide our input."
" When you are acting in a story that you have written you kind of have to produce as well to stay involved and focus on moving the project forward. Producing has been really rewarding because as an actor you go to set and do the creative work but you aren’t always filled in on the process afterwards. So it is fulfilling to be a part of it from start to finish."
Q: Where did the initial idea for the show come from?
T: “The characters have moments when they kind of connect but then they also have these moments where Heather is talking about Kesha behind her back, and Heather is doing passive aggressive things to get back at her and she cant deal with the issues. We’ve all kind of had friendships or a roommate situation like that.”
“From having bad, awkward roommate situations. We feel like the whole relationship, dating show has been done before, but we feel like the relationships between women are funny because you’ll be nice to each others face but then you’ll talk behind each other’s backs."
“To us it seemed more interesting to make it a show about roommates rather than dating. This was the story we wanted to tell first.”
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Photo courtesy of My Roommate's an Escort
My Roommate's and Escort Episode 1
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