INWOOD — Upper Manhattan has never been so funny.
That's what the creators of a new Inwood-based web series hope viewers will think of "In the ‘Wood," a hyperlocal comedy written, directed and performed by local residents about life in Manhattan island's northernmost neighborhood.
Billed as “a love letter to the land north of Dyckman Street,” each episode in the series takes a four-to-six minute comedic look at the complicated lives of the people who live in the northernmost neighborhood on Manhattan island, which locals lovingly call “Upstate Manhattan.”
“The action takes place on a single day in Inwood and follows the characters as their lives tangentially intersect,” said co-creator Clare Drobot, who wrote the show with J. Holtham, Scott Keating and Tom Matthew Wolfe.
Originally launched during the summer of 2010, the creative team, including directors Ethan Matthews, Nate Boguszewski and Drobot along with actors Emily Ackerman, Dan Colman, Jay Rohloff, Karen Sours and Roman Urbanski, worked on the series for more than a year to get it down pat.
“It’s part of the learning curve for us, coordinating filming schedules and the post production work,” Drobot said, adding that the group is excited to “work with a few new artistic collaborators in the neighborhood and expand the number of characters.”
In the first episode, viewers are introduced to Jody and Trevor, an “affluent couple with a newborn baby…and more than a little marital strife,” Yaris, a forensic psychology student whose “boyfriend Johnny is missing in action after a late night at the bar,” George, a “hapless waiter and aspiring super star,” and Obie, “a cop just trying to keep his nose clean,” writes the show’s creators.
The series takes a look at how these unlikely neighbor’s lives “intersect over the course of one long and eventful day.”
In the ‘Wood debuted at Piper’s Kilt at 4944 Broadway Wednesday, the Upper Manhattan-based Uptown Collective blog reported.
The first six episodes will be released online throughout December and January.
Ginwood Productions, the group that produced the series, also launched an online fundraising drive in hopes of raising $5,000 to continue producing the series locally. Those interested can donate through Indiegogo, checking out the In the ‘Wood website or emailing the creators directly at inthewoodnyc@gmail.com.
