Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'#Hashtag' Web Series Features Andersonville Friends Hooked on Social Media

By Adeshina Emmanuel | July 18, 2014 12:34pm | Updated on July 21, 2014 9:56am
#Hashtag
View Full Caption
tello Films

ANDERSONVILLE — The Internet can be a wonderful, awful thing, connecting old friends and new lovers while adding unprecedented layers of awkwardness to relationships.

Inspired by their own social media adventures and stories from friends, former Andersonville residents Laura Zak and Caitlin Bergh wrote a Web series set in Andersonville titled "#Hashtag," from tello Films that, in Bergh's words, "explores all the ways you can get screwed over by technology." The show was directed by Jessica King and Christin Mell, the CEO of tello Films. 

Bergh stars as Skylar, a bubbly but insecure and somewhat neurotic comedian obsessed with Twitter. Zak plays her even-keeled, sardonic friend Liv, who's hooked on Instagram. Both are members of Andersonville's close-knit lesbian community.

 Caitlin Bergh (l) and Laura Zak (r) are the actresses and writers behind "#Hashtag."
Caitlin Bergh (l) and Laura Zak (r) are the actresses and writers behind "#Hashtag."
View Full Caption
Tello Films

"We wrote #Hashtag as an exploration of overusing technology and how that affected our friendships and our other relationships in this small neighborhood," Bergh said.

The first season of the show consists of five episodes, each about 12 minutes long. Bergh said the second season, nine episodes long, will debut in either the late fall or early winter.

Bergh admits the theme of "millennials on the Internet can be kind of cringe-worthy."

"But we know it's cringe-worthy," she said, "and we make fun of it."

One of the funniest storylines running through the first season is the tension between Liv and an Andersonville mother, a suspected closeted lesbian who is "weirdly flirtatious on Instagram."

"My dad thought LOL meant 'lots of love' for over a year," Skylar says, cautioning Liv about misinterpreting the older woman. "I had to correct him finally when he texted, 'Great Aunt Thelma died, LOL.'"

Dating app and website OKCupid also rears its awkward head. Liv meets a girl via the dating app, and dishes bizarre details about the woman to Skylar, who uses the stories as material for her standup routine one night not knowing that the folks she's discussing are sitting in the audience.

The first season ends with an explosive cliffhanger that we won't spoil.

But here's a hint: If you've ever been suspicious of a boyfriend or girlfriend who seems a bit too engaged in their phone when they should be paying you more attention, the finale might only stoke your concerns.

In Skylar and Liv, Bergh and Zak play characters based on themselves, and the show comes across as unscripted and natural.

"We're not award-winning actresses; we're just being ourselves," Bergh said.

Bergh, explaining why the writing and acting pair chose to set the show in Andersonville, remarked on "how small town Andersonville felt for such a big city," when she and Zak lived there for several years before moving to L.A. last summer.

"You really bump into people a lot out there," Bergh said, recalling times when the friends were both dating women and would attend dance parties in the 'hood "where you used to see all your exes and all their exes."

IndieWire named "#Hashtag" as one of "15 Women-Driven Web Series That Could Be the Next 'Broad City,'" a popular Comedy Central show. "#Hashtag" recently wrapped filming for the second season. It has nearly twice as many episodes as the first season and will include scenes set during Pride Weekend.

Bergh said she doesn't know what the future holds for "#Hashtag," but she said the duo would love the opportunity to have their concept featured on the tube.

"We're definitely looking for the next step for the show," she said. "We just want to make it bigger and take things to the next level."

Click here to see "#Hashtag" at the tello Films website.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: