While the B.C. film and television industry may be struggling, one local producer is determined to succeed - even if it means having to think outside the box.
The box, in this case, being the traditional TV set.
Two years ago, New Westminster-based writer and producer Suzette Laqua co-created a pilot for a TV sitcom but found that no networks were interested in picking it up.
Rather than give up on the project, however, she and her co-producer, Brad Whitlock - who directed the series - took the advice of a friend in the industry and re-crafted the 22-minute pilot into a 10-episode web series to submit to the L.A. Webfest.
"The web is the new thing," Laqua said, noting there were more than 500 entries for the festival that was held in Los Angeles at the end of March.
"So many people watch shows on the web now," she said. "They're not even watching TV now, apparently. They'll watch it on their iPods, iPads; maybe they'll take a break at work and watch a five-minute episode because they're easy to watch."
Her show, called Last Chance Casting, is a comedy series of five-minute shorts about a group of people working at a casting agency and the revolving door of actors they audition.
The show is unique, Laqua says, in that it combines both scripted and unscripted elements.
While the story follows a small group of characters who work at the agency, a different set of actors in each episode perform unscripted, as if actually auditioning for a role.
The show placed as a finalist in the competition, and Laqua spoke on two panels during her time in L.A.
"It was such a fantastic experience," she said. "The people we met; and there are some phenomenal web series out there."
Laqua has had no formal training in film or television work.
After making connections with some people in the industry, Laqua found herself writing shorts and getting involved with TV productions.
She is self-taught, going to seminars, talking to people in the industry, reading successful scripts, and learning by trial and error to write.
"I'm always learning," she said. "I'm always looking things up and reading people's bios and seeing where they came from. And one of the things I've been told is, as great as school is, it's not necessary if you've got the talent and you keep up with what's going on out there."
Today she's fully invested in her work as a writer and producer, currently filming a short and in the pre-producing stage of an environmental documentary.
With the current flood of film and TV workers leaving B.C. for provinces with better tax incentives, Laqua said she recognizes that this is a challenging time to be working in the local industry.
However, she said she's found a network of people to work with in the Lower Mainland, and she's confident she can make a go of it here.
"What I want to do is stay in Vancouver," she said. "I don't want to go to Toronto, though opportunity seems to be better there for a lot of people."
Laqua's next big project is to launch an international web fest in New Westminster.
"There's not a web festival in Canada at all," she said. "I started thinking, what if we do a Vancouver International Web Fest?"
Laqua said she wants to keep it local, so her first step will be to scout out businesses here in New Westminster and around the Lower Mainland to sponsor the event, and then book a location, which she said ideally will be Massey Theatre.
For more information about Last Chance Casting, and to watch the series, visit www.lastchancecasting.com.
