Behind The Scenes: Couch Cases

Sooner or later everyone ends up on the couch.

We’ve Been Pirated! Guess We’re Bigtime, Now

February 27th, 2010 | Category: Patrick's Blog

Hey there, Patrick here. I subscribe to Google Alerts, so whenever someone writes about the show I get a message. Well, today I found out that someone in Germany has gathered up all the Couch Cases episodes and put them on a Blu-Ray disc! We’ve been pirated! But then, someone else took that Blu-Ray and made it into an illegal download stream on BitTorrent.

So, the pirates have been pirated!

Crazy, right? I mean, the show’s out there FOR FREE for anyone who can connect to YouTube or the Couch Cases website. Still, I guess in a way it’s pretty cool that some pirates thought our little free show held together with spit and duct tape was cool enough to pirate.

Happy March!

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Google rocks

August 21st, 2009 | Category: Kathi's Blog

It’s always cool to find out who’s watching from around the world. During a recent Google search on Couch Cases, we discovered that word is getting out about our little show. On top of being an unsolicited official comedy selection at the Baghdad Film Festival (yes, you read it right!), our web series is being watched and reviewed favorably in the press in Italy and France. C’est très bon!

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Fellow Writer, Musician & Tech Geek Gives Couch Cases Thumbs Up!

May 16th, 2009 | Category: Patrick's Blog

Our comedy web series is a Featured Pick at eGuiders.com. One of their eGuiders, Varlo Vanore, found us on MySpace and gave us a thumbs up review, saying our show Couch Cases is ”full of relationships gone awry, risque sitcom situations, and great side characters. I give them lots of props for the story lines and production value… This one is worth keeping an eye on.”

Thanks Varlo!

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Couch Cases: Over A Million Views

May 16th, 2009 | Category: Patrick's Blog

That’s right, naysayers- Couch Cases has been seen over a million times. 

Thank you to all who have supported, and who continue to support the show. We’re thrilled that Dr. Amy and the gang are finding a sizable audience online!

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Couch Cases: We’re In The Toronto Star

January 27th, 2009 | Category: Patrick's Blog

Matt Carter wrote a review of Couch Cases in the Toronto Star today. He said the jokes are sly, and the characters are charming and likable. We also got top billing above Sony Interactive’s new show (which is awesome, since they have a studio backing them and their show was written by a Seinfeld writer), and they picked a photo of Kathi Funston and Sabrina Bolin to run with the column.

Here’s the full review.

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Tubefilter Interview and Update

January 18th, 2009 | Category: Kathi's Blog, Patrick's Blog

A word from Patrick and Kathi:

Some of you know that our show Couch Cases has surpassed the 500,000 view mark, and we’ve recently been featured in Tubefilter.tv and USA Today. Thank you for all your support, and we hope you love the show.

As always, go to www.couchcases.com for the latest info.

Here’s the full content of the Tubefilter interview:

I notice that “Couch Cases” started posting on YouTube on Halloween, yet it’s currently listed on your site as “Premiering January 15th.” Can you give me the background behind the relaunch?
We were excited to preview the show as soon as it was ready, but we look at the January 15th launch as our wide release. We’re now available on iTunes!

When did you shoot? How large was your crew? What was your budget?
Patrick: We shot over a number of months, part-time and on weekends. We had a tiny crew– it was me, a camera assistant, a sound guy, and our makeup artist on most days. Our budget… well, our hard costs were pretty low but we all put in an enormous amount of sweat equity in the show.
Kathi: Yeah, and it helps keep the costs down if you have a one-man shop on your team! Patrick did everything from shooting to editing to special effects. Plus, I helped with the editing and music production as well. Lucky us, we didn’t need to outsource to a production house.

Did you work with any unions or guilds on this, like SAG?
Nope.

Do you have a “financial model” that you can speak to? That is, how is/will the show make money?
We’re in discussions with companies interested in product placement and/or sponsorship. We have a vision for where the show is going, and we want to hold onto the rights as long as possible. We’ve already turned down an offer to sell the show because the buyer just didn’t get our vision.

It seems from your blog that you used the Red One camera. How did you make the decision to do that? What was the experience like?
Patrick: The RED One is amazing. I’m looking forward to using it a lot more in the future. I purchased the camera for my company, Genius Monkeys. See, I have this day job where I do TV commercials….
How did you guys come to work together?
We didn’t intend to write a show together; it just sort of happened. We were hanging out one day having a beer, and we started to throw some ideas around. That morphed into character and story ideas centering around a neurotic therapist and her patients. Could potentially be some funny stuff there. Two months later, we had an entire season written. At that point we thought, ‘How can we not shoot this?’ The whole process was very organic.

As I was watching the episodes, I immediately thought of “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” so it didn’t surprise me to see you compare the show to that on your YouTube page.  What other influences would you say inspired you while making this show?
Patrick: We’re huge sitcom fans. And we wanted to write something that fit in with smart, funny shows you’d see on TV. We also wanted to create something that looked good, something cinematic like Sex & The City. We aimed high.
Kathi: Ah, Christine is a good one! Thank you for the compliment. I grew up watching mostly sitcoms, so my writing and acting were definitely influenced by some of the great shows like Friends and Gilmore Girls.

What are your hopes/goals for this show? Did you make it with an eye toward crossing over to TV? Or is this a strictly web-only project?
Oh, the things we could do with the $50,000 per minute budget of a typical network sitcom! That said, we look at our show as a micro-version of a TV show, but developed specifically for the Web, with characters and story arcs that develop over the course of the season. By the end, we want you to be hooked! The Web gave us the opportunity to create something outside of the Hollywood system that’s creative, fun, culturally relevant, and we hope… profitable.

I noticed you have a poll on your web page about who Amy should date.  Will the votes in that poll influence the story? Do you have other interactive elements planned?
We would absolutely be open to letting our fans influence our story lines. And we have all sorts of ideas about how to engage our audience beyond the episodes themselves. Stay tuned!
For Kathi, tell me about starring in the show and also producing.  How did you  juggle those jobs during the shoot?
Kathi: I must admit it was hard to stay in character between takes because there were a million things going through my head during the shoot. But I placed my trust in Patrick as my producing partner and the director to guide us through, which he did. I had a blast performing in front of the camera, and I equally enjoyed post production. We had a chance to be producers and writers again during the editing process, which I found to be very fun! I’m really happy with the finished product. I truly feel that it’s a nice blend of Patrick’s and my creative vision.

Also for Kathi - what is it with Texas and actors?? Half the actors I know in this town (including 3 of the 5 cast members in my own show) are from Texas.
Kathi: We’re people people. We can’t help it. We love to entertain. Ain’t nothing else I can say about that. Hey, y’all!

For Patrick - how about the directing/producing split? Did you produce until the shoot day, then put it in someone else’s hands so you could direct, or did you wear both hats at once?
Patrick: I never really thought about it that way. There were a lot of things that needed to be done, and I’d delegate where I could; otherwise I’d just do it myself. I’ve always felt that a director should have some expertise in every facet of filmmaking, so wearing lots of hats comes naturally to me, I guess.

Also for Patrick - I see you were responsible for the “Deliverance Pizza” mobisodes. Can you speak to the aesthetic differences, if any, in making a show for cell phones as opposed to for web viewing?
Patrick: It’s all storytelling, but of course we had a lot of technical limitations with the mobisodes due to the medium. What’s exciting to me now is seeing the evolution of video on the Web. We can create stories that are much more cinematic and visually interesting and deliver them to people whether they’re at their computer, on their iPhone, or sitting in front of their television. Technology is finally getting to where it can almost keep up with one’s imagination, and that’s pretty cool.

Back to both of you - What are your favorite shows on TV?  How about on the web?
Kathi: I have so many shows that I love, I thank the inventor of the DVR every day. Some of my current faves are 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, The Starter Wife, Brothers & Sisters, and House. I’m definitely into scripted comedies and dramedies with a lot of funny included. Life without laughter isn’t worth living! On the Web, I’ve been gravitating towards comedic news vlogs lately.
Patrick: I agree– I also have a soft spot in my heart for “Brit-coms” like Father Ted, Little Britain, and League of Gentlemen. And I watch everything Sci-Fi that I can find online. One of my all-time favorites is Star Trek: Phase II. And of course, The Onion has some funny stuff online.
What’s your vision of the future of web TV?
It seems to us that the future of Web TV is also the future of TV in general. Everything is merging together, networks are pushing their websites more and more, and it seems like people are still looking for quality programming, no matter what the venue. Whatever the future is, we hope to be there!
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Couch Cases featured in Tubefilter News!

January 12th, 2009 | Category: Kathi's Blog

We just had an article published about us in Tubefilter News…  

“Take a dysfunctional therapist with no people skills, add her neurotic clients, her wise-cracking best friend, and a host of boytoy hotties, and you’ve got Couch Cases, the new comedy web series from creators Patrick Ortman and Kathi Funston. Following a traditional sitcom aesthetic, Couch Cases previewed to an impressive view count on YouTube in October, but has its official “wide release” on January 15th.”

Read the full article here.

We’ve also been invited to join top-ranking web series on Tubefilter’s Web TV Schedule this week! We’re re-launching Couch Cases on Thursday, January 15th with the hopes of reaching an even wider audience.  A top spot in Tubefilter’s schedule is a very big honor for us. Thanks to Tubefilter for this esteemed recognition! Also, thanks again to our cast and crew for making Couch Cases a quality show that’s getting some much-deserved attention, and, of course, to our fans on the web for all of your support!

About Tubefilter

“Our mission at Tubefilter is simple - to grow the audience of web television. Our news division, Tubefilter News, is the leading authority in episodic web television.

The web is full of great storytelling. As you’ve probably noticed, there are a lot of stories out there, but too often they get lost in the web video shuffle. Tubefilter News helps you discover and keep track of the stories you care about.

We care about quality episodic shows, whether they are studio or independently produced – if they’re good, we’ll help you find them. We follow the shows, their creators, the cast and the people that make these shows come to life.”

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A big milestone: Over half a million views!

January 12th, 2009 | Category: Patrick's Blog

We’ve gone over the magical half-a-million views mark with Couch Cases- that’s amazing, and thank you all for your support!

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Couch Cases: Over 307,000 served

December 23rd, 2008 | Category: Patrick's Blog

We’re happy to announce that Couch Cases has been seen over 307,000 times. Woohoo & Merry Christmas!

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Couch Cases: Over 219,459 served

December 12th, 2008 | Category: Kathi's Blog

Something happened this past week, and we’ve become a “must watch” show on YouTube. Couch Cases has ranked as high as #34 on YouTube, and is one of the Top 100 shows to watch right now.

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