Make "Everyone's Business" Your Business

Could a television pilot produced right here on the North Shore make it cross-country to a major network? There are a handful of optimistic professionals willing to find out. Ipswich-based screenwriter Alison Taylor, Debra Crosby, founder of Debra Crosby's A Quest Actor's Studio in Salem, Emerson College student Garrett Williams, and Wakefield playwright David Mauriello, along with Beverly Community Access Media (BevCam) and a core cast of ten talented local actors are about to undertake the production of a TV pilot for an original sitcom called "Everyone's Business."

Late last year, key members of Film North, an organization whose mission is to promote filmmaking north of Boston, approached its screenwriting group looking to develop a script into a locally produced television series that would provide creative programming for BevCam. Serendipitously, Film North member Alison Taylor had just recently written an original TV pilot and saw this as an amazing opportunity. Her script was workshopped and polished in a collaborative effort with writing group members including Film North president Morris Leibovitz and David Mauriello.

Debra Crosby of A Quest Actor's Studio and new member of Film North initially joined the project to offer her expertise in casting. Inspired by the writing and the team of talent, Ms. Crosby is now enthusiastically on board to direct the cast of "Everyone's Business." The cool cast of "Everyone's Business" includes actors from the Greater Boston and North Shore area.

Garrett Williams, a talented film student at Emerson College and a veteran intern of BevCam jumped on board to be the Director of Photography. This type of experience does not come along every day.

The title of the pilot episode of "Everyone's Business" is Population 3,001. The show opens following Libby Hanson into the fictional town of Appleton, population 3,000. Libby is newly single and in for culture shock. Her first night in town takes her to the "Top of the Hill" B&B where she meets the owner Dennis and his friends Erika, Marybeth, and Scott. They can also be found hanging out at the local cable station (Erika's living room) and in a historic house museum (Libby's office and home of Jane Haley, resident colonial ghost). They experience the classic symptoms of small town New England and use them to exploit each other and their neighbors as much as possible. What else is there to do, really?

Shooting began August 19th at the Whipple House and wrapped on September 29 at the Ipswich Inn (as an Inn is the focal point of the show) on East Street, where several other shoots were held. An afternoon was also spent shooting at the Agawam Diner for the opening scene.

In addition to the pilot, Don Berman, Dennis Heslet, and Walt Kosmolski of BevCam filmed the auditions, the callbacks, and the table read to produce a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like for actors to experience the casting process.

The pilot is being produced purely on a volunteer basis. BevCam has generously offered the use of its equipment while the cast and crew, who so strongly believe in this project, have donating their talent and time. If funding and sponsorship is found, the show has the potential to grow from being a locally-produced pilot episode to a locally-produced, successfully running series. The pilot is currently in post-production and a local premiere will be held at the end of January. It will also be shown on multiple local access stations, viewable on mySpace and YouTube.

And perhaps, some day, beyond.