The Best Friend is now into its second episode, and not only is it an hilarious, smart comedy about female friendship, but creators Marilyn Anne Michaels and Allie Smith also managed to produce it with a largely female crew, which is very rare and very cool! DCTV asked Marilyn and Allie to talk about what it is like working with women.
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After shooting our pilot episode, we decided that for the rest of the episodes we wanted to fill the set with as many women as possible! What could be better than creating female driven content for a female audience while surrounded by uber talented and amazing women who (hopefully) can relate to the material and will understand our vision?
The Cast and Crew of The Best Friend
What we had working against us was a short timeline and a small budget. What we had working in our favor was a great story and premise that many women were excited to be a part of. As seems to be the way in this industry, the team came together based largely on referrals. One of our directors was a man but he understood and believed in our mission to fill the room with women and he referred us to gems like Cat Deakins. Cat signed on to be our Director of Photography and she came with another long list of lovely ladies that love working with her! And if one woman couldn’t do it, she referred us to several other women, and so on etc etc. We also invited friends to join us and found some invaluable creative females through Mandy.com.
It wasn’t until we stepped onto set on the first day of shooting that we truly realized how rare it is to have a predominantly female crew. Jacki Moonves, our over-qualified, rockstar 1st AC, was in awe – “Holy cow! I’ve never seen so many women on a set before. Cool!”
One of our final episodes opens with a fantasy moment that would not have been the same if we didn’t have so many women sitting in a room and geeking out over the details. Literally, we were all smiling from ear to ear and jumping up and down. From Wednesday Standley, who directed that episode:
“With the shared experience of having once been teenaged girls and now women with female experience and friendships brought out a unique appreciation from the crew for this story and for Marilyn and Allie. Having a crew that understands what it is like to have women friends and the rewards and challenges that go along with that was a huge asset on set to get the material needed to tell this story with honesty and humor. I have had so much fun working with all these ladies!”
And, it wasn’t just the crew who noticed:
“It was great to see so much ‘woman-power’ at work. In front of the camera, behind the camera, and everywhere you looked there were women in charge and kicking butt. It was amazing!” — Tammy Dahlstrom (actress)
The women involved with The Best Friend weren’t just on set…they were also the people who were instrumental in getting this series off the ground in other ways… They were the knowledgeable women who were our contacts at SAG and WGA, they were the generous women at OPI, Dove and Ole Henricksen (product sponsors), they were the supportive women in our lives who offered feedback on scripts, dailies, edits and even catered some of our shoot days.
In conclusion, a sweet note from one of our writers, Krystel Schley:
“The women who were part of The Best Friend series were always professional, supportive, and fun, while never being afraid to share their unique ideas and constructive criticisms. They all had the best interest of the series in mind and always challenged each other to bring their best work to the table. Overall, it was just a really fun project to be a part of and was a breath of fresh air. “
Marilyn Anne Michaels & Allie Smith
Creators of THE BEST FRIEND
Wow, I already love the show, but finding out about the unique girl power that went into making it is even more awesome!