Venice

After Ellen

Interview With Crystal Chappell

Contributing Writer: D. Williams
Published: September 9, 2009

AfterEllen.com: What is Venice going to be about?

Crystal Chappell: Venice is about a community of people in Venice
Beach, California. The lead character, her name is Gina, she’s an out
lesbian; she’s a businesswoman, a very successful interior designer
of hotels. Her mother died when she was 16. Her father’s a retired
Colonel, very disapproving of everything and everyone in general,
and she’s sort of had to raise her little brother. And had her heart
broken very early on, and has had lousy relationships ever since.
So she’s just trying to find love in Venice Beach.

AE: How many episodes are you planning?

CC: At this point approximately 12 [episodes], approximately seven
to 10 minutes maybe on the high end. At this point we’ll try to do
five seasons a year.

AE:Five seasons a year! Wow!

CC: I mean, it depends. We’re going to try to get as many seasons
in as we can. We’ve already finished writing the first season. And it
ends with a bang.

AE: So we’ll all be desperately waiting to find out what happens in
season two.

CC: Yes. I’m really happy with the end of it. I think Kim [Turrisi,
Venice’s head writer] did a great job.

AE: What are your short-term and long-term ambitions for the
show?

CC: Well, the short term is to actually get it — we’ve got a couple
of scenes shot — but I want to get it finished, I want to get it on the
web. I’d love to be able to keep the show going on the web for as
long as possible. Long term, I don’t know. Ultimately I’d love to see — it would be
great to have a show on an FX or some kind of cable network that
features a lead lesbian character. That would be a really wonderful
thing to have in the end of all this.

AE: Do you think that it’s possible for a show to sustain itself long
term just on the web, without hopes of going to cable?

CC: Absolutely. Yes, I do think there’s hope for that. And in fact I
have no problem staying on the web. It’s new, it’s interesting, there’s
a lot to be learned from it. And I think we’re starting to make that
transition. Even just a few months ago I had more than a number of
people say there’s no way to make money. I think we’ll figure it out. That’s how they figured out how to transition shows from radio totelevision. It’s less expensive and you can do a lot more in a shorter period of time. And I think if you can find an audience there’s the
hope for longevity.

AE: Do you have a clear sense of what you think the business model
is going to be? Are you looking at sponsorship, syndication?

CC: We’re looking at all of that. Sponsorship, syndication,
subscriptions. Right now we’re in talks with a few people. So
we’re just waiting to see how that all pans out. But it’s all very, very
positive, people are very interested, which is lovely for us. And,
yeah, we haven’t made a decision on that yet. We’re opening up
a Venice store on our website in another week, and the winner of
the logo contest will have his or her logo on the products. Which is
kind of exciting. And we have a lot of great artists submitting their
music, and it’s fantastic stuff. So it’s been a wonderfully interactive
experience. We want to help launch other artists as well. It’s sort of
this intermingling that drives inspiration.

AE: How much are things like the writing and the storylines
influenced by the feedback you’re getting from fans?

CC: The whole inspiration for the series came from my experience
on Guiding Light and the story that I played with Jessica Leccia
[Natalia]. The day that we were canceled, I called Kim — Kim is my
writing and producing partner — and we were working on another
project and I said let’s just table that for now and let’s create a web
series and have the lead character be an out lesbian, and very
comfortable with who she is. I don’t want it to be about her sexuality, I want it to be about who
she is as a person, and what her struggles in life are.
So Kim jumped on it, and she came back with just great characters.
And obviously it came from the feedback that I got from the Otalia
fans. They were so completely passionate and vocal and specific
about what it is that they liked about that story. And the underlying
message was “That’s us. That’s our normal life, raising children,
paying bills.” And it was really a big moment for me of “OK, there’s
a need for this.” So when I heard that we were cancelled it seemed only natural —
well, for me only natural — to go to the web. Because that’s where
I spend a lot of my time. I spend more time on the computer than
I do in front of my television set. That’s the sad truth, or the happy
truth, or whatever truth it is. That’s what it is.

AE: Did you want Gina to be out and comfortable with her sexuality
because of the feedback you were getting from fans about the
focus on Guiding Light?

CC: No. I mean, I loved the story that they told on Guiding Light. My
character was around for nine years before she even met Natalia,
and was always with men. So it’s a completely different situation.
I just really wanted to have a lead character on a show that was
a lesbian and there were no issues about that. She’s comfortable
with who she is. Not to say that she’s never going to run into some
problems along the way, but it was just a different approach to the
idea of the story. I really just wanted it to be a show about story
and family, and I didn’t want to focus it so much on, “Ooh, she’s a
lesbian!” [laughs] Let’s just get past that and get on with the living
part of her story.

AE: I read that the drama you and Kim were developing was about
strippers, which intrigued me because I think strippers, lesbians,
these are women on society’s margins. Is that something that
particularly interests you? Do you see a connection between those
two things?

CC: I think I must be intrigued by it, because it’s where my interest
lies in storytelling. I love all walks of life. I’m certainly intrigued by
women who — I think it’s the struggle, possibly, that … of course
struggle always makes for good story. I have a natural inclination
to tell a female-driven story. That certainly appeals to me, and Kim
as well.

I will say this about all the characters that we create — it’s about
acceptance. Hence the name Open Book Productions. We want
to create stories about people who have to learn to live with each
other and accept each other, and love each other in spite of their
differences.

AE: What is it about Gina that is most exciting to you as an
actress?

CC: I think that she’s just such a bright character, she’s been so
successful in business, which is a huge part of who she is. She’s
at the top of her game. I mean, here’s a person who can’t stay in
a relationship, and at her age — and I’m definitely making her at
least seven years younger than me, right away — she still hasn’t
resolved her issues with her family. I find that intriguing, the idea
that she can be so successful in one area of her life, and be so
miserably blocked at the other end. So I find that intriguing about her, because I think a lot of people
live that way. That they focus so much on one aspect of their life
and maybe don’t give other aspects the attention they need.
And also, just from an actress’ point of view, it gives me someplace
to go. And gives the writers someplace to go. So it makes for an
interesting story, hopefully.

AE: In terms of the character getting to grow and change over
time?

CC: Exactly. And how she affects other people with her limitations.

AE: You’ve had a long career in soaps, which are made in a very
corporate-driven kind of environment. What are you most looking
forward to about working on a more artist-driven project, that’s
possible because of the web?

CC: Oh, well, it’s total freedom! Comparatively, it’s just total
freedom. Because you have choices. I mean, on the one hand,
it’s exciting because it is so freeing. On the other hand, they are
all your decisions, and people will react accordingly. [laughs] “It’s
not enough, it’s too much.” But I think those of us who have been
around for a long time realize that you’re not going to be able to
please everybody. You can only be happy with it yourself.
But it’s apples and oranges. It’s so liberating to be able to create
the kind of show you want to create. And right now you can only do
that on the web, and have an audience.

AE: What was your favorite scene to film of the last year and a half
of the Otalia relationship?

CC: I loved the whole lead up to the wedding, and in particular the
graveyard scene, where Olivia finally tells Natalia that she’s in love
with her. They built that so nicely, and honestly by the time we got
to tape those scenes, we were relieved when they were finished.
We were all so relieved. Not just Jessie and myself, but you know
the crew, because they had been waiting for this for a long time.
I love, love, love the gazebo scenes. I thought they were beautifully
written. I thought Jessica was brilliant in them. And certainly the
first kiss, which was actually fun and whimsical. Those were the
three groups of scenes which I thought were really, really fun for
the couple.

AE: There’s been a big complaint among viewers about the fact
that Olivia and Natalia haven’t had a realistic physical relationship.
When did you find out that these two characters weren’t going to
have the same kind of physical relationship that the straight couples
on the show were having?

CC: Well, the first kiss I think aired in January, and at that point I
just assumed that once these two women said that they were in
love with each other that there would be more physical intimacy. I
just assumed that. So I imagine at the same time as everyone else!
[laughs] You know, I only got my scripts a week in advance and so
once I started to see that, I mean, I certainly can’t say anything
beyond that, but would I have moved it along personally? Yes, I
would have. I would have liked to have seen more intimacy, I would
have moved it along much quicker.

AE: Where does that come from, your desire to have moved it
along more quickly?

CC: Well I’m just thinking in terms of when they admitted their
feelings for each other. Once these two had decided that they were
in love with each other, knowing that they had huge obstacles in
their way, but it’s a natural impulse to hold each other and it’s a
natural impulse to kiss, in my opinion. I think that there’s a lot to be
said for yearning. And I think we played that very well. I think they
wrote it very well over the last year or so. But at some point it seems unreal that you wouldn’t just kiss
somebody hello or goodbye. I think then that becomes a
natural part of your relationship. That’s been a natural part of my
relationships! [laughs] Whether it’s just a friendship or something
more, I think that’s just something that happens. So it seemed a
little unbelievable. And I think that you could see it onscreen.
I’ve said it before — I told Jessica I’m just going to come in and
pull your hair, because at this point I don’t know what else to do.
[laughs] I gotta let ya know that I like ya! And that’s what kids in
grade school do, right? But that’s, ultimately, it’s the big reason why
I felt the web would be a very good place to go to tell this particular
story.

AE: Did you feel like it was because of pressure from Proctor &
Gamble or CBS or some other entity?

CC: It’s really not for me to say, because I don’t know. Regardless,
my choice in the matter is to respect other people’s decisions,
whatever their reasons are, and to go on and create something
that I can control.

AE: So you weren’t running into someone’s office and demanding
a kiss?

CC: No, I’m a smarter person than that [laughs], I like to think.

AE: Have you seen this video on YouTube, “Hitler Finds Out Otalia
Won’t Kiss”?

CC: Oh, god, yes! Frickin’ hilarious! I love it!