Assisted Living is a short-form dark comedy series about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, from the POV of their assistants. Throughout the series Bridget Clinton and Jo Burton test the boundaries of human decency to excel at their jobs.
Assisted Living is a short-form dark comedy series about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, from the POV of their assistants. Throughout the series Bridget Clinton and Jo Burton test the boundaries of human decency to excel at their jobs.
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Story
Mission Statement
We are a show created by women for women. We strive to put as many women behind and in front of the lens as we can. We are committed to telling stories about women that explore aspects of our lives that are often left off screen - specifically about our career ambitions and tragic flaws.About The Project
The Story
Assisted Living focuses on two personal assistants, Bridget Clinton and Jo Burton, and the ultra-personal and often bizarre tasks they are asked to perform on behalf of their bosses: a high powered, dysfunctional couple going through a dramatic divorce.
Watch Episode One:
Assisted Living 101: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." from Assisted Living on Vimeo.
In Season One of the series, we follow Bridget and Jo as they mediate Celeste and Brent’s divorce, learn the power high and pitfalls of hiring and firing, relive childhood failures, test the boundaries between personal and professional, all while humiliating themselves to get the job done.
On call 24/7, Bridget and Jo have no lives of their own, sacrificing their own identities to maintain proximity to extreme wealth and power, often compromising their moral values in order to fulfill their duties as assistants.
Will either of them ever be willing to give up their access to the elite class to gain a sense of self-worth and integrity? Is there any line they are not willing to cross?
The Assistants
Jo Burton & Bridget Clinton
Bridget Clinton - (Sagittarius) Type A. Aspiring Executive. Assistant.
Bridget is high-energy, detail-oriented and a seething bundle of nerves. She
is devoted to her boss, Celeste, and often seems to be on the edge of a
nervous breakdown. She has a Xanax prescription, but it doesn’t seem to be
getting the job done.Jo Burton – (Virgo) Adventure addict. Amateur astrologer. Assistant.
Jo takes a holistic approach to assisting—in that assisting pervades all
aspects of her life. She’s not just an employee, she’s also a guru, a guide and
Brent’s literal first mate (he swears he’s gonna take her sailing around the
world one day). Jo’s in it for the novelty, and she’s always in search of her
next BIG EXPERIENCE.Where This Came From
We are recovering assistants. These are our stories.
The concept for Assisted Living began one afternoon when we met at a friend’s bar for a drink after a long week of work. One drink turned into another as we started to exchange war stories from the battlefield of personal assisting, one-upping each other with the bizarre tasks we’ve had to do at our jobs.
We shook hands that night to write a pilot episode together. TV writer and boss bitch Molly Rydzel signed on as head writer of the series, and now we have a full season written inspired by real experiences we've had on the front-lines of the assisting world.
The Heart of Our Mission
Ladies First
These are stories by women, about women, and women are our target audience.
Women make up more that 51% of the population in the U.S., and according to a Neilson study done in 2012, watch more than 40 minutes more a day of television than men do.
Yet during the 2016-2017 broadcast network TV season, according to data collected by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, women accounted for only 27% of all creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography working on broadcast network, cable, and streaming programs. 97% of the programs considered had no women directors of photography, 86% had no women directors, 76% had no women editors, 75% had no women creators, 74% had no women writers.
We want to help balance out these stats.
Our writing team is entirely female, and our director is a member of the LGBTQ community. A main mission of our show from a cast and crew perspective is to put as many women as possible behind as well as in front of the camera. From a writing standpoint, we are committed to telling stories about women that are about aspects of our lives that are often left off screen - specifically about our career ambitions and tragic flaws.
We believe that women on television deserve to be undeniably bad and universally loved, like Glenn Close as Petty Hewes on Damages or Constance Zimmer as Quinn King on Unreal.
Spotlight on Income Inequality
Another main mission of Assisted Living is to open a dialogue about growing income inequality in our country through the exploration of the rarified world of the “haves,” from the perspective of their employees, the “have nots.”
We are committed to using comedy to expose the underbelly of American economics in the era of "the Gig economy."
Commitment to Diversify & Innovate
We are committed to making ground-breaking television 10 minutes at a time. Our world is so fast-paced, and the internet so vast, putting us in a moment of great opportunity to diversify the way we tell stories, who gets to tell them, and on what platform. We want to use the digital series format to bring diverse, new faces to the screen, and prove that 10 minutes of content can be just as compelling as 30 minutes or an hour.
How Can You Help?
DONATE
Please donate! No donation amount is too small. And we’re fiscally sponsored, so all donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
SHARE & FOLLOW US
If you aren’t in a position to donate, you are still a crucial part of our team! Please *like* us on Seed & Spark, follow us on Instagram, and share the campaign with your friends on social media!
LEND US YOUR EQUIPMENT, SKILLS, OR SWANKY APARTMENT
Check out our Wish List to see other ways you can help! If you have equipment you could loan us, or a car, or a limb (just kidding!) that would be an amazing gift to give. We are also looking for some key locations that would be wonderful donations - we will need some swanky apartments for scenes that take place in the bosses’ homes (they are Manhattan millionaires after all).
Stretch Goals
Our $25,000 goal is the bare minimum needed to make Episodes 2 & 3 of Season One at a production quality everyone involved can be proud of and avoid exploiting the work of all production members.
If we raise $30,000, we'll be able to have contingency funds in place should anything go wrong, as well as cover (most) of our post-production costs.
If we raise $40,000, we would be able extend production to make Episode 4.
If we raise $50,000, we would be able to extend production to make Episode 5.If we raise $60,000 we would be able to extend production to make Episode 6 and FINISH THE SEASON all in one go!
Our producing team will be praying to the crowdfunding gods every night for this great miracle.
Thank you!
However you choose to be on our team, we THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts, for believing in us and the value of this show.
We are fundraising for production of Season One, but we have FOUR SEASONS of material, so this is just the beginning!
Incentives
$10
Get Some Attention - Social Media Shout Out
Are Twitter celebrities ignoring your tweets? Not enough "likes" on that 100th picture you posted of you and your cat? Then this incentive is for you! For $10 we'll shout your name from the rooftops on social media to thank you for your donation! If you have a project you're working on, we'll shout that out too!
$20
Right Place, Right Time - Fiji Water Girl
Want to get close to your favorite stars? We will photoshop your face onto the Fiji Water Girl on the red carpet of the Golden Globes. We might not be able to get you into the party...but it will be like you were almost there!
$25
Follow The Stars - Astrology Reading Shout Out
Do you secretly read your inbox horoscope every morning and wish you knew more about how your Venus placement was affecting your life? Amanda is a total astrology enthusiasts, and is dying to do an Instagram story reading of your astrological natal chart and what that means about your personality!
$50
No Stone Unturned - Combo
Have it all and save $5 with this incentive, a combination of our $10 Shout Out, Fiji Water Girl, & Chart Reading.
$100
Rely On Your Looks - Headshot Session
We're holding mini-headshot sessions with our director and photographer PJ Norton on 3/16 for this incentive, a 1-look mini-session including 1 touched up photograph to be delivered at the end of our campaign (NY AREA ONLY).
This incentive has sold out *twice* so we're back by popular demand to offer one more shoot date before our campaign ends, on 3/16. We will not be able to accommodate conflicts, so please do not choose this incentive if you cannot make the date listed.
Claimed: 27 of 30
$250
Build Up Your Brainpower - Tutoring Session
If you have a teen that needs to buck up for the SATs or write that killer college essay, this incentive is for you. On Location Education is offering a 3 hour tutor session on any subject, to be done either in-person (NYC only) or virtually via Skype!
Claimed: 2 of 3
$500
Let Us Handle It - Personal Assisting
Are you a high-powered mogul that couldn't be bothered to wait on hold with Time Warner, clean out your closet, or book your own vacation plans? Then this incentive is for you. Amanda and Alli are each offering a day of assisting for this lucky incentive holder (either virtual or in-person).
Sold Out!
$5,000
MVP - Associate Producer
Maybe you just want to write-off some serious coin on your taxes, or you have always dreamed of your name being in the credits (or both!). Either way, this incentive is the opportunity to be a part of our producer team through investment. It comes with your choice of incentive (do you want to be a meme? have us assist you for a day? the world is your oyster), as well as a title card at the end of the episode you are funding. And an invite to a private screening of the episodes before we release them to the public.
Claimed: 0 of 2
$10,000
All Star - Executive Producer
Congratulations! You're the most amazing person to ever live and your name will be engraved on my tombstone, as well as on your own, private title card at the end of the episode you are funding. You will also be invited to a private screening of the episodes before we release them to the public. At this level of donation, our team will be having a private chat with you to see how we can best thank with you!
Claimed: 0 of 3
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$10
Get Some Attention - Social Media Shout Out
Are Twitter celebrities ignoring your tweets? Not enough "likes" on that 100th picture you posted of you and your cat? Then this incentive is for you! For $10 we'll shout your name from the rooftops on social media to thank you for your donation! If you have a project you're working on, we'll shout that out too!
$20
Right Place, Right Time - Fiji Water Girl
Want to get close to your favorite stars? We will photoshop your face onto the Fiji Water Girl on the red carpet of the Golden Globes. We might not be able to get you into the party...but it will be like you were almost there!
$25
Follow The Stars - Astrology Reading Shout Out
Do you secretly read your inbox horoscope every morning and wish you knew more about how your Venus placement was affecting your life? Amanda is a total astrology enthusiasts, and is dying to do an Instagram story reading of your astrological natal chart and what that means about your personality!
$50
No Stone Unturned - Combo
Have it all and save $5 with this incentive, a combination of our $10 Shout Out, Fiji Water Girl, & Chart Reading.
$100
Rely On Your Looks - Headshot Session
We're holding mini-headshot sessions with our director and photographer PJ Norton on 3/16 for this incentive, a 1-look mini-session including 1 touched up photograph to be delivered at the end of our campaign (NY AREA ONLY).
This incentive has sold out *twice* so we're back by popular demand to offer one more shoot date before our campaign ends, on 3/16. We will not be able to accommodate conflicts, so please do not choose this incentive if you cannot make the date listed.
Claimed: 27 of 30
$250
Build Up Your Brainpower - Tutoring Session
If you have a teen that needs to buck up for the SATs or write that killer college essay, this incentive is for you. On Location Education is offering a 3 hour tutor session on any subject, to be done either in-person (NYC only) or virtually via Skype!
Claimed: 2 of 3
$500
Let Us Handle It - Personal Assisting
Are you a high-powered mogul that couldn't be bothered to wait on hold with Time Warner, clean out your closet, or book your own vacation plans? Then this incentive is for you. Amanda and Alli are each offering a day of assisting for this lucky incentive holder (either virtual or in-person).
Sold Out!
$5,000
MVP - Associate Producer
Maybe you just want to write-off some serious coin on your taxes, or you have always dreamed of your name being in the credits (or both!). Either way, this incentive is the opportunity to be a part of our producer team through investment. It comes with your choice of incentive (do you want to be a meme? have us assist you for a day? the world is your oyster), as well as a title card at the end of the episode you are funding. And an invite to a private screening of the episodes before we release them to the public.
Claimed: 0 of 2
$10,000
All Star - Executive Producer
Congratulations! You're the most amazing person to ever live and your name will be engraved on my tombstone, as well as on your own, private title card at the end of the episode you are funding. You will also be invited to a private screening of the episodes before we release them to the public. At this level of donation, our team will be having a private chat with you to see how we can best thank with you!
Claimed: 0 of 3
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
TEAM
Amanda Bullis (Creator, Executive Producer, Jo) a New Jersey native, actor, and recovering personal assistant. Before becoming in actor, Amanda studied documentary filmmaking at Rutgers University under Emmy Award-winning editor Dena Seidel. She loves bringing a DIY mentality to filmmaking, and has definitely been a lone camera on a research vessel at sea. Docs she's worked on have premiered at the Smithsonian in Washington and aired on PBS. Amanda is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. She has worked with emerging filmmakers on projects on the web, as well as films that have been short listed for the Oscars, and most recently worked on the Nicholas Cage flick, Inconceivable. As the assistant to the CEO of a hotel group, she has worked from hotels and homes around the world, and has picked up more than her fair share of dog and baby poop.
Alli Trussell (Creator, Executive Producer, Bridget) is a Texas born, New York based actress, writer, producer… and a former personal assistant. She has a BFA in Drama from the University of Oklahoma where she performed at the Kennedy Center and in the Oklahoma premiere of Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats. She’s a producer at Sanguine Theatre Company, where she has brought 10 plays and 6 world premieres to fruition in the past four years. Her work as an actress has been seen in several Off and Off-Off Broadway productions in NYC as well as film festivals across the Northeast. She’s an expert Google stalker and signature forger. She knows a lot of SSN’s.
Molly Rydzel (Co-creator, Head Writer) is a playwright/tv/screenwriter from Brooklyn, NY. She is the author of Everybody Dies (Robert Moss Theater), Certifiable (FringeNYC) and Serial Lover (Sanguine/ Ars Nova). Most recently, she was a staff writer on Alejandro Inarritu’s The One Percent (Starz). She currently has screenplays optioned by Lexicon Development (from the writer of Birdman, Still Life) and Romark Entertainment (Tranquility Base, Paradox).
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PJ Norton (Director) is a filmmaker and photographer based in New York City. He has worked as an assistant editor on films such as Tramps (Netflix), The Miseducation of Cameron Post (U.S. Grand Jury Prize, Sundance 2018), and Night Comes On (NEXT Innovator Award, Sundance 2018). Other film and television credits include Big Stone Gap, National Geographic’s Killing Kennedy, and AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies. Directing credits include The Rose of Jericho (Best Director, VCU First Cut Film Festival), Take Me Home (Audience Choice, James River Shorts), Expiration Date, and Maybe Tomorrow. He is currently studying screenwriting and directing in the grad film program at NYU.
Zamarin Wahdat (Director of Photography): Born in Afghanistan and raised in Germany, Zamarin has been granted a Dean’s fellowship at the Tisch School of the Arts where she studied film and cinematography. Her films have been screened at numerous Film Festivals including the Berlin Film Festival, BFI Film Festival SXSW and Palms Springs. She is the recipient of the Nestor Almendros Award for outstanding Cinematography and an Arri Volker Bahnemann Finalist in 2018. She recently finished a nine month residency as a Project Involve Cinematography Fellow with Film Independent in LA.
Kate Marlette is a makeup artist and stylist currently based in Atlanta, GA. Recent credits include working in the makeup department for shows including Turn: Washington’s Spies and Homeland. She also worked on upcoming features Harriet and Wonder Woman: 1984. Kate completed the Master Makeup Program at Cinema Makeup School in LA and has a BA in Cinema from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also worked in the art department on multiple occasions.
Alan Simon (Executive Producer) is an actor and business owner, his entrepreneurial spirit best exemplified as the founder and president of On Location Education, a national tutoring service that is a key vendor to production companies needing academic teachers to educate young actors whose professional obligations keep them from attending their regular schools while working in TV, film, and theatre. Recent acting credits include the short film, Valley High, as well as readings of developing plays, Adam's Gifts and The Wrong Box. Alan also performs his one-man cabaret show at venues around New York. He is proud to be working with Alli Trussell and Amanda Bullis as a colleague and supporter.
Lauren Tanchum (Costume Designer) has an intuitive eye for style and storytelling. Her passion for large scale costume production has led to design four films and assist on many others working alongside the best designers and film crews in NYC. When she is not working on projects that speak to her soul alongside people she loves and admires (like Alli and Amanda), she is busy designing a collection of couture lingerie, selling and cultivating fine cannabis products, and of course living it up in joy and love with her hubby and 2 year old cosmonaut, TL. Her IMDb can be found here.
CAST
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Anna Holbrook (Celeste) NY Stage: Daniel’s Husband (Westside Theaer, Primary Stages, Penguin Rep.) Raising Jo (Theater Row), Skeletons (Broadway Bound Festival), The Dolphin Position (Primary Stages) Natural Life, Hot L Baltimore (Gloria Maddox Theater) Regional: Crimes of the Heart, Three Viewings, My Fair Lady. Film: I Love Trouble, Those Who Wander, Boxed. Television: Blue Bloods, Bull, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Law & Order, L&O SVU, The West Wing, Spin City, One Life to Live, All My Children, Another World - Daytime Emmy.
Joseph Castillo-Midyett (Brent) New York: Off-Broadway: The Acting Company: Of Mice and Men, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors; The Pearl Theater: Twelfth Night; 59E59 Theaters: Enjoy (American premiere); Rattlestick Theater: National Playwrights Festival. Regional: Shakespeare DC: Much Ado About Nothing; The Actor’s Theatre of Louisville: Dracula; Syracuse Stage: Glass Menagerie, Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: The Clay Cart; Delaware Theatre Company: The Complete Works of Shakespeare; Texas Shakespeare: Amadeus; Peter in Peter Pan (dir. Mark Lamos); Misalliance; Savages, Christians and Other Homo Sapiens (dir. Adrian Hall). Film: Collateral Beauty, The Awakening, C Street, From Nowhere, Nicand Nicky, Penance for the Slain, Hope Café, Kick Ball. Television: "Homeland," "The Following," "Divorce," "Master of None" Season 2, "MacGyver," "Jessica Jones" Season 2, "The Path," "Elementary ." Joseph is also the creator and director of This Boy's Vida.
Suni Reyes (Allison) started studying improv at the Peoples Improv Theatre after winning the PIT/NBC Improv for Diversity Scholarship in 2009. She continued her comedy studies at the Upright Citizens Brigade and made it all the way to the advanced improv and sketch program through their Diversity Scholarship Program, as well. She was also a finalist at the 2012 UCB/NBC Diversity Showcase. Suni was a cast member of UCB Maude Team's "BUNDT", "Roanoke" and "Mamas Gotta Go".TV: Billions, Madame Secretary, Seven Seconds, Iron Fist, Great News, Master of None (Netflix), Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon), Girls(HBO); Film: The Disruption, Growing Up and Other Lies, ADmazons, Gettin By, La Manzana.
James Coker (Kevin) is an actor, writer, and comedian living in New York City. He has been performing improv and sketch comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade, The PIT and the Magnet Theater since Fall 2008. You can catch him performing sketch comedy every month at UCB's Maude Night with his team Night Eaters and all around the city with sketch duo Coker & Stratton. He has appeared on 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, VH1's The 20, A&E's Black and White and in videos for Funny Or Die, Mashable, Above Average, The Kicker and MTV. James' writing credits include the New York Television Festival pilots Classless (2013) and The Other Kennedys (2015), as well as several live sketch shows, videos and the web series Trump Bros (2016-2017) and Above Average/The Kicker's Tailgating With (2017).
Austin Ku (Davis) is a stage and screen actor based in NYC. Film credits include Detective Chinatown 2, Creative Control, and Sleeping With Other People. TV credits include “Shades of Blue” (recurring), “Bull”, “Billions”, “Homeland”, “Sneaky Pete”, “The Affair”, and “Younger”. Stage credits include the International/Broadway Tour of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, the recent Off-Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company in NYC, and many regional performances (which have earned him StageSceneLA, Dean Goodman, and WISE Foundation Awards, as well as nominations for Barrymore, BroadwayWorld, and IRNE Awards). Education: Rice University, UC Berkeley School of Law, Boston Conservatory, Upright Citizens Brigade. Social Media: @secretaustinman. More at www.Austin-Ku.com.
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