Comedic Timing
Los Angeles, California | Series
Comedy
As women ourselves, we know that women can be funny, powerful, capable of anything - but also complicated… and messy! We want to see ourselves depicted as we truly are, which is why we’re making a show full of awesome, complex women and their adventures in a small town improv class.
Comedic Timing
Los Angeles, California | Series
Comedy
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $10,645 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
165 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
As women ourselves, we know that women can be funny, powerful, capable of anything - but also complicated… and messy! We want to see ourselves depicted as we truly are, which is why we’re making a show full of awesome, complex women and their adventures in a small town improv class.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We’re Paige and Courtney, a female writer-filmmaker team living in Los Angeles. We created the web series Comedic Timing starring an ensemble cast of women. Real women! Women who are complicated and funny and weird in their own special ways, just like the ones we all know and love. We are committed to hiring a diverse and mostly female crew to bring this show to life.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Comedic Timing is a comedy web series centered around an improv teacher who helps her all-women class in a small town sort out their personal lives as her own careens out of control.
CHARACTERS
HELEN moves back to Pennsylvania after failing to “make it big” in Chicago and decides to start an all-women improv class. There, she makes it her mission to help the women in her class:
DEMI, a shy teen struggling to break out of her shell, and not helped by her hovering mom.
TRISH, the hoverer in question, and the morality police of the group.
SAMANTHA, a transwoman who recently came out and is looking for a place where she can be herself.
CLAIRE, a student of drama, always preparing for her next major role.
And PAM, a quiet housewife, who believes the only way to save her marriage is to spice up her life.
They all look to Helen for guidance. But Helen’s in need of some guidance herself. When Helen’s personal life gets out of control, can she keep it from tearing apart the community she fought so hard to create?
THE WORLD
This ain’t exactly UCB. Helen holds her very small improv class in the back of her brother’s dingy restaurant. Her style of improv isn’t about dick jokes or doing the best accents (don’t get us wrong, we love dick jokes, especially if they’re told with an accent). Helen is all about the therapeutic, healing power of improv comedy; how transforming into someone else on stage reveals truths about yourself.
These revelatory, human moments are the foundation of our show. And they’re set against the ridiculous landscape of physically awkward improv games like the human knot and the universally beloved zip zap zop.
WHY WE NEED TO MAKE THIS
Because Paige went to a three hour stand up comedy show last weekend and saw only one female comedian. Because Samantha Bee must be feeling lonely amongst all those late night dudes. Because John Belushi used to sabotage the sketches of female writers so they wouldn’t make it to air. Because the executive vice president of Adult Swim, Mike Lazo, once explained, “When you have women in the writers room, you don’t get comedy, you get conflict.” Because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are exceptions (fantastic exceptions). Because we want to explore the magic that happens when a bunch of women explore comedy together.
WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR
Our proposed budget is $10K. We are gathering a great (majority female) cast and crew, and, though this is a passion project for us, we want to be able to offer everyone else involved something for their services.
Sure, we want your money - #capitalism and all - but we would also be honored to have your support during the whole process! We would love for you to follow and share the journey we’re about to take to bring Comedic Timing from the page to the screen.
We are so excited to make this show, but we also hope to make many, many more, and we want you to be part of our audience not just on this project, but on the ones we haven’t even dreamed up yet!
So follow our Seed & Spark campaign, our Facebook, our Instagram, send us handwritten letters by carrier pigeon, tell a friend or two about this crazy endeavour… We're in this together! Welcome to our team!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Camera Package
Costs $800
We'll certainly be needing one of these!
Crew
Costs $2,500
We'll need a team to pull this off!
Cast
Costs $2,500
And we'll need an amazing cast
Meals
Costs $1,000
And we'll have to feed everyone on set!
Location
Costs $1,700
We'll need the perfect place to film the show!
Insurance
Costs $700
To protect our equipment, cast and crew
Lights
Costs $800
So we can see what we're filming :)
Share this update!
About This Team
Courtney Hope Therond is a writer, director, and queen of sass who graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where her film Sex & German Grammar won awards for screenwriting and cinematography. After NYU she completed a Cinereach Film Fellowship focusing on social justice storytelling. Courtney has written and directed short films which have screened at several film festivals including Palm Springs, Indie Memphis, Sidewalk, St Louis, and Citizen Jane. She was a finalist at the Austin Film Festival and Screencraft with her web series script Between Us Girls, and winner of the 2017 Cinestory web series category. Her latest short film Desert Prayer is currently in post-production. When not writing or directing she can be found assistant directing (#TypeA), scheming with friends about future projects, or gawking at strangers’ dogs.
Paige VanTassell has watched 30 Rock start to finish probably 20 times, so you know she has good taste. She has spent a ridiculous amount of time doing improv comedy over the past three years, first starting at Charlotte Comedy Theater in her native state of North Carolina, and then taking classes at Upright Citizens Brigade and iOWest (R.I.P.) after moving to Los Angeles last year. She is currently on an independent team, Cancun!, that plays weekly at the indie theater The Clubhouse. Paige's sitcom pilot was a Semifinalist at the Austin Film Festival in 2017, and her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt spec script was a finalist in the 2017 Cinestory Foundation Television Competition.
Courtney and Paige met in a romantic fashion: fireside in Idyllwild, California, at the Cinestory writers retreat. There, they talked about their dreams and wondered what they’d be serving for dinner. While they can’t remember what dinner was, they do remember the start of an awesome partnership and a silly joke shared on the drive back from the retreat that slowly evolved into what is now Comedic Timing.
Colin Trevino-Odell is a multipotentialite living in Los Angeles. He received a BA in theater and film from Humboldt State University where he was the Producing Artistic Director of Improv Anonymous and first learned the importance of comedy. Above all else, Colin is a fan of comedy. As a graduate of The Second City conservatory in Chicago, iO Chicago, and UCB LA, he has devoted much of his life to this artform and the idea that comedy is a force for good in this world. As a producer, he strives to bring funny people and projects to their full potential, and to tap into the particular capacity of comedic works.
Allison Powell grew up in Apex, NC where she would perform any place, any time. Since moving to Los Angeles, Allison has expanded her work to include both producing and writing as creative outlets. Her recent short film BLACK WIDOW: ORIGINS got rave reviews from Movie Pilot News and is touring the country with Geek Film Fest. Recent producing credits include BnB, +, and Another Round. In February she completed her first feature, Banging Lanie, as producer/director/lead.
Cheryl Beadling loves velociraptors, Good House Keeping magazine, and Will Ferrell. When she's not trying to crash Wine Mixers in Catalina, you can find her in front of a computer screen either writing, editing, or watching The Office for the 17th time. Cheryl graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Cinema and has been working in post-production ever since. She's worked on a number of TV shows whose content runs the gambit from travel shows filled with slow-mo beach shots, to building shows where tattooed badasses make sofa canopies for kittens. Although she's worked on projects and shows across various genres, she always seems to find her way back to her one true love: comedy.
Haley Weaver is an artist based out of Seattle, WA. She has shared over 400 drawings on her Instagram account @haleydrewthis and has been featured on accounts including New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Beautycon.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We’re Paige and Courtney, a female writer-filmmaker team living in Los Angeles. We created the web series Comedic Timing starring an ensemble cast of women. Real women! Women who are complicated and funny and weird in their own special ways, just like the ones we all know and love. We are committed to hiring a diverse and mostly female crew to bring this show to life.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Comedic Timing is a comedy web series centered around an improv teacher who helps her all-women class in a small town sort out their personal lives as her own careens out of control.
CHARACTERS
HELEN moves back to Pennsylvania after failing to “make it big” in Chicago and decides to start an all-women improv class. There, she makes it her mission to help the women in her class:
DEMI, a shy teen struggling to break out of her shell, and not helped by her hovering mom.
TRISH, the hoverer in question, and the morality police of the group.
SAMANTHA, a transwoman who recently came out and is looking for a place where she can be herself.
CLAIRE, a student of drama, always preparing for her next major role.
And PAM, a quiet housewife, who believes the only way to save her marriage is to spice up her life.
They all look to Helen for guidance. But Helen’s in need of some guidance herself. When Helen’s personal life gets out of control, can she keep it from tearing apart the community she fought so hard to create?
THE WORLD
This ain’t exactly UCB. Helen holds her very small improv class in the back of her brother’s dingy restaurant. Her style of improv isn’t about dick jokes or doing the best accents (don’t get us wrong, we love dick jokes, especially if they’re told with an accent). Helen is all about the therapeutic, healing power of improv comedy; how transforming into someone else on stage reveals truths about yourself.
These revelatory, human moments are the foundation of our show. And they’re set against the ridiculous landscape of physically awkward improv games like the human knot and the universally beloved zip zap zop.
WHY WE NEED TO MAKE THIS
Because Paige went to a three hour stand up comedy show last weekend and saw only one female comedian. Because Samantha Bee must be feeling lonely amongst all those late night dudes. Because John Belushi used to sabotage the sketches of female writers so they wouldn’t make it to air. Because the executive vice president of Adult Swim, Mike Lazo, once explained, “When you have women in the writers room, you don’t get comedy, you get conflict.” Because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are exceptions (fantastic exceptions). Because we want to explore the magic that happens when a bunch of women explore comedy together.
WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR
Our proposed budget is $10K. We are gathering a great (majority female) cast and crew, and, though this is a passion project for us, we want to be able to offer everyone else involved something for their services.
Sure, we want your money - #capitalism and all - but we would also be honored to have your support during the whole process! We would love for you to follow and share the journey we’re about to take to bring Comedic Timing from the page to the screen.
We are so excited to make this show, but we also hope to make many, many more, and we want you to be part of our audience not just on this project, but on the ones we haven’t even dreamed up yet!
So follow our Seed & Spark campaign, our Facebook, our Instagram, send us handwritten letters by carrier pigeon, tell a friend or two about this crazy endeavour… We're in this together! Welcome to our team!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Camera Package
Costs $800
We'll certainly be needing one of these!
Crew
Costs $2,500
We'll need a team to pull this off!
Cast
Costs $2,500
And we'll need an amazing cast
Meals
Costs $1,000
And we'll have to feed everyone on set!
Location
Costs $1,700
We'll need the perfect place to film the show!
Insurance
Costs $700
To protect our equipment, cast and crew
Lights
Costs $800
So we can see what we're filming :)
Share this update!
About This Team
Courtney Hope Therond is a writer, director, and queen of sass who graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where her film Sex & German Grammar won awards for screenwriting and cinematography. After NYU she completed a Cinereach Film Fellowship focusing on social justice storytelling. Courtney has written and directed short films which have screened at several film festivals including Palm Springs, Indie Memphis, Sidewalk, St Louis, and Citizen Jane. She was a finalist at the Austin Film Festival and Screencraft with her web series script Between Us Girls, and winner of the 2017 Cinestory web series category. Her latest short film Desert Prayer is currently in post-production. When not writing or directing she can be found assistant directing (#TypeA), scheming with friends about future projects, or gawking at strangers’ dogs.
Paige VanTassell has watched 30 Rock start to finish probably 20 times, so you know she has good taste. She has spent a ridiculous amount of time doing improv comedy over the past three years, first starting at Charlotte Comedy Theater in her native state of North Carolina, and then taking classes at Upright Citizens Brigade and iOWest (R.I.P.) after moving to Los Angeles last year. She is currently on an independent team, Cancun!, that plays weekly at the indie theater The Clubhouse. Paige's sitcom pilot was a Semifinalist at the Austin Film Festival in 2017, and her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt spec script was a finalist in the 2017 Cinestory Foundation Television Competition.
Courtney and Paige met in a romantic fashion: fireside in Idyllwild, California, at the Cinestory writers retreat. There, they talked about their dreams and wondered what they’d be serving for dinner. While they can’t remember what dinner was, they do remember the start of an awesome partnership and a silly joke shared on the drive back from the retreat that slowly evolved into what is now Comedic Timing.
Colin Trevino-Odell is a multipotentialite living in Los Angeles. He received a BA in theater and film from Humboldt State University where he was the Producing Artistic Director of Improv Anonymous and first learned the importance of comedy. Above all else, Colin is a fan of comedy. As a graduate of The Second City conservatory in Chicago, iO Chicago, and UCB LA, he has devoted much of his life to this artform and the idea that comedy is a force for good in this world. As a producer, he strives to bring funny people and projects to their full potential, and to tap into the particular capacity of comedic works.
Allison Powell grew up in Apex, NC where she would perform any place, any time. Since moving to Los Angeles, Allison has expanded her work to include both producing and writing as creative outlets. Her recent short film BLACK WIDOW: ORIGINS got rave reviews from Movie Pilot News and is touring the country with Geek Film Fest. Recent producing credits include BnB, +, and Another Round. In February she completed her first feature, Banging Lanie, as producer/director/lead.
Cheryl Beadling loves velociraptors, Good House Keeping magazine, and Will Ferrell. When she's not trying to crash Wine Mixers in Catalina, you can find her in front of a computer screen either writing, editing, or watching The Office for the 17th time. Cheryl graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Cinema and has been working in post-production ever since. She's worked on a number of TV shows whose content runs the gambit from travel shows filled with slow-mo beach shots, to building shows where tattooed badasses make sofa canopies for kittens. Although she's worked on projects and shows across various genres, she always seems to find her way back to her one true love: comedy.
Haley Weaver is an artist based out of Seattle, WA. She has shared over 400 drawings on her Instagram account @haleydrewthis and has been featured on accounts including New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Beautycon.