The Over Easy Courthouse Cafe web series is about finding the family to support your dreams.  It is a sit-com, a show that presents life in fictional situations to make us laugh.  But to us, the makers of Over Easy, it is a real place with real people who help each other live their dreams. 

This dream starts with us, Roxanne, Tiffany and Enku.  We are actors and had been saying for years that we were going work together on a project.  We were sitting in a coffee shop on a mid-winter evening in 2015, dreaming about a sit-com.  What would it be about?   Then, we asked a friend Henry, a playwright, if he was interested in writing a sit-com episode.  He had never written a sit-com, but in 24 hours, he had the idea of three women starting their lives over by opening a cafe, and wrote a draft of the pilot.  Several months later,  over lunch, Henry introduced us to our characters, Sayo, April and Billy, respectively, and the Over Easy Courthouse Cafe.  We loved the

stories and were determined to create the web series.  We didn't have the money to hire professionals so, of course, we invited friends and family to join us.   Our acting friends were willing to be crew and other friends just wanted to help out.  Some had experience on a set but no one had experience making a sit-com, including our director, DP, and Editor.   Over Easy was a crazy dream for all of us.  We were fortunate to have Stoughton Media Access Corp. (SMAC)  Board of Directors allow us to build a coffee shop set in their Studio B.  Also, the Studio Manager, Michael Hammond and Access Coordinator, Dave Young generously volunteered their time on shoot days.  We were lucky enough to find a broken commercial coffee maker at a flea market and old kitchen cabinets on the side of the road to build into one of the counters.  Tiffany designed and drew the menu boards.  She came up with awesome menu items such as, "Bail Me Out Burgers."  We turned Studio B into the Over Easy Courthouse Cafe - "A sanctuary... to leave the out there, out there."

Henry put wheels on the counters so they could be moved when we weren't shooting.

Dave Young inspects the set.

Although we didn't make it our goal for the production, we are extremely proud of the diversity of the cast and crew.  Our director for season one, Sharon, and the lead actors are women of color.  Members of the cast and crew are 0 or first generation from many countries, including Grenada, Holland, Phillippines, Ethiopia, Russia, Colombia and Nairobi.  We can't thank Henry enough for writing stories that were primarily about women, and 8 out of 14 speaking roles were for women including a lawyer and a judge.   Many crew positions were filled by women including, Script Supervisor, Sound Assistant, First AD, HMUA, and Production Assistants.  We were also very diverse in the ages of the cast and crew.  There were people from their teen's to their 60's in front of and behind the camera.  In season 2, we are continuing to make the Over Easy Courthouse Cafe web series a highly diverse production.   Our show demonstrates people of all types working together as a family to create stories. 

Our first day on the set was Halloween, and we were so excited!  It felt more like Christmas!!  We were shooting the pilot and you can see the excitement in that episode.  We learned a lot in the first shoot and you can see the increasing quality of the subsequent episodes. 

Here is a behind the scenes story:  Tiffany (she plays April) was pregnant while we were shooting episodes 3 through 6.  We thought we would be done with the shoot before she became obviously pregnant and her apron would hide her bump.  As it turns out, she showed pretty quickly, and she had to wear the apron loosely in order to be comfortable.  Now, due to cast availability, we had to shoot the episodes out of order, so, in a couple of the earlier episodes, Tiffany is more pregnant than the later episodes.  Her son, PK, is in our pitch video!

Season one had six episodes which were ready to release November 2017.  Episode 3 has been submitted to festivals and has been selected in festivals in India and Portland, OR so far!

Left to right: Back - Michael Maggiani (Merlin), Roxanne Morse (Sayo/Producer), Tiffany Crosby (April), Sharon Squires (Director), Henry Gravelle (Creator/ Writer), Kate Avallone (Attorney Rich), Jack Gordon Schultz (Dalton Bagg), Dale F. Appel (Slate), Michael Wigdor (Camera Operator), Debbie Rosencranz (Casting Director).  Front - Jake Swartz (Sound Mixer), Andy Crosby (Editor/Camera Operator), Tim Jackson (Derrick Bagg), Jeff Kamps (Boom), Kristin Riopelle (Script Supervisor), Maria Cristina Ochoa (HMUA).

We didn't know what we would have at the end of this process and it is so gratifying to step back and see that we created a new world for characters to dream, grow and flourish.  It has been a wonderful journey for us, Henry, Sharon, Andy and all the actors and crew.  

The Over Easy Courthouse Cafe is a place for people to celebrate the end of one life and the start of another one.  In season one, the cafe was the place for new love, new skills, new life.  In season two, there will be challenges for April, Billy and Sayo which will move them closer to their dreams!  We are seeking contributions to add details to the cafe, to add characters, and to continue to increase the quality of the production by hiring some experienced crew.  We hope you enjoyed our story about the making of the Over Easy Courthouse Cafe Web Series and will help us make season 2!

Warmest regards,

Roxanne, Tiffany and Enku