1 post tagged “apples”

1.-How did you come up with APPLES?

Not long ago we started to write some scripts, both film and TV scripts. All of them tried to follow the very first maxim that we were taught at the scriptwriting institute: script projects which can be easily produced, that is to say, that are economic. In spite of that, all doors remained shut. That’s why we decided to change our strategy and to design, produce, and self-finance our own project and to do so in the Internet, the only place nowadays where there is no need to ask for permission to do something. In this way, we came up with the product, the broadcasting space and the target audience. The idea itself stems from our witnessing of similar serials which had also been designed for Internet free-access. Also, the fact that there exists an important gap in the media production of serials with a gay and lesbian content, and a target audience which eventually needs to find refuge in American and British serials. This audience has been largely neglected. From the point of view of creativity, APPLES was a very attractive project, because there are virtually no products of its nature. This is the origin of APPLES, the first Spanish serial about lesbians.

2.-Who is behind the project?

Olga Martí and Verónica Segoviano are at the head of the project and responsible for the original idea, the script, and the development of the serial. The project has been financed by Amparo Piquer and Verónica Segoviano. And there is also a huge group of young professional people who have contributed their work and enthusiasm to make this project a reality on an almost inexistent budget. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them once more. Without their work and optimism APPLES would not have been possible. Behind APPLES there is neither a media producer nor a broadcasting company. We are totally independent. What does this mean? It simply means that we have been able to work with an utter creative freedom, being able to ignore the tyranny of audience shares, and the pressures of advertising companies.

3.-Why did you choose that name?

The name has several sources. On the one hand, apples are a type of fruit that has traditionally been associated with women. On the other hand, apples are also related to young people and a healthy lifestyle. But above all, apples are an everyday life product, and far from being exotic, they can be found in every household.

From the socio-political point of view, it was our intention to highlight the lack of respect, intelligence, and sensibility that some social and political groups have shown towards homosexuals. This attitude found its spokesperson in the wife of former Spanish president Aznar, who rejected gay marriage by saying that the addition of two apples would always result in two apples, while the addition of an apple and a pear, being different components, would never result in two apples. Such an awkward and hilarious attempt to justify her rejection of gay marriage has set people talking and has given rise to all sort of jokes in the public arena.

4.-Why on the Internet?

Using the Internet as a broadcasting space is not an option anymore, but rather a must. Internet has changed the way in which the entertainment industry produces and distributes its products. Moreover, since its onset, Internet has been the preferred channel for the LGBT community to express and share all types of content. In this regard, serials like APPLES and the like are a logical and almost inevitable step forward in this idiosyncratic relationship between the LGBT community and the Internet. There is still one more reason that motivates the choice of Internet as a distribution channel: its low cost. Internet is the ideal vehicle to launch low budget products which do not have the support of networks or television production companies. In this way middlemen can be avoided. Up to date only those projects which counted on the support of a network could become a reality. The rest would be forgotten at the bottom of a drawer. But this is not the case anymore.

5.-Which is the biggest obstacle you’ve come across in the development of the project?

We are scriptwriters and we’ve found ourselves approaching the rest of the production needs as real beginners. We have been in control of the writing, the pre-production, the shooting, and the post-production of the serial, as well as of the promotion campaign and the web maintenance. It could be that this is the best way to start in the world of cinema, up to our necks into the project. The biggest obstacle, as usual, has been the budget. We counted on very limited economic resources which were just enough to cover the minimum costs of the shooting. We have been able to overcome this problem thanks to the flexibility of each and every one of the people involved in the project. This has been a risky adventure. It has to be taken into account that we have not followed the orthodox channels of audiovisual production, since we have self-financed the complete serial (not just the pilot in order to look for outside financing) and we have not had the support of a media advertising campaign prior to the airing of the serial. We didn’t know if we would be capable of finishing the project, but eventually we have managed to complete the product at zero-cost for the audience.

6.-What makes APPLES different from other serials about lesbians?

There are several aspects in which it differs from the others. Firstly, this is an independent product, free from outside pressures and which only follows the dictates of our own creative freedom and the market’s needs.

Secondly, the structure and dramatic development of the serial has been designed from the onset bearing in mind that it was going to be distributed via the Internet. The duration of each chapter is, however, a bit longer than what is usually the case in other Internet serials. This has been done in order to be able to fill them up with content and thus to attract people interested in a serial with a full narrative progression. The main difference though has to do with the story that is being told. Most of the other serials spin around what it means to be gay and the stories are build around stereotypes. APPLES has made a choice for a costumbrist fiction and it tells about the everyday life and relationships of its characters, everything being told from the point of view of a group of lesbian students. Our aim is to get to the highest number of people, to be efficient but from a new angle, because the fact that the characters are lesbians is just a trait, a perspective, but not the theme or the point of the serial. Another aspect that sets APPLES apart from other serials is that it has been written in a comic key. We try hard to avoid stereotypes and when we include them, we do it ironically and some times even make use of parody. Although our target audience consists mainly of homosexual people, we honestly believe that APPLES can reach a wider audience, in accordance with the present day social and cultural reality. We understood APPLES from the beginning as an innovation and a challenge, as an opportunity. We only had to dare.

7.-Which has been the reaction of the LGBT community?

The serial has been generally welcomed, though the reaction has not been neither massive, nor enthusiastic. We truly respect and praise the amazing work that is being carried out by LGBT media and associations. We wanted to make our own particular contribution by means of APPLES. There was no representation of the lesbian community in any serial. At least as far as the Spanish-speaking world was concerned. We wanted to fill in this gap in order to satisfy the demand and to offer some referents to a community which had been largely neglected by the media. Somehow we would like to think that people were waiting for APPLES in an unconscious sort of way.

8.-APPLES has also become well-known in the English-speaking world. When did you came up with the idea of adding English subtitles?

We had that in mind from the beginning. We are bold, we want to reach other markets. Since we are often invaded by English-speaking products, we have also decided to approach the global market and to be a referent to other countries. There it is Latin America, there it is the rest of the world ready to be offered new products. There is a demand and if one chooses Internet as the distribution channel because of its potential, then one has to use the “official” language of that channel (English). The point is to reach all the corners of the world. Thanks to the English subtitles our audience belongs to countries as diverse as China, Singapore, Norway, or Turkey, among many others.

9.- Is there anything our readers can do to help promote the serial?

In order for the serial to keep growing and developing, it is essential to have an audience. The best support we can get is people watching the serial and speaking about it. We’d like to point out that we firmly believe that the audience is free and that we respect their choices and opinions. Our project is a small one, we have few resources and little budget, but it is rich in illusion and unselfish efforts. We think that it is a good thing to support this and other serials of the kind because this is a way in which we can broaden the audience’s choice. Representation of diversity should be a basic cultural aim. APPLES is an attempt to modestly fill up a long-time gap.

10.- Up to this moment, is the reaction of the audience fulfilling your expectations?

Once more I’d like to highlight the fact that the promotion of the serial has proven a hard work due to our limited resources, both as regards budget and work force, but so far the reaction of the audience has been excellent. Nevertheless, we hope to keep growing. We have not reached our ceiling yet. APPLES is our present to the audience.

11.-Do you intend to continue with the project beyond the seven episodes of the first season?

This is hard to say, because it does not only depend on us. We’ve made a huge effort to materialise this first season and it will be difficult to count on the same resources for a second season. It is true, however, that the structural design of the serial leaves the door open to the possibility of a second season.

The future usually gives back revenue for a well-done job. But the situation of the market also needs to be taken into account. For the moment, we hope to collect the experience coming from this first season. We will listen to the audience and then we will try to find the peace and the supports to design and write the second season. The characters still have a lot to say…

Olga Martí y Verónica Segoviano

The last episode

Le premier

Le second

Le troisième

Le quatrième

Le cinquième

Le sixième