We Now Welcome You Back to the Gripping Finale of the 'We Need Girlfriends' Interview Series

As you've probably guessed, today's finale is with no other than Brian Amyot, a man who wears so many (figurative) hats with We Need Girlfriends, that it's amazing his hair stays so great. Brian was one of the first friends I met in college, so it's either symbolic, or coincidental that he's the last person I interview. I haven't decided yet.

Because I Should Have Picked A Shorter Name For This Blog Didn't Want to Go To Grad School Interviews:

Brian Amyot!

Note: The font size is being screwy. Thanks, Blogger

Fun Facts: Like I said, Brian was one of my first friends, we met working at Hofstra's Athletic Communication's office, doing stats and press for all the sports games. Brian, too, lived in the attic of a Sorority house. Brian's directorial debut is called "The Next Day". I own it on VHS and will eBay it to the highest bidder. I've never been in a car driven by Brian. "Blazin' Movie Night" is one of the best collegiate programs ever organized by a human being and Brian was a big part of it. We had a semi-homicidal co-worker. Brian lived in the same exact dorm room for all 4 years of college. The man makes the most delicious party punch of all time. He's like Rachel Ray only if Rachel Ray were tall, blonde, a dude, not annoying, and the only ingredient she used was Devil's Spring 160 Proof Vodka.

The Interview!

Jeff: What's your typical role in an episode from beginning to end?

Brian: I am basically on the phone the whole time. I am the liaison to the cast. I always find out when the cast is available to shoot and work closely with Angel on scheduling the best date. I keep the cast up to date on what is going on, what our plans are, and try to deal with any concerns they have. I am also heavily involved in the auditioning/casting of any new actors. I also have the job of finding and securing the locations for every episode. Much of the show takes place in the guy's apartment, which is my apartment. But we make a conscious effort to get them out and at new locations in every episode. We like to put them "on location" to give the show a much more "real" feel. This usually involves calls, but also involves a lot of foot work. If we are looking for a restaurant, bar, or supermarket, I'll walk around town knocking on doors pitching the shoot to people until I can talk someone into letting us shoot at their establishment, apartment, etc. Then I have to convince them to let us do it for free.

I have, so far, directed 6 episodes. On the episodes I direct my duties extend to the typical directorial tasks. Working with the actors on set, determining the shots with the cinematographer, etc. Whoever is directing will be the person in charge of making the main creative decisions.

How our post-production typically works is one of the three of us will take the lead on editing the episode and due the majority of the cutting. After we have a rough cut, everyone will join in with there opinions and suggestions and we will work it down to a fine cut. When we are satisfied, I will do the sound mix. The three of us will then get together after the mix and take our "last looks" and decide if there are any changes to be made at the last minute.

Jeff: What's the biggest fire you've put out in a WNG production?

Brian: I guess I don't really have one good specific story, but honestly, every episode is kind of a fire to put out. We have a set deadline, the 1 st of the month, we have to have a new episode ready. We don't get paid, we all work full time jobs, and no actors, crew, or locations get paid. So just to put it all together and be ready each month for a new episode, coordinating schedules, getting locations, finding time to edit, it's like a fire every month.

Jeff: Webisodes are all the rage. Would you like to work more in this medium. What about TV or Film?

Brian: I have always loved feature films, and I wanted to work in that realm exclusively. However, the industry is changing and my opinions have changed with it. I think webseries are great. They are very good method to tell a story and have the ability for millions of people to easily access it. And you get to tell a story in small parts, making it easy for people to download and watch anywhere at anytime. Even a few years ago, this concept was not something that was even on my radar, but now someone can walk around with a whole season of my show on an iPod in their pocket. That is a very exciting possibility. Since doing a webseries, I have definitely become more interested in working in episodic television, it has been an enjoyable experience and would love the chance to expand upon it.

Jeff: Say I get fired from my job for "accidentally" writing "Go fuck yourself, Boston" in a script. What are the odds of me getting cast in WNG?

Brian: I'd say not bad. More than anything else, we look for characters, and you sir, are certainly a character. Plus, one of our strengths is writing for who we know.

Jeff: You guys might move to LA. Who would be who if you were in Entourage?

Brian: I think there is no question about it, I would be Eric. He's the glue that holds it all together, and he's smart, street smart and people smart. He is a bit of a pushover though; I wouldn't be such a pushover. Dare to dream…

Jeff: Angel and Steve sometimes mix like oil and water. How do you keep them in check?

Brian: I definitely have to play the moderator or mediator. They will kill me for saying this, but they are like an old married couple. They fight and argue all the time, but its usually out of love. They have almost completely different opinions on everything, but they both know how to make our show good, so its just about getting through the battle and finding what makes the show the best. One thing about me is, it takes a lot to get me truly mad, and it takes even more to make me yell. Steve and Angel are both pretty volatile, they are both probably somewhere right now yelling at each other. I'm very calm, and work hard being able to calm them both down, because in the end we all the want the same thing. Plus, because I know them so well, I find them very funny. I like to laugh, and I can just laugh about it, my life is like watching an episode of the show.

Jeff: Have you had any crazy fan interactions yet?

Brian: I hear that the actors get recognized on the street quite often, it has sort of happened to me once. However, running the MySpace pages gets pretty crazy. I run the Tom page, as well as, help keep the WNG main page up to date. What I find very funny is there are people who think the characters are real, and ask them for dating advice, but if you've seen the show, clearly the guys are not the experts. I love the fans!

Jeff: Do you have a dream guest star?

Brian: There really are so many. I'd love to have Jason Bateman on as Tom or Henry's fun Uncle. I'd also love to have Jeff Bridges as Tom's father. The list of blondes that I would like to have on the show as love interests for the guys is too long to type.

Jeff: Where do you see the guys in 10 years

Brian: Strangely enough, I see Rod as being married. I know what you might be thinking, "wouldn't he be the last get married?" He plays like he'll be the perennial bachelor, but I think he's gonna get himself in a situation where he has to marry a girl or she'll stop having sex with him, he'll choose marriage thinking its "till death" and he'll outlive everyone anyways.

Parting Words

So friends, I hope you've enjoyed your foray into the world of my blog and, more importantly, the world of We Need Girlfriends. Team Ragtag has been so generous to me. Short story, they got me a Super Troopers poster signed by every member of Broken Lizard even though I wasn't able to attend this signing. This was the first (and debatably only) thing my girlfriend liked about me. So, I'm forever indebted to Brian, Angel and Steve (or at least until Katelyn dumps me).

WNG is definitely going places and we should all be stoked that we are in on the ground floor and can watch this thing grow. We'll be like the people who saw U2 at their first US show at the Paradise in Boston, only not pretentious douchebags.

We Need Girlfriends: Episode 9, premieres on July 1st at 12:01AM EST. You can watch it on their website, MySpace, YouTube, iTunes. Fuck, they show this thing everywhere. Remember to be at the side of some random warehouse in Astoria at 12:01 where they'll project the latest episode of WNG. All jokes aside, watch it, laugh, come back here to talk about it and thanks for reading!