A web series that former Chicago ad agency CD/screenwriter Colin Costello, now living in LA, helped develop and write has started principal photography and will debut online Jan. 15, 2016.
The new LGBT-targeted digital series, “Lost N’ Found,” was created by and stars LA actress/producers Ashley Ann Alvarado and Brenna Leigh Noguez with whom Costello has been working for almost a year.
The series of 15-minute episodes focuses on a group of five LA-based 20-something friends who are in the midst of finding themselves, notes Costello, whose screenplay, “Deerly Beloved” wedding comedy won the 2015 ScreenCraft Comedy Screenplay Contest earlier this year.
“The series reflects the way our friendships and relationships are today. Some of our friends are gay. Some aren’t. Some are male. Some are female. This is ‘Friends’ for this generation,” he says.
Making her directorial debut with the series is Chicagoan Monica Zaffarano, who last winter moved her A Zaffarano Productions to LA while continuing to maintain an office here.
Zaffarano says she’s excited about being involved in the series for a number of reasons. “I’ve been in front and in back of the camera for years. And I’ve always had a passion and a drive to explore new territories. The chance to direct this talented cast allows me to fulfill another dream.
“I also believe that this is an important story that needs to be told. The series is really about acceptance, a theme that I’ve always gravitated towards.”
Zaffarano is co-producing with Costello, Alvarado and Noguez.
Chicagoans brought in by Zaffarano to work on the series include DP Kacper Skowron; Parde Bridgett, first AD; Stacy Quackenbush, head of wardrobe and Christina Culinski, hair and makeup.
Initial financing for “Love N’ Found” came via an LGBT-oriented crowdfunding site called Pink Start.
Costello’s PBS series, “Moochie Kalala Detective Club,” produced by Dreaming Tree Productions that ran on WTTW/11 earlier this year is a 2015 Midwest Emmy nominee.
Costello can be reached at colin1@spamarrest.com.
