We were lucky to catch up with Selyna Warren Marissa Read recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Selyna Warren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project that we’ve worked on is the one we’re currently working on! It’s called Step-Friend, and it’s an episodic proof of concept that will also double as a standalone short film. The premise is: Millennial BFFs, Darby (played by Selyna) and Scout (played by Marissa), are closer than sisters… until Darby marries Scout’s dad and becomes her same-age stepmom. Through this subversive multi-cam with a heavy flavor of nostalgia, we explore the theme that sometimes friends are meant to be family.
The reason this project is so meaningful is because it was a TV idea we were excited about early on in our career. When we signed with our first really big agency, it was what we pitched them and became the first show we took out. We were so green in our careers that we didn’t have the maturity to understand the strength in grounding the show more. The bones of the show were always there, but we were missing the deep heart. We ended up developing the show two different ways: one for network TV and one for cable. Neither sold, and we were disheartened because it was our favorite idea and felt like a true calling card for us as writers, directors, and most passionately, actors.
We decided to table Step-Friend and went on to work on multiple TV shows and features, but something in the back of our brains wouldn’t let us forget Step-Friend. After participating in the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival’s AT&T Untold Stories Program, we met a group of filmmakers who really inspired us to create our own opportunities and stop waiting for permission. We decided to rewrite Step-Friend as a 15-page proof of concept that we could direct and act in, and eventually re-expose to the market. We tried our luck with some program submissions and became a top 20 finalist for Netflix’s Proof of Concept Accelerator Program with Step-Friend. This reassured us that we were on the right path.
To bring this show to life, we decided to do something we swore we would never do: a crowdfunding campaign. On July 7th, we launched our Indiegogo campaign and 15 days later, we are 35% funded. Simultaneously, we are fundraising through Creative Visions, a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor and through that endeavor, we are 50% to our goal. Our overall budget is $70,000. Part of what has made this such a meaningful process is watching our loved ones, our community, and even strangers come forward to support us in such a major way. We know times are tough for everyone, which makes each contribution even more touching.
Check out more of what the show entails by following us at @stepfriend_show on Instagram or by visiting our campaign at https://igg.me/at/stepfriendshow/x/32741787#/
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Selyna Warren and Marissa Read make up the multi-hyphenate team S&M. We share a love for comedy and want to create content we can act in and direct. We met at AMDA, a musical theatre conservatory and have been creatively co-dependent ever since. Our brand is R-rated comedy nostalgia. We both started our careers as primarily actors. Marissa’s focus was on indie and student films, whereas Selyna buried herself within the comedy scene of the Groundlings. When we realized that neither of us were down with waiting for the phone to ring, we decided to start writing our own material.
Not too long after, we sold our first show to AwesomenessTV and it was called Foursome. We were thrust into showrunning positions and had to learn quickly as neither of us had traditional writing room experience. After writing all of Season One, we spent the next three seasons as show-runners, EP’s, and eventually added directing to the docket, directing three episodes, including the finale of the latest season. Our 4th and last season premiered on Youtube Premium, making it the network’s longest running series.
After Foursome, we went on to to sell TV and features to companies like Tristar, American High, Sony, Nickelodeon, and more. We are currently pitching a film with the Cobra Kai team (Counterbalance), as well as developing with Kerner Media and Storied Entertainment. S&M are focusing on shooting a proof of concept for a new TV show idea – Step-Friend and will be filming this fall. Follow @stepfriend_show on Instagram for more info!
You can find Selyna acting on the tube on Black-ish, Shameless, Teachers, and I*iot Sitter. Look for Marissa in the indie film What We Can’t Have. Find them both on their website www.pitchwithabitch.com. Peep S&M in the heart of Burbank sippin’ slurpees at the Town Center Mall.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Our team’s mission is to create content we can act in. That’s why we started our careers as writers from the outset. We had to learn the tough lesson that, often as multi-hyphenates, you’re encouraged by those with power to stay in one lane and secure the sale. This has become even more prevalent with packaging being what it is now. In addition to shows needing to be fully cast— there also needs to be a director, a showrunner, and production companies attached —before even finding out if the buyer is interested in the concept. A lot of what is being made are reboots or based on IP. Don’t get us wrong, we LOVE a good ’80s/’90s blast from the past, but we think audiences are craving original material, and that drives us as well. We want to put out content that we want to watch and as actors… there’s nothing we want to watch more than ourselves. 😉
While the new landscape of fewer buyers and those buyers becoming more and more risk-averse could act as a deterrent, it’s actually empowered us. It’s fueled our ‘no eff’s to give’ attitude because artists have nothing to lose and everything to gain when they take chances on themselves. The mission of acting in our own material has only become easier because of our efforts in producing proof of concepts. Check out our latest – @stepfriend_show and support female led indie television.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
The year was 2007. Marissa and Selyna had just graduated from high school and made their way to La La Land from the Pacific Northwest and the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. They were gonna be famous! But first, they needed to learn how to tap dance! So they attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Marissa had becoming a pop star in her sights, while Selyna simply picked a school that had the shortest graduation time — just 1 year and 6 months!
Upon arrival, they were surprised to find that what made them popular in high school—being on the poms squad and sporting chunky highlights and belly button rings—made them outcasts in theatre school. Most of the students were bullied by girls like S&M when they were in high school, so S&M weren’t given the chance to show how “different” they were from stereotypical “in crowders”. Selyna and Marissa gravitated toward each other because of their similar interests… and lack of options.
Selyna briefly became an RA for reasons still unclear, but her tenure was short-lived after she joined a party instead of busting it. A photo of Selyna and Marissa drinking from a glass boot, posted on Facebook (thanks Kelsey!), led to Selyna’s dismissal and both girls being exiled to on-campus housing instead of the dreamy landscape of The Oakwood (RIP).
After graduation, they decided to continue making good choices together and moved into an apartment in the heart of Hollywood. Both pursued traditional acting avenues with little, or very random, success. Eventually, a manager thought he could sell S&M as a writing duo. They were a brunette and a blonde and that made sense! They began writing together and soon after, sold their first show.
S&M’s partnership is rooted in being BFF’s — even having been maids of honor at each other’s weddings— and this relationship influences their content, which revolves around female friendship. Even after all these years of being partners, living through the highs and lows, and SPLITTING PAYCHECKS… their bond remains strong. They love each other because if they don’t, who will? NOT HOLLYWOOD!
Catch their latest endeavor, Step-Friend, a show which focuses on loving your best friend SO MUCH that you marry their dad because he raised your most favorite person. The girls are crowdsourcing on Indiegogo until August 7th – https://igg.me/at/stepfriendshow/x/32741787#/ – and will continue on into the fall via their fiscal sponsor Creative Visions – https://creative-visions.networkforgood.com/projects/228600-step-friend-fundraiser
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pitchwithabitch.com
- Instagram: @stepfriend_show
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561170061798
- Other: https://igg.me/at/stepfriendshow/x/32741787#/
Image Credits
Photos by Fraser Read (@fraserreadphotography – www.fraserreadphotography.com)