Rule #1 of directing: stand around with a cup of coffee and look like you’re doing nothing important.

… especially when everyone around you is working hard.

Director of Photography Matt Knapp talks lighting with Nate Baker, as Sound Mixer Arthur Delaney checks his headphones.

Nate sets up a soft box.

Stand-ins are encouraged to cuddle.

Melissa Kaiser and Joe Bolenbaugh try out their first wardrobe choices.

… and their final choices.

Preparing for a take.

Production Manager Emily Barrett shields impressionable eyes from bedroom shenanigans.

Nothing spoils intimacy like a film crew.

Emily keeps an eye on that script.

The crew prepares to step outside on another warm, sunny autumn day.

Moments before the “Mary Poppins dance” is cut.

That fall foliage is worth getting a little soggy.

Director of Photography Matt Knapp.

Matt discovers that Production Managers make handy tripods.

Practicing safe sound.

Alicia (Melissa Kaiser) considers her next move.

Shooting Alicia.

Filming at Southpark in downtown Portland.

Cecily Overman reprises her Season 1 role as Julia (”Helmet!!”).

Cecily tries to navigate the chaos at Southpark.

The ridiculously lovable Melissa Kaiser.

Melissa and Cecily.

Melissa and Cecily rehearse with Bolton.

Bolton directs Melissa as Matt Knapp bites his lip.

Shooting Cecily.

Melissa really looks like she’s paying attention.

Emily waits for her cameo.

Look who gets to hold the camera!

Filming outside Southpark.

Leif Norby and Morgan Lee run lines from their iPhones.

Bolton directs Cecily and Melissa.

Sound team extraordinaire: Sound Mixer Arthur Delaney (left) and Boom Op Esteban Ortiz.

Cecily and Melissa rehearse in the cold, damp night air.

Bolton directs Leif and Morgan.

A Zen moment for Bolton, Esteban, and Matt.

Inside the Blue Monk with co-owner Tim Gallineau and new cast member Ben Plont.

Matt gets the lighting just right.

Arthur unspools as Bolton and Matt line up the shot.

Duncan Robertson and Emily Barrett stand in for Ben Plont and Lara Kobrin.

With only a couple of days between being cast and his first day of filming, Ben quickly learns his lines.

Extras being awesome.

Matt prepares for another take.

The Blue Monk’s basement, full of extras!

Arthur unravels, while Bolton sheds light.

The crew prepares for another day. (from left: Bolton, Emily, Cynthia Lopez, Duncan, Arthur)

New cast member Cassie Skauge wonders where her clothes went.

Cassie got to spend the day in bed. On film.

Morgan celebrates every good take by removing his pants. We’re used to it.

New cast member Ritah Parrish in the Rose City Coffeehouse.

The sirens of Rose City. (from left: Ritah Parrish, Lara Kobrin, Melissa Kaiser)

Ritah and Melissa between takes.

Esteban and Arthur between takes.

Don’t ask. It’s weird. (from left: Lara, Ritah, Arthur)

Preparing for the next take.

It’s the little details that make production design so important.

Arthur Delaney’s tantrums are a regular fixture of the shoot, beloved by all.

And that’s a wrap!

Nobody drowned (that we know of) and the production marches onward…

The new logo for the Rose City Coffeehouse.

Writer/director Chris A. Bolton enjoys a nice cup of coffee while Production Manager Emily Barrett does the real work.

New cast member Cassie Skauge poses with Melissa Kaiser (Alicia).

Melissa in the glamorous makeup trailer.

Stacy (Lara Kobrin) contemplates her future.

Lara and Melissa fight over who gets the first close-up.

Faking it for the camera.

The set.

Mitch (Morgan Lee) can’t believe he got talked into another season of this.

Mitch and Stacy bury the hatchet.

Director of Photography Matt Knapp confers with Bolton while Emily does the heavy lifting.

Production Manager Emily Barrett wonders how she got talked into this job. (Alcohol and blackmail may have been involved.)

Boom Op Cynthia Lopez with Morgan Lee.

Setting up the shot. (l to r: Cassie Skauge, Morgan Lee, Chris Bolton, Matt Knapp)

Mitch (Morgan Lee) meets Lily (Cassie Skauge).

Morgan gets into character.

Leif Norby has arrived on-set.

Dirk (Leif Norby) waits to wreak havoc.

Pleased with dailies. (l to r: Emily Barrett, Matt Knapp, Chris Bolton)

Morgan wants to know what these secret meetings are all about…

Bolton contemplates his infamous “lack of directorial style” while DP Matt Knapp thinks of all the better things he could be doing right now.

Lighting genius Gerry Lewis and Boom Op Esteban Ortiz demonstrate the nonstop excitement of filmmaking.

Sound Mixer Arthur Delaney and actress Melissa Kaiser.

Melissa and Cassie ask each other, “Who wrote this shit?!”

Emily, Arthur, and Cynthia chill for a few precious seconds.

Our beloved slate (made from a cheap plastic picture frame) lives on despite the near-fatal damage witnessed in the tragic blooper reel.

Shooting in the rain. (l to r: Sound Mixer Arthur Delaney, DP Matt Knapp, Boom Op Esteban Ortiz)

“That was perfect! Now do it better.” (l to r: Bolton, Melissa Kaiser, Cassie Skauge)

The crew at work. (l to r: Matt Knapp, Arthur Delaney, Esteban Ortiz, Gerry Lewis)

The crew prepares to get drenched for another shot. (l to r: Matt Knapp, Emily Barrett, Arthur Delaney, Esteban Ortiz)

Emily to Bolton: “You said the goat sacrifice would appease the angry gods and stop the rain!”

The scripts are always regarded with the utmost care and respect.

Thanks for stopping by — come again!

We’re joined by a cinematographer, Matt Knapp of Grammar School Pictures, and a production manager, the ridiculously capable Emily Barrett. I feel confident that, with their help, we can iron out some (if not all) of the kinks from Season 1 to get a better-looking second season.

This weekend, my apartment once again becomes the Rose City Coffeehouse, which means almost all my furniture gets crammed into my bedroom. (No worries — it might make the room a bit warmer for the winter.) Lara has some great ideas for sprucing up the production design of the coffee shop, which I’m looking forward to seeing — especially since I’ll be living in it.

Shooting begins the first weekend in November. An amazing group of actors has joined the already insanely talented cast and I’m looking forward to seeing how this shoot develops almost as much as I’m looking forward to showing viewers.

Drama is hard with web series. Drama is really hard, so when someone makes the attempt I have to give them credit, when someone does it well it deserves a mention. Wage Slaves does it well….[T]he overall story arc is catchy and watching the main character develop is strangely compelling.

I wonder if that first sentence was supposed to be “Comedy is hard”; seems weird to repeat the same idea in the next sentence. At any rate, I’m pleased they took the time to watch and review the show.

This continues to be the biggest overall ding against the show:

I am all for low budget productions, and honestly I like this show a lot but you can really, really tell that its being shot out of a kitchen. I wish that somewhere in the pilot they would have explained why that is, or told us it was a quaint bed and breakfast place that sold coffee or something.

Yeah. I took it for granted that, since Portland has several coffee shops located in houses (here’s the one that inspired the Rose City Coffeehouse, and here’s another), other places did, too. I even took it for granted that Portland residents have seen and been to those coffee shop/houses, which has not always been the case.

Seriously, people. They exist. And I like them.

Lara is already hell-bent on making sure this same complaint doesn’t come up during Season 2.

The piece is amazingly long and involved — I swear I don’t know the writer, Andy Asensio, but I am having many amorous feelings for him just now.

Here’s a taste:

Wage Slaves is pretty bleak, a show about a group of coffeehouse employees stuck in a dead-end situation and desperately hoping that their lives will turn around. Bleak, but also terrific — there’s nothing laborious about having to sit through this show. It’s really, really good.

Wage Slaves employs a perfectly executed blend of comedy and drama. You’ll empathize with all of these characters, while also getting to laugh both with and at them….It’s fun because the bleakness of these characters’ situations is coupled with some really strong humor.

How much did I like it? This much: the rare 10 out of 10.

Click here to read the whole thing.

The Web and 1 also mentions the show in a (far less favorable) review of another web-series, calling it “super-low-budget but rather excellent.” I might have that tattooed on my arm.

(P.S. to Lexus: you can give me the budget for Puppy Love, instead.)

What do you like, dislike or think is interesting about your character?
I like that Mitch is sensitive, gets beaten down a lot, but he keeps trying. Yes, he sometimes feels like giving up, but he tries his best to authentically do his best. He’s very earnest to me. I respect that. Sometimes I wish he was a bit smarter in what type of woman he is attracted to. You know, maybe someone who would be a little nicer to him, but at least he goes for it full heart, even if it gets broken.

Do you see yourself at all in Mitch?
Definitely. Probably more than I would like to admit. I think we relate a lot in that we both are incredibly optimistic, but the next moment completely worried and untrusting of life’s process. I think we are both trying hard to find our way in this world, and coming to terms with with the fact that life isn’t going to follow our happy plan we’ve created for it. But we are both trying to learn to adapt, and enjoy the things we could never plan for.

What do you particularly like about this project?
I love this project. For me I am constantly searching for those magic situations, where you find the right people who are passionate about what they are doing, and want it to be the best it can be. It was especially exciting for me to work on something from the ground up. This is the first original substantial role I have played, and where I get to work one-on-one with the writer. It’s a very unique experience to have that kind of collaboration, where you get to add on to someone else’s creation while they are in the same room. Chris was wonderful about really fleshing out the characters, but leaving room to add your own touch and excited to see your take on it.

What other projects have you worked on?
I’ve done a few plays since I have lived in Portland, including “Theater District” at Artists Repertory Theatre, Neil Labute’s “Fat Pig” with Lucky Apple, and some others. I also worked on the films Everyman’s War, Man Maid, and Into the Wild, though the whole section I was in was cut, so don’t look for me. But I was there!

Is there anything else we can see you in or that you’d like to promote?
Not at the moment. I’m taking a little break from acting right now to focus on exploring my long love affair with music. I’m learning the guitar and taking a Music Theory class. But I can’t wait for collaborating with the Wage Slaves gang again for season 2!

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Spending time with, working with people who are passionate about what they do and have a desire to inspire each other. People willing to put aside ego, fear, and agenda to really connect with each other, creatively, spiritually, emotionally. Artists who give their all into what they do without being self indulgent.

What that really means is, Ehren was kind enough to let me use any tracks from his fantastic album Ten Cent Souvenir (buy it here), including the instrumental versions. So I used all of them. Many times over. I couldn’t help myself, he’s just too damn good. And now he’s answering the Q&A.

What do you like, dislike or think is interesting about your character?
Rob is an interesting character in that he seems to be the only one who is liked by his co-workers (excluding Dirk, who doesn’t like anyone).

Do you see yourself at all in Rob?
No. Not at all. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Chris Bolton is a visionary. How he was able to see me for the part, I’ll never know. There are absolutely no similar traits whatsoever. Bolton is a genius.

What do you particularly like about this project?
I like the teamwork and DIY approach.

What other projects have you worked on?
A few independent projects, but none that have seen the light of day.

Is there anything else we can see you in or that you’d like to promote?
I made a record!
www.ehrenebbage.com

What is your favorite word?
Yes.

What is your least favorite word?
No.

The truth is, we’re driving at night with the headlights off. I have no real way of knowing who’s watching the show or what they think of it. And I’d like to!

I can see numbers, but numbers are pretty meaningless without context. I’m always surprised when someone tells me they’re watching the show, and grateful for the chance to get their feedback — but I can’t actually have a face-to-face conversation with every single person who watches.

I’d love to know who’s watching and what you think! It takes but a moment to submit a quick comment — and none of your personal info will ever be shared or compromised in any way, shape, or form.

So, when you finish watching an episode, won’t you please scroll down to the comments section and leave us a line or two about what you think? We’d be terribly grateful.

Which is why I asked the ridiculously talented Leif Norby to answer our Oregon Media Central Q&A (I even added a James Lipton question)…

What do you like, dislike or think is interesting about your character?
I liked Dirk right away, from the first moments I spent reading Chris’ script. I was cracking up everytime he showed up. There’s a freedom with Dirk. He doesn’t seem to have any filters when he responds to people and situations. I was drawn to the dry, slightly twisted, humor he uses to interact with co-workers and shed his perspective on their dilemmas. Despite his rough edges, I do feel there’s a heart to him underneath all his sarcasm — a deeper dimension which is revealed for the first time in this episode. He is more than a dark, quirky pessimist. Like the other characters, he is a slave to the past, and to his lost dreams of the future. He has room to grow, within the humor and the passion that Chris gave him.

Do you see yourself at all in Dirk?
I guess in some ways, yeah. I can be a pretty pessimistic person at times, and like Dirk, I’d certainly rather be doing what I’m passionate about, than working at a job I don’t really like. (But of course, who wouldn’t?) I also tend to use humor in dealing with people and situations like Dirk, just not nearly as sardonic. Unlike Dirk, I generally like people. And if I don’t, I’m certainly not as open about it. He just says what he feels, without regard to how it’ll be percieved. I tend to keep things pretty close to the vest.

What do you particularly like about this project?
Like Lara and Melissa, I’d have to say just about everything. The cast are some of the most friendly, talented, playful, and supportive people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. The crew is completely dedicated and very imaginative. On a project with no budget, it is invaluable to have such high quality people giving their all. Also, getting to discover and play with a role like Dirk has been a dream come true. Not having had much experience with film, the opportunity to do this in such a laid-back, let’s-have-fun atmosphere was a blast for me! Lastly, it was a gift to get to work with a cool-cat like Chris on this project. To be a part of someone’s passion, and actually see them follow through with it, is just a joy.

What other projects have you worked on?
Most of my experience with acting has been in theater. On film, I’ve done a couple of local commercials — I played a realtor with wet feet in an Oregon Realtor commercial, and did an Oregon Lottery comercial, playing a bartender telling a guy he has a gambling problem: “Do you really want to be that guy..?” But, this is my first real, character-driven film experience.

Is there anything else we can see you in or that you’d like to promote?
Well, if anyone wants to go see some theater, I’ll be in a show called Ragtime at Portland Center Stage from September 22nd through November 1st this fall. After that, I’ll play Beast in Beauty and the Beast at the Newmark Theater for Pixiedust Productions, from December 18th through January 3rd.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“Come on in, beers on tap!”

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