INDIE SOAP BEAT: July 22, 2009

On Tuesday's "We Love Soaps Radio" podcast, we aired our latest "Indie Soap Beat" segment. That segment will be included every week and will feature interviews with cast and behind the scenes folks from the world of independent soap opera production. We also produce a weekly column on the website and you will find it below.

Here's a rundown of some of the latest news from the indie soap world.

CHICAGO TO CORONADO
CHICAGO TO CORONADO is a Twitter romance/suspense soap opera written in 140 word soundbytes. The storyline follows a culturally-challenged Chicago to Coronado transplant – a former Prada-heeled agency CEO, noted feminist, Economic Club of Chicago member and Entrepreneur Magazine writer thrust into a world of Navy SEALs and flipflops. On this week's episode "We Love Soaps Radio," Vanessa Shoemaker, Director of Operations and Sponsorship for the show, appeared to explain how the idea for C2C came about.

Shoemaker also offered some additional commentary on the show: "Our message is universal. Absolutely anything is possible in life. The power of reinvention lies within us."

Community Manager Brett Chappell, former Navy Seal, explains: "The secret behind creating a powerful online Twitter soap opera and community is to respect, retweet, relate and build relationships. It's about being real, funny, romancing your fans and followers, being non-judgmental, sending nice, cool notes and appreciations, and listening. It's just like Navy Seals BUD/S training. You get tossed into training with those who think they are tough, a crazy mixture of human beings, and you learn how to be a team, a community. Navy Seals respect diversity, overcome obstacles, learn leadership and how to build and maintain a team. They never quit."

Shoemaker adds: "We have no plans to go on hiatus because what fun would that be. As longs as our hearts are beating, we'll keep on tweeting."

Omaha.com also recently featured a story on the show.

EMPIRE
We Love Soaps recently interviewed EMPIRE creators Brian Hewson and Greg Turner. The series debuted on July 12 and new episodes will be posted every Sunday night. Episode #2 is now online as well as a new behind the scenes video featuring the cast. You can watch both below.



VENICE - THE SERIES
VENICE is the new web series being developed by GUIDING LIGHT Emmy winner Crystal Chappell (Olivia) and writing partner and friend Kim Turrisi. You can follow the series at venicetheseries.com or on Twitter. Clues about the show are being given on Twitter and fans are already trying to figure out who will be the cast and what the stories might be. This is a fabulous idea to get potential fans engaged in an online show before it even airs.

IN THE MOMENT
Created in partnership with the LA Gay & Lesbian Center and the city of West Hollywood, IN THE MOMENT showcases a multicultural group of attractive men grappling with their tangled love lives. Issues such as HIV prevention, drug use and promiscuous sex are put front and center on the show. It's educational as well as entertaining. Check the show out at inthemoment.ning.com and watch the latest episode below. A new set of episodes are expected to be produced soon.