INDIE SOAP BEAT: June 18, 2010

In this week's "Indie Soap Beat" feature we reveal the latest happenings from around the world of independent soap opera and web series production. Click the show logos to visit the official websites.

WINDSOR HILL is a web series chronicling the lives, loves and tribulations of theater majors at the Fictional Dowell University in the fictional city of Windsor Hill, Georgia. Creator Lawrence Weber tells We Love Soaps: "I wrote the pilot about four years ago when I lived in California, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, I was inspired by the crazy memories of my time as a theater major at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana (where the show is filmed) and wrote it out of missing my friends. The actors are actual Theater majors at Dillard, for that extra accuracy. In fact, the very first episode was a final grade! WINDSOR HILL has eight episodes in the first season, with us filming the second season in the fall of this year. Stay tuned as we will have more interesting storyline and an ending that will blow you away!"

MONTECITO HEIGHTS, the soap written, directed by, and starring Gene Gabriel, has three more episodes before the season finale. Says Gabriel of the project, "I knew I had to do my own thing and the web was the best, cheapest and fastest way to do it. Iʼve known that the internet was the future of Hollywood for some time now and by doing MONTECITO HEIGHTS I have gotten myself out of a three year slump. Itʼs funny as soon as I uploaded the first episode the phone started to ring and it hasnʼt stopped since."

ANACOSTIA will be featured in the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum Documentary which will run for an entire year. The Indie Soap Award winning show is also nearing completion on its second season with only two more episodes left to shoot teases creator and star Anthony Anderson.

LUCK AND THE VIRGIN (La suerte y la Virgen), the 60 second soap from Jaime Byrd, has now aired 20 episodes. The show takes you on a wild ride of how things can go very wrong in the small Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende. Ricardo, a burnt out hit man with a funny accent, and Valentina, a clueless women running from her boyfriend with all his drug money, end up becoming involved in some unfortunate ways after their bags are switched accidentally at a tamale stand.

The first round of production for upcoming indie soap THE BAY is now complete after the show filmed scenes over the first two weekends of June. THE BAY is releasing sexy weekly promos building up to a launch in September. The latest cast additions include Lane Davies, Nicolas Coster and Réal Andrews.

THE CAVANAUGHS, from creator Adrian Morales, has now aired four episodes. The show is about a group of friends that reunite for the screening of an unsold sitcom pilot entitled 'The Cavanaughs.' The show has performed strongly in the weekly Indie Soap of the Week polls. Look for new episodes each Thursday. For more, check out THE CAVANAUGHS on Facebook.

EMPIRE aired its eighth episode of the new season earlier this week as the show continues to build momentum. The additions of Tina Sloan and Orlagh Cassidy to the cast brought some much needed attention to the soap. Upcoming guest appearances by Molly Burnett and Casey Deidrick in the third season are sure to do the same. You can now find the show on IMDb as well.

AROUND THE WORLD OF WEB SERIES: In other indie soap news this week, GUIDING LIGHT and STEAMBOAT star Beth Chamberlin has joined the cast of CELL: The Web Series for Season Two...TABLE OF CHOICES kicks off its second season on Monday, June 21...Look for a We Love Soaps interview with the man behind LENOX AVENUE, Al Thompson, coming soon...DAYS OF OUR LIVES stars Peter Reckell and Shawn Christian have joined the cast of VENICE for its new season...Sarah Lawrence College became the first library to purchase the ANYONE BUT ME Season One DVD...ANYONE BUT ME will be one of the featured series at the upcoming Out of the Box LGBTQ Web Series Festival in New York along with CHRISTOPHER STREET TV, HOMEWRECKER HOUSEBOY, DRAMA QUEENZ, and many others...The Indie Soap of the Week poll will be live on Saturday.

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