Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette At Affogato coffee shop in Bellevue are, from left, Erik Schark, Lacey Fleming and Will Guffey, actors in the online sitcom "Something To Be Desired." To help keep the show in production, they're taping an announcement soliciting donations from viewers.

By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Thanks in part to the explosive growth of Internet broadcasting, a sitcom about 20-something Pittsburghers is on the Web for anyone on the planet with high-speed Internet to see, instead of languishing in some network TV programmer's outbox.

"Something To Be Desired," or "STBD" for short, is a hybrid of sitcom and soap opera. Its characters live in Pittsburgh and mostly work at a fictional radio station --WANT-FM -- which is going quickly down the tubes. Their lives, relationships, career struggles, roommate issues and other comic situations are the story arcs of the weekly Web-only series.

The show and its characters have evolved. Originally, they worked from the script, but now the show incorporates more improv and input from actors. The current season is the most polished, with established characters, witty writing, rapid-fire editing, a hip attitude and solid production values. The result is a realistic, snarky and often funny look at life among what many locals think of as an endangered species: young adults in Pittsburgh.

Every Monday night, a new 10-minute episode is posted online. "STBD" can be tuned in via its own site, somethingtobedesired.com, iTunes or MySpace, and through Web video content sites like blip.tv, Network2.tv and Feedburner.com.

"STBD" is for mature viewers -- there are adult situations, content and explicit language.

The series launched in 2003 and started its fourth season in September. There will be 40 episodes this season, along with weekly "What Do You Want Weekends" -- extras including interviews, outtakes, filmed rehearsals and more.

"STBD" is the brainchild of 29-year-old Justin Kownacki, an Erie native now based in Pittsburgh. The freelance video producer and writer graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he earned a degree in computer animation and multimedia. Kownacki wears many hats on the series: creator, producer, director, writer and film editor.

Ultimately, Kownacki would like to see this project evolve into a production company with several Web series.

"The Web is a haven for niche content, and a well-produced sci-fi, mystery, horror or action series has a very good chance of surviving in this medium," he says. "However, given the extremely short nature of most Web content, the hook that seems to unite everyone across all barriers is comedy. People don't always have the time or the attention span to commit to an ongoing story, but they always have time to laugh."

The Web show also is a place for actors to gain experience.

The cast members are mostly in their 20s and come from a wide range of stage experience -- from professionals to recent theater graduates, and even a few nonactors. Although they aren't paid, except with the occasional meal, all say "STBD" has given them a nice video portfolio to shop around.

	Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette Erik Schark is one of the actors on "Something To Be Desired," a sitcom about young, single professionals set in Pittsburgh venues. In its fourth season, the sitcom updates on Mondays with 10-minute installments. Click photo for larger image.

The economics of new media -- or lack thereof -- make a Web series like "STBD" possible.

Because there is no payroll, and because filming and editing are done digitally, the show's production costs are very low. Kownacki estimates monthly costs of about $250 for transportation, supplies, props, digital video tapes and food for the cast, plus $350 for Web support, hosting costs for four monthly episodes and to keep the site online.

New-York based blip.tv is a platform and distributor for the show, which keeps those costs down for producers.

Performers' union rules don't cover acting in Web series -- at least not yet, so union work rules and scale wage requirements don't apply. The "STBD" cast members aren't Screen Actors Guild or AFTRA members. One cast member -- Erik Schark -- is a member of Actors' Equity, but that union covers only theater and stage work.

The background music used in the series is by indie bands who are looking for exposure and who have given permission to use it -- until the venture starts to make a profit.

There's a link on the "STBD" site where viewers who like the show can donate money to keep it going.

"Asking for money from our fans is always awkward, especially because the Web is mythologized as being a place where everything is free," Kownacki says. "But it costs money to create and sustain the series. If donations help us stave off the need for advertising revenues, then it's worth it -- as long as those donations help cover our costs."

Familiar sights

Pittsburgh viewers will recognize many of the Downtown, Oakland and South Side shooting locations. The WANT radio station scenes were shot at WQED-FM's studios during off-hours. This season, the Bellevue coffee shop Affogato plays a major role in the series -- as the "STBD" version of Central Perk in "Friends." Another Bellevue business, 517521, is also the backdrop for much of the action.

The region also has served as the Web series' backdrop: A past season's episode was shot at a Flux arts event, and they'll be filming at Upstage later this month. Kownacki says there's interest from local restaurateurs and retailers who see the value of product placement in the series.

But while the show has a unique local character, its following goes well beyond city limits: It even has viewers in Australia.

The audience is a community that comes back every week to see what the characters are up to, Kownacki says.

So far, the show has been promoted largely through word of mouth or mentions in blogs. Its numbers are far from Nielsen ratings proportions, but "STBD" is finding its audience.

Based on Web site hits, each episode attracts between 500 and 2,000 viewers in its first two weeks, with around 1,200 steady viewers a week, Kownacki says. A recent Halloween special, which featured the cast fending off a zombie attack, drew larger numbers, thanks to horror fans checking out the show.

Scripts are e-mailed to the cast about a week in advance, and a one-hour rehearsal is followed by the filming. The cast also meets a couple of times a month for longer rehearsals, which are mostly improv sessions.

For logistical reasons, most of the outdoor shoots are done in the summer time.

"It's always summer in 'STBD'-land," Kownacki says.

The show's unpredictable improv elements require multiple takes. Around 90 minutes of footage is whittled into a 10-minute episode. Kownacki edits the footage on a Mac Powerbook, using Final Cut Pro.

"Because comedy tends to fall flat after too many takes, I try to rely on the magic of early takes, when the actors are still deciding what they have to do and where they need to be in order for the scene to work," he says.

Story lines often revolve around the actors' changing lives. Some cast members have left town or taken jobs that don't give them time to be involved with the show. Their characters had to be written out and new ones added in.

Still, many of the originals remain with the show, including WANT DJ/Shout magazine writer Leo (Will Guffey); Caroline (Ann Turiano), the Shout editor who has moved on to chick-lit publisher Vanity Press this season; and coffee shop employee/ex-goth Dierdre (Lacey Fleming).

Schark is a recent transplant from Manhattan who has worked in New York and regional theater, and locally with Pittsburgh CLO and Pittsburgh Playwrights. He also had a guest spot as a sommelier -- with one speaking line -- in "The Sopranos."

Schark says he's no stranger to working for free on projects that he believes in. The currency he's paid in is the exposure and the chance to add on-camera work to his more extensive stage credits. Because "STBD" is a serial, actors also have a chance to build and evolve characters.

"You find new layers and bring out different things as you go along. You can end up creating a much more complex and full person as the show progresses," Schark says. "We're encouraged to do wacky things and to experiment. It has that sense of ownership. We all feel like we're part of it. We're not just cogs."

Ryan Ben plays Tim, a novice barista at the coffee shop where much of the action takes place. The Elgin, Ill., native was a University of Pittsburgh business major who recently switched to a theater major.

"This show is very much about improvisation and collective thinking," Ben says. "Justin comes up with situations and scenes, and the actors decide together how each of the characters can respond and interact to make that scene work."

Ann Turiano grew up in Verona and recently finished her master's degree in Advanced Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England. She has been with the show since the first episode, playing Caroline, one of the central characters.

"She's sort of growing up along with the show," says Turiano, who has enjoyed the collaborative environment. "Having that much ownership over the process is really unusual." And she enjoys the interaction with fans who send e-mails -- and who don't hesitate to tell actors when they don't like something a character is doing.

Will Guffey, who also has been with the show since episode one, grew up in Shaler and majored in acting at Point Park University, where he graduated in 2004. After seeing Kownacki's short film "Killing Time," he knew he wanted to be part of "STBD." Since then, he has worked with the Web series and on several independent films.

"When we started, all we were doing is trying something new," Guffey says. "I was expecting it to be something, but not this thing it has become. The sky's the limit for us. The Internet has boomed with video podcasting."

"This has the potential to become as popular as TV," co-star Ben adds. "Our show is free, easy to access and, in my opinion, much better than most of the stuff on television right now."

'Virtual real estate'

Because the medium is still in its early days, the environment is not as competitive as other media, Kownacki says.

Producers are more interested in seeing Web-based video productions succeed and become mainstream. "If you succeed, I can succeed as a result, because now more people understand what the medium is." At some point, though, as exclusive deals get made, he predicts that "the rest of us have to start fighting for our own pieces of virtual real estate."

He plans to integrate more interactive elements, so viewers can also become more of a part of the process.

Echoing a mantra of the information age, Kownacki says, "This generation that's watching Web television doesn't want to be spoken to as much as they want to speak with you. It's an ongoing dialogue."

E-mails, forums and a blog keep viewers connected to the unfolding drama. Leo is one of the show's most popular characters.

"I'd originally conceived of him as a caricature, but I'm amazed at how many people have said Leo is their window into the series," Kownacki says. "Comments like that make me realize that people will see elements of themselves even in places I'd never intended."

Other viewers miss Jack Boyd, a character from the first two seasons. The actor who played him left Pittsburgh to raise a family in Eastern Pennsylvania.

"As a non-actor, Dan Stripp played Jack the only way he knew how -- as an extension of himself -- and that disarming charm and lack of pretense created a very empathetic character," Kownacki says. "We've even received fan mail from a star-struck girl in Austria who asked when Jack Boyd was coming back."

Other sample viewer comments from the site: "There's still WAY too much gratuitous swearing in the episodes. ...I never hear anyone swear as much as the 'STBD' cast does. "

Even hair color is an issue. "TOO MANY REDHEADS!!! ...The amount of redheads in season three was very disproportionate to the number of redheads you'd find in the general population."

The feedback, good and bad, is essential. And it fuels opportunity.

What if Kownacki, like many of his actors, gets a better opportunity elsewhere?

"Something To Be Desired" will always have a link to Pittsburgh, even if the production company moves out of town, he says.

"The beauty of the show is that, with as many characters who have come and gone through its doors since 2003, we could spin it off a dozen times over and build out the world of 'STBD.' But that world would always have its roots in Pittsburgh."