New Series Looks at Life “In the ‘Wood”

Inwood’s tensions and triumphs will soon get their treatment on screen — one webisode at a time

A casting call at the Inwood Branch of the New York Public Library this Saturday seeks actors to play the following: a former Wall Streeter turned new mom; a smart, pretty Dominican studying for her degree in forensic anthropology; a charismatic Irish-American cop in his mid-30s; and a young waiter at a local bar with dreams of stardom.

The characters all live in Inwood and will be the faces of a new Web series exploring the dynamics of life in Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood. Real-life residents are encouraged to apply.

“It’s about community and connection,” said one of the show’s co-creators, J. Holtham. “And what it’s like to live in a neighborhood like this right now.”

Wolfe, Drobot, Keating and Holtham meeting at the Piper's Kilt

Holtham, 36, is one of four Inwood residents collaborating on the project. He and two others in the group — Clare Drobot, 27, and Tom M. Wolfe, 39 — are trained playwrights. The fourth member, Scott Keating, 37, is an Inwood “lifer” and novice writer. The friends have completed four scripts so far and have settled on a name for the series: “In the ‘Wood.”

“In the ‘Wood” follows a group of main characters who represent some of the different communities that make up Inwood. Their four storylines interlock over the course of a single day. Its creators say the series will deal with the double-edge sword of “community” in a neighborhood that can often feel like a small town.

“It’s not a sitcom, but there’s a lot of comedy in it,” said Drobot. The show features stories of daily life. For example, Yaris, the Dominican student, dates a close friend of the Irish-American cop in the series. According to the show’s creators, the couple will offer a glimpse at the culture clash that can be common in the neighborhood.

“They’re stories you see every day when you’re here,” Drobot said.

For Keating, the Inwood lifer, those stories also include recent neighborhood history. “The neighborhood was in a really bad place because of the crack epidemic,” Keating said of 1980s Inwood. Its steady emergence out of a less-than-thriving past is something the show will touch on.

The idea to do an online show was hatched by Drobot and Holtham, who drew inspiration from TelevisionWithoutPity.com and the success of “Quarterlife,” a popular Web series that later flopped when it was broadcast on NBC in 2008 (its broadcast run lasted only one episode).

“We were just talking about the community of Inwood and different media for storytelling,” said Drobot, who works as the director of artistic development at a Manhattan theater company. “We all have certain Inwood stories.”

The “In the ‘Wood” co-creators are approaching their project with a DIY ethic and a shoestring budget — if that. The co-creators say the series will be completed by people volunteering their time, their apartments and their support. Drobot has a video camera and some previous experience in film. By way of the theater company she works at, The BE Company, she has access to editing software and other equipment.

The co-creators want the episodes to reflect their non-traditional approach to creating a serial narrative.

“Rather than have a bunch of pretty, downtown actors who trundle up here,” said Holtham, “I would love to find as many people to be involved that live here.”

Its creators say the series will bring a comedic yet probing eye to issues of neighborly conflict — be it questions of proper etiquette at the local dog run or the hot-button topic of noise complaints. The more people who have experienced it firsthand, the better, the co-creators say.

On a recent Saturday, the show’s creators met up at the Piper’s Kilt to talk about the show. “The Kilt” is the neighborhood pub and hangout at which many of the “In the ‘Wood” writing team first met. Drobot worked there briefly when she moved to the area four years ago. Keating worked there as a teen in the late 1980s.

The Kilt will play a role in the series, its creators say, because it too is a place that shows the multi-faceted reality of neighborhood change.

“Take here for example,” explained Drobot. “Karaoke on Sunday nights when there are football games on, you get these vicious arguments over, like, ‘Turn the karaoke off!’”

Just as often, however, Drobot says, the bar is a place where people of different generations and cultures can swap stories, many of which have become inspiration for “In the ‘Wood.”

After casting lead roles in the coming weeks, the group says it plans to launch the series website, InTheWoodNY.com. They’re scheduled to film teasers in January to promote the series, and they’ll film the episodes themselves in April.

Eventually, Drobot says, the group is interested in bringing on different writers from different backgrounds to expand the series beyond the four episodes already written. Depending on initial interest, they say they might be able to raise money for the series — including funds from the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA).

“We’re really trying to see how you write a story collectively,” Drobot said.

CORRECTION: Due to a source error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the website where “In the ‘Wood” producers plan to air their episodes. The correct domain is InTheWoodNY.com.

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“In the ‘Wood” open auditions: 12-4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Inwood Branch of the New York Public Library

Tagged as: arts, comedy, drama, internet, inwood