VRV brings you the hilarious show, Live From WZRD. The show that answers the question of what exactly would a public school education look like for those who didn’t get into Hogwarts. We got a chance to interview the hosts and creators of the show, Dani Fernandez and Open Mike Eagle to see how this amazing concept came about and how you can get your own creative juices flowing with your own entertainment ideas!!!
How did you two come up with the concept of Live from WZRD? What inspired the show?
The show was inspired by the idea of “what if you were a wizard and didn’t get into Hogwarts? There must be a Wizarding community college for the rest of us.” Having Mike as a perpetual senior and me as an eager freshman felt very on brand for both of us, and were super fun to play across from each other.
Well, I didn’t come up with the concept. A bunch of brilliant writers and funny people came up with the concept of doing a show that’s based in the magical world. People might draw parallels with Harry Potter, but the main difference is that one is a school for wealthy wizards and we wanted to be more grounded with the working class folks, so we set it in a community college and went with that idea.
In your own words can you tell people who may not have yet seen the show a little bit about the East Gatewood Wizarding Community College?
Dani Fernandez:
EGWCC is wild! There’s wizards, goblins, trolls, and vampires all roaming the halls. We have a talking tree and a dog as our Dean. We have famous comedian alumni who drop in to give tips to the students. There’s something for everyone – even a centaur dating app!
Open Mike Eagle:
East Gatewood is a school with creatures and half magic folk that all go to school to become sharper in their wizardry and magic. Goblins attend the school as well and it’s where old wizards go to die. Its magical creatures having magical experiences and you get a little window to it all from our public access show, “Live from WZRD.”
Going forward, what can we expect from Live from WZRD?
Dani Fernandez:
I would love to have a musical episode. Mike made our theme song and I’d love to have some musical alumni pop in for full-blown musical numbers. I grew up on High School Musical and NEED a wizarding community college musical.
Open Mike Eagle:
Well, our semester is over now and we’re all on summer break. Things you might expect from the fall is more kooky times and hopefully, I will be back to host it even though I graduated. Dani should still be in school and is still plugging along, tuning up her tuna can spells. We’re going to have more guests all over the spectrum from non-magical to magical, get some alumni back, talk to some people who have been transported there without their permission. As this season went kind of crazy and awry, I imagine next semester’s show might also make a few hard left turns, which is what tends to happen during a public access show, where half the people on the show can do magic.
What do you hope people take away with them once they see your show?
Dani Fernandez:
I hope people have fun and realize there is a space for everyone. I think the people at EGWCC are seen as misfits but they have found this space where they can fully be themselves. I think the thing that you may think makes you weird, is actually what can establish you in the world. That is what happened for me. I was super into sci-fi and anime when everyone at school was watching The Hills. Now I’ve turned it into an entire career.
Open Mike Eagle:
We hope they think it’s funny. We hope they think we created a lush world with vibrant characters that stick around and stay to know what happens to these characters. We hope their imagination is stimulated. If they can come up kooky weird stuff like this, we want to keep going, the kookier the better, which our show does a good job of.
So far what has been your favorite while working on the show?
Dani Fernandez:
There is a scene where I cast a spell to drop a ton of tuna cans out of my wand on Steve the Janitor’s head, and all the outtakes were hilarious we couldn’t stop laughing. Also due to the magic of our props people, no tuna cans or people were hurt by this stunt.
Open Mike Eagle:
We had East Gatewood alumni, Mr. Paul F. Thompkins on our show and we were able to interview him via magical satellite. I am a big fan of his even outside of wizarding, so that was a special treat for me to hear his tales of magical pranks, career failures, and disappointments after leaving East Gatewood.
Any advice for any Women and Men of Color looking to pitch their creative ideas?
Dani Fernandez:
Team up. So many places try to pit us against each other and act like there can only be one Latinx person in a room or one black person in an ensemble cast. I have found that we are stronger together. Create with your friends. That’s twice the brain power and twice the contacts. Also, apply to fellowships. There are entire lists of festivals and fellowships you can submit your shorts or scripts for people in the industry to read. And sometimes you can win money to make it!
Open Mike Eagle:
This is a really unique time in that I think a lot of networks are looking to hear stories and perspectives they aren’t used to getting. Some of the best entertainment coming out these days are from women and people of color because they are getting stories from these unique perspectives that aren’t what we have been used to seeing every day on television in the last 30 to 40 years.
My advice would be to really draw upon your own experiences and try to make something that is true to you and your voice because I think now more than ever there is a lot of interest in that from networks and audiences.
Season 1 of “Live from WZRD” can be seen on VRV!!!!
Comedian Rhea Butcher on “Live from WZRD”
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