By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

South Portland filmmakers Kate Kaminski and Betsy Carson hope the thought of Willard Beach conjures up more than just visions of canines. 

Instead, the pair want people to think about their original Web-based series, “Willard Beach, The Real Story.”

The series began its fourth season Feb. 3 and consists of 39 three-minute episodes. A situation comedy, the show can be seen online at www.Willardbeach.tv, iTunes and YouTube. Past episodes also have been picked up by cable TV stations in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri and several other states.

“Willard Beach, The Real Story,” is set in a fictional town called Willard Beach. It is not based on any real people, situations or experiences, Carson said.

“When we say, ‘the real story,’ we’re being tongue-in-cheek,” Kaminski said. “The idea is to show these people [characters] in un-hyped situations but make people laugh at the same time.”

Many of the story lines revolve around romantic relationships.

“We started to see that a lot of this is about the search for love, the search for finding the right person,” Kaminski said. 

According to the filmmakers, it takes about 15 minutes of filming to get enough material for a three-minute episode. Scene takes are few because the actors are very adept at taking direction, Kaminski said.

Kaminski and Carson use a private distributor to air their series on Internet outlets and TV stations. It is offered free of charge with permission from the owners.

Eventually, Kaminski and Carson hope to find corporate sponsors and advertisers. Once they’ve accumulated a larger library of episodes, they want to convert the series to DVD or a feature film that could be sold for profit.

Episodes are limited to three minutes because of an article Carson read about a study that showed people watch online content for an average of 2.8 minutes.

“The idea is that you can take a break during work and watch a three-minute comedy,” Carson said

Kaminski is writer and director for the series while Carson serves as producer. Kaminski is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern Maine where she teaches production to media studies students. Carson is a full-time filmmaker. She also is the creator of “Delicious TV Veg,” a food podcast on the iTunes Web site.

The series is not used as a lesson plan in Kaminski’s classes, but she has recruited several USM students to work on the project as sound coordinators, production assistants and camera operators.

The two women came up with the idea for “Willard Beach” last winter. After collaborating on several dramas, Kaminski and Carson wanted to do something different.

“Let’s do a comedy. We need some comedy in our lives,” Carson said to Kaminski. “It was an experiment but it turned out very well,” she said.

“It [the series] was conceived to evoke a microcosm of life in a small town,” Kaminski said. “We wanted to evoke that interconnectedness of community.”

“Willard Beach” features all local talent, including actors and production staff and everyone works as a volunteer. Many of these people have worked in theaters and venues around southern Maine such as Mad Horse Theater and Portland Players in South Portland and The Comedy Connection and Good Theater, both in Portland.

All scenes are shot on location at nearby places such as Willard Beach, The Q Street Diner, Empire Dine and Dance and Enterprise Records.

Andrea Thompson, a waitress at the Q Street Diner for more than eight years, has appeared in two episodes of “Willard Beach.” Both times, she played a waitress.

Thompson had no previous acting experience but she was happy to help Kaminski and Carson, two of her regular customers. 

“It was so fun,” Thompson said. “The other actors were very supportive.”

Kaminski said her directing style is to give actors a scenario and let them improvise. There are no scripts for the episodes and Kaminski said she is always pleased by dialogue and action created spontaneously by performers.

Thompson said the improvisational format made it easier for her because she could just be herself. 

“There wasn’t as much pressure to remember lines,” Thompson said. “They [Kaminski and Carson] said ‘do what you do every day.’ It was very comfortable for me.”

Kaminski said all the actors seem to excel at improvisation.

“They just amaze us and they have so much fun doing it,” she said.

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or news@inthesentry.com.