pre-production
Before Mug Life was Mug Life, Victoria "Tori V" Vitkowsky-Bennett (Tori) was casting an in-development pilot presentation about a coffee shop in Brooklyn. One of the lovely ladies that she called in for a reading was Kayla Barr. Kayla did not get the part she was auditioning for*, but instead was offered one that wasn't (and subsequently never would be) open for submissions.
Soon after, she was offered the part of "partner" to Tori, as well.
january 2015
PRE-PRODUCTION WITH KAYLA
Most of the roles had already been cast by the time Barr & Bennett became 14th & B (that was, after all, the reason they met), but finding their protagonist (Doug Key's Pete the Manager) and catalyst (Veronika Dash's Christina "Chrissie" Lucks) was an effortless joint effort. Tori knew Doug through their mutual bro, comedian Dave Neal ("he took my life!", says Dave. Sorry Dave.) and he was given the leading man role after a night out with the girls, who proceeded to examine his lady problems ("it's because she's brunette!") as he charmed them over wine and mac & cheese. After a cold-read, improv session, and chemistry read with Jake Soister (Joe Nova), it was clear that this was our Peter Parrish.
As for Lady Lucks, both Doug and Kayla both knew EXACTLY WHO WOULD BE OMGZ PERFECT FOR CHRISSIE. Doug remembered a drop-dead gorgeous, flat-out hilarious blonde bombshell from an improv class a few years ago (clearly she made an impression) who was apparently the character breakdown personified and Kayla had a best friend from USC who...oh! Yep! That Veronika Dash.
So, after months and months of callbacks and false alarms and ups and downs, the climatic "aha" moment arrived after less than a minute into Tori's FaceTime call with this multi-talented mega-babe she had been hearing so much about...when she was asked the question to end all questions regarding who would be stepping into Chrissie's pink stilettos:
"aren't my overalls fabulous?!"
Yes. Yes. A million times yes.
A few table reads and a serious conversation regarding how many Game of Thrones references would be allowed per episode (3 MAXIMUM) later, and production began on 14th & B's debut series: Mug Life.
*Tori still wonders if Kayla is plotting her revenge for the preparation that went into auditioning for the initial role in the first place and often convinces herself this has all actually been a really adorable psychological thriller.
