Hi everyone! I thought I should
keep you posted on what’s going on with my channel, and tell you about my new series
ideas. *Be warned: as you may already know, whether or not I will actually
follow through with these plans depends on the phase of the moon, my time
management skills and whether or not you’ve eaten something orange between the
hours of 9 and 10 AM.*
First of all I’ll answer a few
questions about Lalaloopsy Popular:
Will you make a season 2? Sorry to disappoint, but I won’t be
making a season 2. This is for a number of reasons, but the main one being that
I think the story has run its course and there’s not much more I could add to
it. I enjoyed making it, but now I want to move on to more original, realistic
and mature stories. I’m somewhat proud of how the last few episodes turned out,
but to be frank I can’t watch episodes 1 to 9 without dying inside a little. I’m
more than a little confused as to why those episodes have significantly more
views and likes than the ones I don’t wish to erase from the world forever.
What’s the deal with Tia/Katie/Kate’s name? Honestly, I don’t know.
I think it started out as a character inconsistency: when I first got my Jewel
Sparkles doll, I named her Kate, but I thought Tia was a better name for her
character in Lalaloopsy Popular. In Episode 1, Holly and Emily make a remark
about Tia being a nickname and her real name being Kate; and her parents call
her Kate/Katie whilst her sister Libby calls her Tia. I later created the
backstory that Tia’s nickname came from when Libby was seeing a speech
therapist (as Libby is disabled and can’t talk, and her parents refused to
accept her disability and were insistent that they could get her to talk), and
the speech therapist asked Libby to say ‘Katie’, but Libby could only pronounce
‘Tia’. Tia found this endearing and was much more accepting of her sister, and
liked the nickname, whereas her parents refused to call her Tia as to them, it
was like accepting that Libby wouldn’t be able to talk. These days, Libby still
can’t talk, her parents have become somewhat more accepting of her disability, and
everyone knows Kate as Tia (apart from her parents), as she’s gone by her
nickname since elementary school.
Did you copy LPS Popular? Yes. Yes I did. I wish I didn’t, but my
12-year-old self had just discovered LPS Popular and was so inspired by seeing
such a professional toy series, that little me wanted to make one herself.
Alas, it was significantly less professional to start with, and I didn’t really
change much about the plot. Sorry SophieGTV. Please forgive me.
Next, you might be wondering,
what next? At the moment, I’m writing 3 different series – here’s a little
description of each one:
LPS Sixteenish (Rated 15+ for mature content, moderate language and
sexual references.)
A very British sitcom set in a
sixth-form college in the middle of nowhere. Starring 4 girls who just can’t
quite get it right: the awkward, sarcastic Grace Henshaw, the overconfident,
pretentious Tabi Charlton-Blythe, the streetwise, honest Shannon Bailey and the
naïve Leah Richards.
This series isn’t actually
written to be made with LPS – I’m writing it to add to my résumé (I want to
study screenwriting for TV at uni, and be a TV screenwriter as a full-time
job). I’m also hoping to submit it to the BBC Writer’s Room during its opening
for comedy next year. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get lost in the drafts pile.
I might not make this series with
LPS, as a lot of the physical comedy would be difficult to film properly, and
despite this style of comedy having a wide appeal amongst teenagers in the UK,
the viewer demographics on LPSTube are quite different, where carbon copy American
high school series with characters named ‘MacKennah Clawford’ and ‘Britnee
Barkston’ run rampant, and despite British accents being considered ‘cute’ and ‘quirky’
by many viewers, I’m not sure if our sense of humour would have quite the same
effect as it does over here.
LPS Logic (Rated PG-13 for mature themes and occasional violence and
gore)
‘A girl, a gun and everyone
caught up in the aftermath. Death is a complex thing - its prisoners are not
taken in a logical manner, nor a fair one. Lisa Parks is a logical person. When
she finds her older sister lifeless with a gun by her hand, there are many
puzzle pieces that don't quite fit. She doesn't believe Annabel's death was a
suicide, but to prove it, she needs to discover a few things she never knew
about her sister, reach out to people she'd normally severe ties with, and try
not to notice the deafening silence left in her sister's place. How far will
Lisa go to prove that she's right, even when everything around her is screaming
out that she's wrong?’
A mystery series set in the UK,
with themes of friendship, secrets and morality throughout. The main characters
are all around 18 years old. Yes, I am aware I have only published one episode each
year for the past 2 years, but I’m not always in the mood to write MURDER.
Right now I’m writing episode 3, but that’s all subject to change. What can I
say? I’m reliably unreliable.
Finally, my new MLP series: MLP Good Enough (Rated PG-13 for mature
themes and occasional mild language.)
‘Sunset Shimmer and her best
friend Diamond Rose are finally going to the same school. But Sunset will soon
discover that it’s not all plain sailing, and her insecurity and secrets she’s
hiding (not to mention her unwanted roommate Lyra Heartstrings) may destroy her
fragile friendship. Is friendship really worth everything? And can Sunset learn
to find her own way?’
A drama/comedy (dramedy?) series
set in an ambiguous fusion of college, sixth form and a boarding school. Blame
the pony education system. I haven’t made a MLP series yet, despite planning
and scripting one (which remains unmade) in great detail last year. I planned
for this series to run along Sixteenish or Logic, as a sort of lower-budget,
lower-effort easier watch, whilst still conveying important messages about
disability, sexuality, friendship and judgement.
Well, there you have it. My three
series. I’m honestly not sure which one I’m going to get out first or focus on –
I’ve written a 28-page script for the pilot episode of Sixteenish, but I’m
stuck on Episode 2, as I have discovered I’m not actually as funny as I thought
I was. I’m not sure whether I should put all my eggs in the Logic basket, as
the series has potential, but can be very dark, depressing (and boring) to make.
Plus unlike LPS Popular, I’m not sure I can retain a viewership by waiting at
least a year before making a new episode (Love you, Sophie! Don’t get offended
xx). Finally, Good Enough seems like a stable option, but I’m worried I’ll run
out of plot, or if the series will become too bland and generic over time.
My one issue is that none of
these series feature Lalaloopsies, which were the whole reason I created my
channel. I keep trying to think of ideas with Lalaloopsies, but so far nothing
comes to mind. I really want to make more Lalaloopsy videos, as I feel like I
owe it to the community, where we’re lucky to get any new videos at all, and I
love those little dolls more than you could know. I have written a Lalaloopsy
Popular prequel mini-series, set a year before the events of the main series,
but to be honest I don’t want my only Lalaloopsy content to be Popular-related,
as it’s not very… Lalaloopsy. And as much as I enjoyed making the series, I don’t
actually like it. I feel something similar towards Popular as Stereophonics
feel towards ‘Have a Nice Day’. I’m happy people like it, but I don’t feel like
it represents me, or Lalaloopsies. So for the moment, I’m putting the prequel
on hold whilst I work on series that better showcase me as a creator.
If you’re still reading, then
congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of a better attention span than me
(I pick up and drop my series daily). Hopefully you’ll like whatever I can get
round to putting out next.
-Eden J
