donation – Briana Hansen

I saw an add for a sperm bank on one of the TVs that plays around my gym. Not like the regular TV that plays regular programming. I’m talking about the TV monitors that just continuously loop in-house ads. Maybe your gym doesn’t have them. You probably pay more per month for that luxury. Good for you.

Normally, I ignore the ads. But one caught my eye the other day. Can you guess from the title of this post which one it was?

That’s right. It was for a sperm bank.

It wasn’t that I was shocked at the content of a Sperm Bank. It’s that the tag line was, “Get one last workout in before you go home” or something like that. Along the lines of “One more rep for a good pump.” Something grossly inappropriate. To the point where it made me laugh out loud. Which I don’t like to do at the gym because I like to stay invisible. But I laughed. And people looked at me funny. And I looked down and scurried off.

I can handle an ad for a sperm bank at the gym. But I cannot handle a witty tagline that tries to relate sperm bank donations to working out. I will giggle every time.

Wouldn’t you?

As I’ve mentioned on here once or twice, I wrote and am currently co-producing a web series called The Other Client List (you can check us out on Facebook here!)

I’m really excited and proud of this project. We just launched our Indiegogo campaign to try and raise enough funds for the whole 10-episode series. It’s going to be so good. My production partner and co-star is amazing. Our director is incredible. It’s going to be an awesome production and I will make it a reality- come hell or highwater. Let’s hope those don’t come, because it’d be easier to produce in normal external conditions…

I’ve been trying to get the word out. So I wrote an article about the series. The first of many varied articles, vlogs, etc, we’ll be using to help spread the word.

Here’s the article. I hope you enjoy. And I hope you take time to check out and donate to our fundraising page by clicking here.

Taking Hollywood By the Balls

One of the numerous stereotypes of women is that we’re the more “passive” sex. We’re more patient and able to handle whatever the world may give us. We don’t ask for raises, we just accept our pay without question. We let men be the aggressive hunters while we primp ourselves as beautiful prey. And we let men be the funny storytellers while we’re the open and receptive audience.

Sure, these are stereotypes. But they’re stereotypes based in truth. Truth about gender norms and expectations that still ring true in our society.

There are two young women in Hollywood, however, who refuse to fall into any stereotypes. Arye Rapini is a blonde Brazilian dramatic actress who not only nails comedic roles, but also works full-time as a financial advisor. Briana Hansen is a quirky-girl-next-door midwestern comedic actress who not only enjoys constantly creating imaginary people and conversations, but also works full-time as a paralegal.

And “passive” wouldn’t be used in a million years to describe either of these women. Not only do they both workout regularly and maintain strict diet regimens, they spend most of their non-working time on creative pursuits. Any given night of the week or weekend, you can find them out hustling in Hollywood, trying to prove to the gatekeepers that they’re worth letting in the club.

But Arye and Briana got tired of waiting for Hollywood to come to them with the perfect opportunity. So they decided to create their own and pave their own way up the nebulous entertainment ladder. And they did what any two busy working actresses with full-time day jobs would do. They created their own web series.

The Other Client List is a 10-episode web series that is made for the modern viewer. Each episode follows a separate character arc, just like the popular latest season of Arrested Development. Each episode is written for internet content with the quick cutaway joke style that Family Guy made so popular. And they’re modeled after the style of series Netflix has made mainstream. People can watch each episode by itself and be satisfied, but they’re compelled to watch the whole series all at once because each episode ends right at the next one’s beginning.

Plus, there’s even some parts for animals. The internet loves animals!

Not to mention, they’re funny. Both the episodes and the actors involved. Like… really funny. Really. They’re funny. For real.

So next time you’re annoyed with all the stereotypes you see in Hollywood of women, be more like these two aggressive women. Remember, the less energy you use aggregating all the proof of existing stereotypes in popular media, the more energy you save for creating your own projects that shatter them.