Rachel Cairns Gives Birth to a Web Series for ‘Mom and Me’
What’s the best piece of advice your Mom ever gave you? Actor Rachel Cairns delves in to this with the web series ‘Mom and Me’ about a Mother and Daughter in search for love together.
SB (StarBeat): Initiation: What was the inspiration behind this series?
RC (Rachel Cairns): Well, I got dumped, IRL. Like, dump truck dumped. The break-up in your twenties, where you think you’ve met the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with and then you’re regrettably mistaken and humbled.
So, I moved home to be with my Mum and lick my wounds, IRL. One sad and depressed day after another tearful night, my Mum suggested that I go online. I thought there was something funny about a mom encouraging her millennial daughter to date strangers on the internet and thus the seed of the series took root in my mind.
SB: Digital Life: What are the benefits of a web series versus traditional TV shows and movies, and how it is different for an actor/creator?
RC: As an artist, I have taken great advantage of the rise of the web series. Digital content is getting increasingly easier to make and although the market is very diluted, you can still make a calling card for yourself and stake out some space on the web. I started writing this series to create a vehicle for myself as an actor and in the process discovered I really like writing and producing.
Creating this project crossed my path with other artists I wouldn’t have otherwise met or collaborated with. TV is in a renaissance at the moment and there will always be a market for movies but the web series is very doable for independent creators and can be broken down into bite sized producible and consumable units.
SB: Feedback Loop: What has the response been like?
RC: When I first showed my Mom the series, she felt a bit shy, as the characters are very close to me and her. But once we started releasing our content, we were getting such lovely feedback and then she began to feel more comfortable and proud of the series.
People would comment, “This is just like me and my Mom,” and things like that, which is always very reassuring as a creator and makes you feel like you’ve captured something right. My best compliment for the series was from a woman who said that she found the series funny and sad. Humour in the candidness that this mother and daughter share about dating and life, and sadness in the fact that she didn’t have that type of relationship with her Mom.
“Every girl should get to have that Mother-Daughter relationship,” and it made me realize how lucky I am to be an artist, a creator and daughter with a super awesome Mom.
SB: Workin’ Girl: Is there more Mom & Me in the works and if so… what can we expect?
RC: More of Mom & Me has been shot and will be released soon. Stay tuned to meet Taylor, the new girl Rachel starts dating, and the gentleman caller at Mom’s door. The ladies get off the bench and get back into the dating game.
Watch Mom & Me – http://momandme.show/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/momandme.series/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/momandmeandeveryoneonline/
