2018 NYC Web Fest - Wholesome Foods, I Love You… Is That OK?
A neurotic yoga teacher sets out in search of love… at her favorite organic supermarket.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Krista Hovsepian
Watch Wholesome Foods, I Love You… Is That OK? on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your webseries?
So many reasons! But primarily because I love the episodic world, I wanted to explore the relatively loose boundaries and open-endedness of the digital format, and I’m ultra enthusiastic about creating female-centric work. The “Wholesome Foods” world is also very much representative of my own world – lots of yoga, health & wellness clichés, and a ton of awkward, goofy, belly laugh-inducing situations.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this webseries?
My co-producer’s parents might have said it best: “This show is like the perfect visual time capsule for this current generation.” The characters are really relatable, even to those who don’t know what “baddha konasana” or a “Whole 30” is. Ultimately, it’s a love story… about not knowing how – or just being way too afraid – to fall in love. It’s messy, it’s funny, it’s awkward, and things get a little bit weird sometimes, just like in real life.
How do personal and universal themes work in your webseries?
Again, on a personal level, this is very much my world, or a heightened version of it. The series is very loosely biopic, from Julia, our heroine, impulsively enrolling in a grad school program, to making friends (and searching for love) in an organic supermarket to getting fired on Christmas Eve… a lot of the comedy stems from my own very ungraceful and/or momentarily tragic experiences.
Universally, we’ve all been heart-broken at one point or another in our lives and, as a result, been terrified of putting ourselves back out there. And maybe it’s not even a person who broke your heart – or maybe it is, but you weren’t ever really even in a relationship with them… it’s still sometimes really scary to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to put our feelings on the line after we’ve been hurt or rejected.
Vulnerability definitely shows up as a major theme in the series, along with overcoming the never-ending string of mishaps and obstacles life tends to throw our way. At one point, Julia calls what she and Marko, her love interest, are doing “an epic dance of ambiguity” and I think that too kind of sums up our generation. There seems to be this constant web of crossed wires, mixed feelings, and decision fatigue when it comes to dating in 2018
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Both have evolved in countless ways. I partnered with two different writers before tackling the entire script myself. In early collaborative drafts, Marko was gay and worked at the store, in the bakery section, I believe. It had an even snappier, kitschier feel to it, and was more about Julia bonding with a few store-employees-turned-friends.
Once I took over, I surrendered to my own kind of unorthodox, organic way of writing: I would creatively dance or move around my apartment, go for long walks by the lake, run hill sprints… with the intention of figuring out who a particular character was or might be. Then suddenly, bits and pieces of dialogue would pop into my head and I’d scribble them down or leave myself a series of voice memos on my phone. I ended up with snip-its of conversations, literally typed out and sprawled all over my living room floor. Those fragments eventually became my first - 122 page - draft. It was one cohesive piece without any indication of where the episodes would start/end.
With generous feedback from my team, and input from some friends who helped us out with a table read, I was able to pare things down, round out the episodic structure, and flesh each character out a little bit more. In the end, there were about six drafts, with minor adjustments being made on the day. We also improvised a lot. We made it our goal to get at least two clean takes of each scene that were essentially what was on the page, and then, more often than not, we’d just run with it and see what came out of our mouths. We even added and a shot one additional scene almost a year after we’d wrapped and were almost done with post-production.
When I wrote it, I knew how to tie it, and the new character that came with it, into the overall storyline, but we had no idea where the scene itself was going to fit within the edit. I think we found the perfect home for it in the end though.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been almost overwhelmingly positive. Audience members have been super impressed with the high production values, and how hilarious and relatable the characters are. We’re doing the festival circuit, and have garnered a lot of really great press. The coolest and most unexpected feedback has come from people who aren’t members of our target audience at all – mostly guys in their mid-to-late 30s who’ve found the show to be really charming, super funny, and who are really interested in this female-led, female-centric narrative.
One of my favorite moments was when my boxing and Muy Thai trainer (a total guy’s guy) started quoting the series during a few of our sessions together. Up until that point, we figured we’d mostly appeal to health-conscious women in their 20s and 30s.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
If anything, it’s proven that audiences are hungry for niche stories, for unique stories, for content featuring and championing multidimensional women. Our main goal was to create something relatable and to make people laugh, and we can proudly say that we’ve definitely done that.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want to reach as many potential viewers as possible – to help people who tune in to feel less alone in their experiences, to unwind and laugh a little – or a lot – at how weird and wonderful this thing called life can be.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this webseries’s message?
Predominantly journalists, and possibly film festival directors and distributors. We’re eager to continue spreading joy and laughter to anyone who’s looking for something fun and new to watch. The more prospective audience members we can connect with, the better.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this webseries to have?
We hope to offer up broader and more varied representations of women, and to help viewers in general feel understood and like there are other people stumbling through this messy thing called life. Nobody really knows what they’re doing, and yet we’re so easily tricked into thinking that everyone else has it all figured out. We really need stories that are light, playful, and honest now more than ever, I think.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this webseries?
Is there a point when being health-conscious becomes unhealthy?
Would you like to add anything else?
If you have a creative idea or goal that you want to make happen, surround yourself with supportive people who’ll hold you accountable and then just go for it. Dive in. Fear, doubt, run-ins with naysayers… that stuff is all normal. But if you can push past it, you might end up with an end product that you’re really proud of and that was a ton of fun to make.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
fête - a messy, heartfelt and endearing dramedy about dysfunctional family dynamics.
Interview: October 2018
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Wholesome Foods, I Love You… Is That OK?
A neurotic yoga teacher sets out in search of love… at her favorite organic supermarket.
Length: 92 min
Director: Mazi Khalighi, Patricia Marcoccia, Tricia Lee, Krista Hovsepian
Producer: Krista Hovsepian, Cailleah Scott-Grimes, Daniel De Santo
Writer: Krista Hovsepian
Key cast: Krista Hovsepian, Daniel De Santo, Chris George, Samara Stern, Jenny Raven, Kyle Buchanan, Katerina Vitkoff
Looking for: Distributors, Film Festival Directors, Journalists
Facebook: wfilyseries
Twitter: @wfilyseries
Instagram: @wfilyseries
Funders: Kickstarter, private investors
Made in association with: Snarky Penguin Productions
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Amazon Prime, YouTube, wfily.com