Want to create, write and star in your own TV show? This duo did it their own way — and you can too
Mercedes Grundy | CBC Arts | Posted: November 24, 2016 5:14 PM | Last Updated: November 24, 2016
The pair behind Second Jen share their advice for getting on network television
Many actors — successful and aspiring alike — dream of one day writing and starring in their own show. But making that dream a reality is seldom achieved. Enter Amanda Joy and Samantha Wan, two Toronto twenty-somethings who managed the huge feat of creating, writing and starring in their own series on network television, Second Jen.
The show tells the story of best friends Jen (Wan) and Mo (Joy), who are experiencing many of life's firsts as they move out of their parents' houses together. Joy and Wan drew from their own experiences as second-generation Asian-Canadians to put the characters in familiar (and hilarious) situations that include awkward family dinners, housemates of the opposite sex and overbearing parents.
In the above video, Joy and Wan tell CBC Arts how they got Second Jen off the ground and give some important advice for anyone who dreams of one day telling their own story.
Second Jen airs Thursdays at 8:30 PM on City-TV.
Watch Exhibitionists Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.