“Losers” Showcases Local Improv and Acting Talent

A new Chicago-based webseries began airing episodes Sept 3, but there’s still time to catch up before next week’s midseason premiere. Losers, a self-described show “about fucking up,” is the debut project by new-on-the-scene production company Cloud Gate Productions and centers around a cast of roughly 40 characters in 25 episodes.

“The most interesting way to look at someone is to see how they deal with failure,” said show runner Fred Pelzer. “Everyone’s a loser to somebody, no matter who you are or where you are in your life. There’s still ways to mess up. How do they deal with this terrible moment in their life? I’m interested in that.”

The show pulls its cast from the local improv and theater scenes and also makes great use of Chicago’s various neighborhoods, including Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Ravenswood, and Rogers Park, among others. Each episode is intended to tell a self-contained story, although storylines do touch at times and characters make cameos in episodes other than their own.

Having such a large cast called for an equally, if not greater, number of shooting locations. This proved to be a challenge after many of the apartments of the production company’s crew and their friends were utilized one by one, at times more than once.

“I moved halfway through this summer and actually thought, oh good, we have another location to use,” said Pelzer. “We had one of our guys move here September 1 and we were like, ‘Welcome. Can we shoot at your apartment?’ ”

Stories told in the show range from relationships gone sour and work woes to heavier themes, including a cancer storyline in the back half of the season. Production wraps in early October, having began in May.

“This show has pretty much been my 2014,” said Pelzer, who began writing episodes in February.

Pelzer is extremely proud of his hard-working cast and crew, who volunteered their time to make the show a reality.

“We met a lot of really talented actors we’d never worked with before, which was a nice surprise,” said Pelzer. “I hope to work with them again.”

Those at Cloud Gate are making plans for the future now, including an upcoming horror webseries which they hope to fund via a Kickstarter or Indigogo campaign. They are also opening up their schedule to allow for producing videos for local musicians. Check out their website for more information.

Losers continues through the fall, and three new episodes are released each Wednesday. Twelve episodes are currently available online.