Producer Stavroula Toska’s View

I’ll never forget the first time I met with Kim Spurlock to discuss an idea she was working on with her sister, Mai, that they wanted to turn into a web series. I had by that time watched one too many web series that left me wanting more – and I don’t mean that in a good way. I thought to myself: “Do I really wanna produce a web series? Well, how bad could this be? Worst case scenario I’ll have a nice cup of coffee and an almond croissant with another creative person and that’ll be the end of it.”

As I sat down and ordered coffee I couldn’t help but notice how zen Kim was. I felt so comfortable around her and wanted to know all about her. It helped that I had checked her website before hand and knew she was an award winning filmmaker, so I definitely wanted her to pass on some wisdom to me. What happened instead was me bombarding her with personal questions. She was so gracious and patient with me. A few minutes later I knew I wanted Kim to be a friend and almost forgot the reason I was there.

But then Kim started telling me about Kit, the character her web series was based on. This messy, quirky, talented, smart, witty, self sabotaging, adorable – even though you wanna punch her some times – character that she had created and was loosely based on her own experiences while trying to make it as a female writer/director in show business. As Kim continued to talk, and as I debated having a second almond croissant, I realized that Kit was not loosely based on Kim – she was Kim! I don’t care how cliched this might sound, but that was the moment I realized that Kim and Kit would be part of my life for a long time.

I still played it cool and said I was gonna be busy for the next couple of months working on my documentary, Beneath the Olive Tree, but would love to read the script Kim and Mai were working on. What I did not tell Kim that day is that after five long years of making a documentary about women in concentration camps on Greek islands, I needed something funny to work as much as I needed a vacation. I was dying for Kim to offer me the producer’s job, which she didn’t at the time, and I started imagining myself helping make a web series about a young woman whom I thought was so real and awesome!

Soon after I read the script, I began realizing how fortunate I am to be a part of this; producing a web series with a bunch of people who are not only real pros, but also really great guys and gals! Before you know it, and thanks to our Executive Producers, we were on set for the first day of filming. It was incredible to see the chemistry between our cast and crew and how all the pieces fell into place. I have never laughed so much on set and I can not wait to share Livin’ The Dream with all of you!! I am so proud to say that I helped make this happen and along the way I met some of the most wonderful people.

Here’s to all of us livin’ our dream!!