NEW ONLINE WEB SERIES “GRRL’S GUIDE TO FILMMAKING”

AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER ROLLA SELBAK 

DEBUTS BRAND NEW ONLINE WEB SERIES “GRRL’S GUIDE TO FILMMAKING”. 

LOS ANGELES, CA - Award-winning out filmmaker Rolla Selbak is releasing a new online “interview” series called "Grrl's Guide To Filmmaking”, in which she shares her personal Hollywood vlogs as she visits some of the most prominent lesbian filmmakers making it happen today. 

Grrl's Guide To Filmmaking offers an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes, showing the magic, behind the magic. 

Selbak sneaks us into the Paramount writers room with Faith Soloway, writer on the breakthrough Amazon series Transparent; stumbles into Cathy DeBuono's backyard; gets the juicy details from Guinevere Turner and how she came up with the title "The L Word", and much....much more.

Season One kicks off on August 10th with episode one featuring an up close and personal interview with Faith Soloway, which will stream on  www.tellofilms.com

Selbak is an award winning filmmaker who is part of the San Francisco Women's Film Institute Leadership council, and is responsible for creating and producing the S.F International Women's On-line Film Festival. She's queer, an Arab-American and a woman.

But that hasn’t stopped the self-taught auteur from writing, directing and producing films that matter to her. 

We all know her as the mastermind behind the web series sensation “Kiss Her I’m Famous” starring Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews which satirizes the booming business of the sex tape madness, and how celebrity wannabes utilizes their home movies as a ticket to greater stardom and a major payday. But Selbak carries a filmmaking dossier that may very well rival some of the most prominent out female filmmakers in the industry.

Selbak's impressive credits include writing and directing the internationally acclaimed feature film "Three Veils”, starring Sheetal Sheth (Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World, I Can’t Think Straight), Mercedes Masohn (666 Park Ave), and featuring Eric Avari (Heros, The Mummy).  The film confronts delicate subject matters such as arranged marriage, homosexuality, and love within the Muslim-American subculture, and portrays the leading female characters as human beings first, women second, and their cultural surroundings as veils that dictate how much of their inner-selves are revealed. 

With "Three Veils", Rolla Selbak,  who grew up in the Middle East and chafed under the strict social structure of a Muslim family, delivered a snapshot of her feelings about how women's rights are trampled under in her otherwise rich and vibrant culture. The feature film won Best Screenplay at San Diego LGBT International 2012; Best LGBT Film at the New York City International Film Festival 2011; Jury Award Best Film at S.F Women's International 2011; Jury Award Best Female Feature at the Long Island LGBT Film Fest 2011; and the Rainbow Award at the Honolulu LGBT Film Fest 2011, among other.

Her previous feature, “Making Maya”, has found a successful niche within the independent film world, and has been screened at film festivals and universities nation-wide.  She was announced a Winner of the LinkTV’s One Nation Many Voices film competition in 2008 for her documentary “Green Blue Sea”, profiling a young, Palestinian scuba diver, and his profound respect for the ocean.

She is known to delve into subject matters that bear distinctively bold, thought-provoking and compelling qualities. It’s no surprise this established filmmaker/Palestinian native has been invited to speak at multiple panels on independent filmmaking and women in the arts, and was a grant panelist for the 2008 Regional Arts & Culture Council of Oregon.  Her other notable achievements include scoring and writing music for her films, and being a recipient of the inaugural Women’s Vision Film grant for her screenwriting, awarded by the Faerie Godmother Fund.

EPISODE GUIDE

EP1 - Faith Soloway - 8/10

EP2 - Cathy DeBuono - 8/17

EP3 - Cathryn Hayes - 8/24

EP4 - Heather de Michele & Gretchen Michelfeld - 8/31 

EP5 - Guinevere Turner - 9/7 

"Kiss Her I'm Famous" Season 2 Trailer Released!

FILMMAKER ROLLA SELBAK 

RELEASES OFFICIAL 

SEASON 2 TRAILER FOR "KISS HER I'M FAMOUS"

Featuring Actresses Noureen DeWulf from "Anger Management" & Tracy Ryerson from "The Real L Word"

Los Angeles, CA - It's official,  Filmmaker Rolla Selbak released today the season 2 trailer for Kiss Her I'm Famous.

Be the first to watch it right here on the new site: www.kissherimfamous.com.

Season will feature many surprises including the addition of actress Noureen DeWulf who is best known for her role as sexy therapy patient Lacey in Charlie Sheen’s hit TV comedy, Anger Management. DeWulf's character is definitely a troublemaker! She's described in the show as an evil disney princess. She's the grower of her own Kombucha and somewhat of a hilarious anomaly. 

Selbak just wrapped the filming of the season 2 in Los Angeles and is now launching an IndieGogo Crowdfunding campaign for reimbursement of locations and equipment,:  

Check out the Indiegogo campaign for details, and please do donate if you like what you see.  it ends on Halloween: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kiss-her-i-m-famous-season-2

The series returns on cyberspace in January 2014 on tellofilms.com, and will feature a total of 7 episodes. 

Exclusive Behind-the Scenes video for Upcoming Season 2 of "Kiss Her I'm Famous"

FILMMAKER ROLLA SELBAK 

RELEASES EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO 

FOR UPCOMING SEASON 2 OF "KISS HER I'M FAMOUS" 

Featuring Actresses Noureen DeWulf from "Anger Management" & Tracy Ryerson from "The Real L Word"

Los Angeles, CA - Filmmaker Rolla Selbak just revealed a special behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming season 2 of "Kiss Her I'm Famous".

Narrated by Selbak, this exclusive video features special interviews with the cast and crew -old and new - as well as never-seen-before footage.

A sneak peek at the making of Season 2, Selbak takes us deep into production and shows us what enfolded on the set.  A few surprises are unveiled including the addition of actress Noureen DeWulf who is best known for her role as sexy therapy patient Lacey in Charlie Sheen’s hit TV comedy, Anger Management.

DeWulf's character is definitely a troublemaker! She's described in the show as an evil disney princess. She's the grower of her own Kombucha and somewhat of a hilarious anomaly. Catch her on the video in her trademark silk robe! 

Kiss her I'm famous is the new comedy that has made a name for itself on cyberspace during their initial season 1.

The first season of the show premiered this year to great success, with the trailer alone reaching 1 MILLION+ combined views on YouTube in less than a week!

Created and directed by San Francisco based award-winning filmmaker Rolla Selbak, the show is based on two hilarious and clueless characters played by The Real L-Word’s Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews (The Violent Kind), who aim to create a celebrity sex tape to launch them into fame.  "Kiss Her I'm Famous" satirizes the booming business of the sex tape madness, and how celebrity wannabes utilizes their home movies as a ticket to greater stardom and a major payday. 

Selbak just wrapped the filming of the season 2 in Los Angeles and is now launching an IndieGogo Crowdfunding campaign for reimbursement of locations and equipment,:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kiss-her-i-m-famous-season-2

Actress of "Anger Management" Fame Joins Cast of Lesbian Web Series

Los Angeles, CA - Actress Noureen DeWulf, best known for her role as sexy therapy patient Lacey in Charlie Sheen’s hit TV comedy, Anger Management, is joining the cast of Season 2 of "Kiss Her I'm Famous".

Created and directed by award-winning filmmaker Rolla Selbak, "Kiss Her I'm Famous", is a web series that follows two hilarious and clueless characters as they aim to create a celebrity sex tape that launches them into fame.  

Starring The Real L-Word’s Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews (The Violent Kind), and featuring Rizwan Manji (Outsourced), "Kiss Her I'm Famous" satirizes the booming business of the sex tape madness, and how celebrity wannabes utilizes their home movies as a ticket to greater stardom and a major payday. 

Season 1 premiered this year to great success.The trailer alone reached 1 MILLION+ combined views on YouTube in less than a week!

Season 2 of "Kiss Her I'm Famous" is slated to debut January 2014 on tellofilms.com, and will feature a total of 7 episodes. 

Fans will have to tune in to find out what kind of trouble will DeWulf's character be causing on the show!

About Rolla Selbak:

Rolla Selbak is an award winning filmmaker who is part of the San Francisco Women's Film Institute Leadership council, and is responsible for creating and producing the S.F International Women's On-line Film Festival - slated to launch at the end of the year/early next year.

Selbak's most recent credits include writing and directing the internationally acclaimed feature films "Three Veils” and “Making Maya”, as well as her documentary “Green Blue Sea”, profiling a young, Palestinian scuba diver, and his profound respect for the ocean.

The Palestinian native has been invited to speak at multiple panels on independent filmmaking and women in the arts, and was a grant panelist for the 2008 Regional Arts & Culture Council of Oregon.  Her other notable achievements include scoring and writing music for her films, and being a recipient of the inaugural Women’s Vision Film grant for her screenwriting, awarded by the Faerie Godmother Fund.

More About Noureen DeWulf:

Actress Noureen DeWulf was born in New York and raised in Georgia. Her parents are from Pune, India. She was educated at Boston University's School of the Arts. One of DeWulf's first roles was in the Oscar winning short West Bank Story (2005). Acting success continued with roles in TV hits such as "CSI: NY" (2004), "Numb3rs" (2005), "Outsourced" (2010) and "Hawthorne" (2009). Feature film projects include Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). In 2012, DeWulf was cast alongside Charlie Sheen in the TV series "Anger Management" (2012).

Now Available: Kiss Her, I'm Famous!

Remember not so long ago we interviewed the wonderfully humorous director of new lesbian web series, Kiss Her I'm Famous? (Click THIS if you missed it.)

Well, good news! The web series is now available.

There's a new celebrity sex tape that has become the latest Hollywood heat!

San Francisco based award-winning out filmmaker Rolla Selbak kicks off season 1 of her newest project, the web series dubbed “Kiss Her I’m Famous”, premiering the first two episodes online via tellofilms.com.

Starring The Real L-Word’s Tracy Ryerson and Ilea Matthews (The Violent Kind), and featuring Rizwan Manji (Outsourced), "Kiss Her I'm Famous", follows two down-and-out best friends who look for fame in all the wrong places. 

At a time where gratuity and fake publicity seems to be able to catapult just about anyone who knows how to press "record" on a camcorder into the spotlight, “Kiss Her I’m Famous” is a nod to the sex tape culture that catapulted the careers of Paris Hilton , Kim Kardashian (and many other celebrities) into the stratosphere.

A web series that satirizes the booming business of the sex tape madness, and how celebrity wannabes utilizes their home movies as a ticket to greater stardom and a major payday.  Kiss Her I’m Famous follows two hilarious and clueless characters as they aim to create a celebrity sex tape that launches them into fame.

Watch the series at http://www.kissherimfamous.com!

Interview w/ Kiss Her, I'm Famous Director, Rolla Selbak!

What is Kiss Her, I'm Famous? Only the hottest new lesbian web series on the map starring a few famous faces!

Check out what (the hilarious!) director Rolla Selbak had to say about the project.

All Things Lesbian: Kiss Her, I'm Famous looks awesome, but can you describe it in 3 words?

Rolla Selbak: Creamy. Luscious. Goodness.  Oh wait, that’s Nutella.

ATL: What inspired you to create the series?

RS: Nowadays, gratuity and fake publicity seem to be able to catapult just about anyone into the spotlight, so I wrote the series as a satire that tackles the phenomenon in a smart, subtle, and entertaining way.

My past work has trended towards drama, so I was also very excited to delve into the more comedic realm.  As far as creating a web series, I must say, connecting directly with the audience and being able to be in full control of the content is so refreshing, it’s such a high.  I love it.  It’s hard to go back to the more traditional ways of producing content as a filmmaker once I’ve gotten a taste.

 At the same time, though, I wanted to create something that was memorable, that stuck with people. That’s why it was important to create a good story, with compelling characters. I didn’t want to get caught up in trying to put out the next viral video.  I think there is a real thirst for quality, TV-type content on the Internet, especially within the Lesbian domain.

Of course there’s certainly room for both, but since my cat won’t let me dress her up in bread slices and pasties, I settled for the latter.

And now with platforms like tellofilms.com, who are the distributers of Kiss Her I’m Famous, that’s what you get.  It’s like the Lesbian Hulu.  For a few bucks a month, you get access to all these quality shows and content, all lesbian-centric. I’m happy to be a part of it.

ATL: What made you cast Tracy (Ryerson) and Ilea (Matthews) in the lead roles?

RS: Tracy was someone I had been eyeing to be a part of the project. I reached out to a few other possibilities, but it wasn’t gelling for one reason or another. Then Sheetal Sheth (whom I know from my feature film Three Veils) was a guest on Tracy and Stamie’s podcast, OFM. I thought: huh, maybe Sheetal can introduce us and see where this goes? I was introduced, I sent over the script, and the rest is history. There’s something about Tracy’s onscreen presence that really lures you in, and that’s what I was looking for. She’s got it.

With Ilea, I needed someone talented, energetic and smart to fill the role of Jen (who’s a handful in the series!) I was looking for someone with great comedic timing, but who also exuded sincerity. I wasn't having any luck through my own searches, and so I hired a casting director (Lori Laube from AE Casting) to help out. Ilea was on the top of her list, and after seeing Ilea’s previous work, and meeting her, she was the only one on mine.

Put both of them together and you've got that electricity I was looking for.

ATL: What was the atmosphere like on set?

RS: Principle shooting was a 5 days in Los Angeles, and I also shot some scenes in San Francisco as well.  It was a riot of course.  I mean there’d be something wrong if you put all of us in a room without craziness ensuing.  And when filming with folks you haven’t worked with before, it really is a crapshoot.  So I feel so fortunate.  My abs are still hurting from all the laughing.

The cast and crew were pretty darn queer, men and women.  It was so awesome, actually, I’d never had the privilege of experiencing that before.  We all got along so well; everyone was so respectful (especially when it came to the more intimate scenes). My crew is the best. I’d love to shoot anything with them, at any time, for any reason.

ATL: Would you point us in the direction any of your past/future projects?

RS: Well I mentioned my most recent feature film, Three Veils, starring Sheetal Sheth (I Can’t Think Straight), Mercedes Masöhn (666 Park Ave), and featuring Eric Avari (Heroes, The Mummy).  It’s a film about three young Middle-Eastern women living in the U.S, each with her own personal story.  As the film progresses, all three stories unfold and blend into each other as connections are revealed between the three women.

The film confronts delicate subject matters such as arranged marriage, homosexuality, and love within the Muslim-American subculture.  You can watch it on-line, from anywhere in the world, by going to www.threeveilsmovie.com, and pressing play.

I’ve also got a monthly Spreecast called Grrl’s Guide To Filmmaking, a show dedicated to aspiring filmmakers who would like to learn more about making films or online content.  I interview strong females in the industry, and audiences can interact live, ask questions, or just sit back and watch.  You can watch upcoming Spreecasts, or catch up on older ones on the GGTF Spreecast channel:http://www.spreecast.com/channels/grrls-guide-to-filmmaking.

As for the future, I’m always working on something.  We’ll see how Kiss Her I’m Famous goes, maybe a season 2 might be in store *crossing fingers*.  I’m also working on my passion project, “Empyre”, an intelligent dystopia about what the world will look like in 500 years.  So you know, along the same lines of Kiss Her I’m Famous, lol!

Now a question just for fun: Will you be at Dinah this year? And which celesbians are you hoping to hang with?

Yup, I will definitely be at Dinah.  I haven’t had a vacation in a year, so I’m so looking forward to it!

I can’t wait to hang with Brandy Howard and Julie Goldman again; they seriously crack me up! I’d love to meet Fortune Feimster, it’s always the best when she’s on Chelsea Lately.  And really, I’m also just also looking forward to being poolside, soaking up the sun and music, and chatting it up with whomever.  I’ve been in my editing cave for weeks, and can’t wait to bust out.