With Season Two now complete, I thought it might be fun to share some of the "behind the scenes" drama that occurred during the writing of season two.
- When it was decided to keep Ian Andrews around as the villain for the first half of season two, it through a real monkey wrench into the plans for how the movie battle between Dru/Austin & Reese/Kyle was slated to play out. Primarily, the arrest of Kyle is what I never took into account when I was mapping it all out. I knew from the initial outlines of season two that Kyle would be arrested, but I had always planned on it being at the end of episode 8, knowing episode 9 was going to be all about Dru/Austin's movie and episode 8 was going to have wrapped up everything on Reese/Kyle's movie. Things didn't really play out as I originally thought it would and I had to make random changes on the fly to fit all the story in that I wanted to get in there.
- One thing that never changed was how the Ian/Austin conflict was going to be resolved. I always knew one way or another that Austin was going to break his house arrest and go after Ian. (This story was the actual reason that Austin's house arrest didn't end as originally scheduled in season one, episode 6). May was never factored into those original plans, but I ended up really liking how she played into the whole story line. It also provided a great way of adding more conflict between her and April, which I had been looking to do. For a brief minute, there had been the idea of once Austin arrived at the hotel, he'd find a note that told him to go to a nearby video arcade and that's where Ian would finally get what he wanted. Up until the minute I was writing Austin arriving at the hotel, I didn't know whether the final confrontation was going to happen there or at the video arcade. The deciding factor was simply looking at the page count. I knew this episode was already longer than most others, due to all the story that needed to happen in this episode. So, the final confrontation played out at the hotel, as originally planned.
- I always knew that Reese/Kyle were going to win the movie battle. I don't think I ever even gave a second thought to the possibility of Dru/Austin winning.
- Dru/Austin's movie concept eluded them both in the first couple episodes for one simple reason: it was eluding me as well! I came up with Reese/Kyle's concept early on, but for the life of me couldn't come up with something that worked well enough for Dru/Austin or was different enough from what Reese/Kyle were doing. The concept actually came to me very randomly, when I thought "From Top to Bottom" would be a good episode title. That simple thought is how Dru/Austin's concept was conceived.
- The biggest question mark I even had with the Dru/Austin movie was: Would Dru be in the movie or not. That was a tough one for me to figure out. I had reasons to do it and reasons not to do it. Once I decided to have Dru be in Austin's movie, the idea came up that maybe I should put Kyle in Reese's movie as well. It gave me a lot to play with in terms of all the boys' relationships and how these movies could put strain on them. The biggest problem with putting Kyle into the movie was the whole getting arrested thing. Kyle couldn't be in the movie if he was in jail. It's also why Jeremy got "sick" out of nowhere, to make room in the scene with Reese/Brody.
- Jesse Hillinger was originally named Donny Grey. I just wasn't really feeling the name "Donny," so I changed it about a month after the character was originally written, to Jesse.
- Look for May Flowers, Jesse Hillinger and Nicholas Rion to have expanded roles in season three.
- One great thing the movie battle provided me with an easy opportunity to do was to introduce new recurring boys for the site. I knew fairly early on that Austin/Reese/Jeremy and whoever else was left could only be in so many scenes together. Austin/Dru's concept gave me the chance to bring in several new characters all at once. Will we get to be knowing all of these boys like our main characters? Most likely not. But, they'll give me plenty of new scene options in the coming seasons. (FUN FACT: Season three will feature a first for the series. It'll be the first time a "scene" is filmed that does not include any of our main characters in it).
- Jeremy's role was expanded in season two simply because I felt that his being in 4 of the 6 episodes from season one, I should define him a bit more. He didn't even have a last name. I put some thought into his character and how to best further integrate him into the show. (FUN FACT: I'm a huge fan of TV's "The Vampire Diaries." His name is a combination of two of my favorite characters on that show. Jeremy Gilbert and Tyler Lockwood. Hence, Jeremy Lockwood).
- "The DL" was added to interACTIVE to give Courtney something to do in season two. I had tossed around several different ideas for her, but never really fell in love with any of them. I added Jeremy as her co-host to better introduce his character, thinking he would be an excellent balance for Courtney. I think it worked out. While "The DL" was featured heavily in season two, it'll be scaled back moving forward and used only when needed, versus being in every episode just for the sake of being there.
- I knew from the start of the season I was going to be breaking up one of the couples. I just didn't know which one. I had pros and cons for either couple, Dru/Reese/Austin/Kyle, so you might be surprised how I decided. I literally flipped a coin. Dru/Reese lost. :-(
- Brody McIver was an interesting character. I never really quite figured out who he was and what the ultimate objective was with him. As the season went along, I had Brody flirt with Reese and make it very apparent he liked him. It's kinda strange. I actually found myself getting annoyed by Brody as I wrote for him. You may have noticed that after episode 7, he seemed to speak less and less. I knew I couldn't just write him off, as he played a key role in Reese/Kyle's movie. There was an initial plan to bring Brody back in episode 13 to wrap his story up and then write him off the show, but that obviously didn't happen. So let's just say he went off to compete in a surfing competition....somewhere far, far away :-)
- Episode 11 "Welcome to TRiX" was originally intended to be a back-door pilot/potential spin-off sister series to run concurrently with dru-maddoX.com. It wasn't until I reached the writing of that episode that I made the decision not to make TRiX its own show, but rather just a solid one-off episode. I got very real with myself in the knowledge that I barely have the time to pull off each season of dru-maddoX.com by my targeted release dates. How the hell would I ever find the time to write two series?
- "Welcome to TRiX" is the only reason season two is seven episodes long instead of six. I included a 7th episode solely for the purpose of not taking anything away from the dru-maddoX.com season by only having 5 episodes focusing on it and using the 6th episode to launch the new show. By the time I had finished outlining everything and before I knew I wasn't going to go forward with the second series, the extra episode had become an intricate part of the dru-maddoX.com story line. I lucked out with the way it ultimately all came together and was able to use the TRiX scenario and story to move dru-maddoX.com's stories forward.
- Original outlines actually had Nicholas Rion and even possibly Shane Matthews being Austin's brothers. It just didn't work or make any logical sense to do that, so Shane became a former employer of Austin's back in the day (which I never actually revealed in EP 11) and Nicholas went off in a completely different direction, becoming the advocate for Trenton Marlow's devious plan to take control of dru-maddoX.com.
- I knew I was taking a huge risk by making the series even more serialized that it was in season one. Especially taking away a good amount of the humor and adding more drama. I'll be very honest as to why I did this. I've said it before, I'm just not a comedy writer. I love a good dramatic setting. I needed to find a way to keep me interested in writing the show and this was my solution. I'm hoping everyone is enjoying the changes as much as I am!
- The idea to bring Trenton Marlow back into the fold was a rather random one. I always knew one day he might pop back up somehow, but I never thought he would return so soon. I figured with the Golden Cock Awards happening and Five Star Enterprises being the top company out there, it seemed logical to have him there. I took that opportunity to introduce new competition for Austin, the guy who replaced him at the top after he went to jail, Khayman Scott. Gotta say, I really do love that name! (SPOILER ALERT: While Khayman didn't appear all that much in season two, look for him to play a much larger role in season three, especially since Trenton lost the Best Website bet with Dru and has to loan Khayman to Dru for a scene with Austin. That scene is slated as the biggest scene the show has ever done. Two titans are colliding - it has to be something grand!).
- I knew what the cliffhanger for season two was going to be very early on. I just didn't know who exactly was going to be on the other end of the phone when Dru called to say, "We've got a deal." I figured that I could come up with the who later, knowing at the very least, that phone call is what I was building the entire season towards. While some have said I coped out on the outcome of season one's cliffhanger, I can guarantee that the outcome of season two's cliffhanger, will have far more consequences than season one's. (IN MY DEFENSE: I may have resolved the Kyle STD scare by the 4th page of the first episode of season two, using a simple scene, but the impact it had on Kyle and Austin and having to continue dealing with Ian's madness was really what I was going for all along, not so much Kyle having to deal with the actual STD itself.) (FUN FACT: I can already tell you what the season three cliffhanger will be. It's weird to say that I knew season three's cliffhanger, long before I knew season two's).
- Believe it or not, I actually get a good number of messages from readers of the series (which I'm truly surprised and humbled by). The biggest thing I heard following season one was why were all of the "scenes" for the site only one-on-one scenes. Why hadn't I done any 3-ways or groups scenes, etc. My response has been the same from day one. All in good time. I didn't want to do every type of scene out there in the first season. Most porn sites when they first launch normally only do one-on-one scenes (as they're cheaper, easier and logical considering they don't have a huge pool of talent to draw from yet). Once the movie battle story line was conceived, I knew that would be a fantastic opportunity to do some of these more special scenes readers were wanting to see. The marquee double penetration scene with Reese was the first one conceived for Reese/Kyle's movie. I built everything around that.
- There had always been a plan in place to introduce Reese's mother early in the second season. I wanted to have her disapprove of Reese's being in porn and ultimately have Dru be the one to repair the relationship between Reese and his mother. Every time I slotted it into an outline for an episode, I found it to be the one thing left that I didn't add into the script. I tried three different times and never added it in. I guess that was my way of telling myself: "hey, knucklehead, it's a bad idea, don't waste everyone's time!" I did finally introduce Reese's mom in EP 11. Expect to see some more of her moving forward. I think I was literally about a season ahead with her story line as now I can find easy ways of adding it into season three. We'll see what happens.
- For the Golden Cock Awards - I figured out the categories and who was going to be nominated, but never had determined who was going to win what. I figured those would be game time decisions, having the winners be the best options for moving stories forward or creating new conflicts. I did always know however, that Austin would make his first public appearance at the awards following the early ending of his house arrest.
- I really do love April/Courtney scenes. I really need to find a way to have them interact more!
- Courtney didn't appear at all in two episodes this season, mainly because there just wasn't a need for her. I really do love her character but sometimes trying to find ways of adding her into story lines proves challenging. I'll never just add a character to a scene for the sake of doing it. If they don't have a purpose in whatever stories are going on, you just won't see them.
- I really loved the progression of Austin's character in season two. Every story line I came up with, I immediately thought, how do I add Austin into this. Austin has finally evolved into the character i always imagined him to be from the beginning. It just took a little longer to get him there was all :-)
- I LOVE the cover art for season two. I think it fit the season's theme perfectly! I already had an image picked out for season three, but someone I know wants to try and become the season three cover boy. We'll see what happens!
- There was A LOT of back and forth on how the season two cliffhanger was going to be played out. I ultimately knew it was going to lead to a battle for control of dru-maddoX.com in season three. All I knew was that after Ian's story line was wrapped up in EP 10, I didn't have a villain anymore. With Episodes 11 and 12 focusing solely on the Golden Cock Awards, it bought be some time to figure out who the new villain would be and why. Once I decided on Trenton Marlow as the next villain, I slowly re-introduced him to remind you about him, but not really indicate that he's the one behind Nicholas Rion's investment approach towards Dru.
LOOKING AHEAD TO SEASON THREE:
While I'm still in the early stages of figuring out season three, a few things I know for sure you can look forward to:
- It's gonna be a dirty, all out war, for control of dru-maddoX.com. Expect the unexpected as there there's A LOT more going on that currently meets the eye! There's going to be a big mystery story line for a good portion of the season that I'm very excited about!
- We've only seen just the beginning of Trenton Marlow's master plan.
- April & May's professional rivalry will heat back up and reach a level no one could ever have expected. This time however, Dru may be the one who ultimately pays the price.
- Austin Ryan / Khayman Scott....enough said.
- Can Dru find a way to repair the damage to his relationship with Reese or are their days as a couple truly over? (Honestly, even I haven't decided on that one yet)
- Kyle will continue directing scenes for the site. It'll be interesting when he ultimately wants to direct Austin in his new video series, "The Boyfriend Series."
- How will Austin fully re-adapt to normal life following the end of his house arrest?
- Can Reese really still work with Dru or will the pain of their break-up be too much for him to handle?
- We will sadly say goodbye to a character we have known from the beginning of the show in season three. You will be very surprised as to who it is and especially as to why.
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