''My Roommate's an Escort'' is a Canadian

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

created, written by, and starring Katie Uhlmann and Trish Rainone. All 11 episodes of the first season are directed by Uhlmann, and the series premiered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on April 3, 2017. Rainone plays a non-confrontational, small-town girl living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

who suspects her new roommate Kesha, played by Uhlmann, is a

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

Background

''My Roommate's an Escort'' was written by

Katie Uhlmann ''My Roommate's an Escort'' is a Canadian comedy web series created, written by, and starring Katie Uhlmann and Trish Rainone. All 11 episodes of the first season are directed by Uhlmann, and the series premiered on YouTube on April 3, 2017. Raino ...

and Trish Rainone. Uhlmann and Rainone met at a mutual friend's party and bonded over similar ideas about creating "strong female-driven content." The series went from concept to completion in twelve months. A preview for the series debuted at the 2017 Toronto Short Film Festival.

Plot

Each episode opens with the same intro, establishing the house where most of the series is set. The same music plays for the intro and outro. Heather, a girl from

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

, now living in

, finds a new roommate online, Kesha, who may or may not be a private escort. Heather passive-aggressively tries to find out more about Kesha, unintentionally getting dragged into her world and the sketchy characters who inhabit it. In each episode, Heather retreats to vent at her one place of solace, a tattoo shop.

Cast

*Katie Uhlmann as Kesha *Trish Rainone as Heather *Bobby Del Rio as Sam *PJ Lazic as Terry *Stephanie Baird as Megan *Alan Peterson as Golden Jimmy *Jane Luk as Jen *Natasha Bromfield as Susie *Juan Carlos Velis as Bernie *Matthew Willson as Jazz *Angela Asher as Joanne *Barbara de la Fuente as Ronda *

Ellen Dubin Ellen Dubin is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her part in the television mini-series ''Lexx'', playing the role of Giggerota. From 2004 to 2006, Dubin starred in the TV series ''The Collector'' as Jeri Slate. She was nominated for a ...

as Ginger *David Sparrow as Daddy *John Tench as John Jebovah *Jake Raymond as John *David Emanuel as Ricky *Aisha Evelyna as Kristy *Karlo William as Guillaume

Reception

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' reviewed it positively, describing it as "wry and a bit bonkers" but "endearing and quite funny" and "highly polished for a low-budget production."

Awards and nominations

Awards: 2018 Best International Series – Miami Web Festival –

Miami, USA Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

2017 Best Web/New Media Award – Kapow Intergalactic Film Festival,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, USA 2017 Best Actress – Katie Uhlmann – Yes! Let’s Make a Movie Festival,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada 2017 Audience Choice Award – Austin Revolution Film Festival, Austin, USA 2017 Director’s Choice Award – Best Web Series – Austin Revolution Film Festival, Austin, USA Nominations: 2018 Best Comedy – Vancouver Webfest – Vancouver, Canada 2018 Best Web Series – Miami Web Festival – Miami, USA 2017 Best Actress – Katie Uhlmann – TO Webfest – Toronto, Canada 2017 Best Actress – Trish Rainone – TO Webfest –

, Canada 2017 Best Trailer – Bilbao Web Fest – Bilbao, Spain

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 5786580 2017 web series debuts Canadian comedy web series YouTube original programming