inSAYSHAble is a seven part comedic web series and about Saysha Grabinski, the type of woman you make eye contact with and instantly know it was a mistake.  She Does The City sat down with the show’s star, creator, and writer Amy Matysio.

SDTC: What inspired you to create inSAYSHAble?

AM: I had co-written a short film called The Callbacks a few years ago with Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), and in it I played an early version of Saysha. It was a character I had been working on, and it was sort of a mash-up of a few people I had met. I’m a huge fan of bold, physical characters. I love watching performers who commit at a level where the comedy pours out of them like a waterfall, appearing and sounding completely ridiculous—but that they can also break your heart with one look. I wanted to give Saysha a life that would allow me to explore this.  Friends of mine who were already creating web series encouraged me to take the character of Saysha online as a way to keep playing with her.

SDTC: What was the creation process like?

AM: Once I decided to actually go through with it and reached out to who I wanted to work with, the creation process took place over a period of about six months. Mark Montague, my co-producer, began prep on the production side and I went into the writing phase, which included choosing a team of comedians to join the process. We also started writing for actors we knew we wanted to bring on. I had been trying to find something to work with Christina Sicoli (Fran) on for a long time and this was a perfect fit! The team of writers would work on Skype (we were all over the country) and at different points would come together to read the material out loud. We wrote until we finally had the strongest and funniest (is that a word?) seven episodes. It was really important to me to flesh Saysha out and to take the time to do it. It was also important to me that the episode in which I coined the term “dink machine” made it in. Once we had the season fully crafted, we set out to secure Jeff Beesley, an accomplished film/TV director, whom both Mark and I had worked with before. We knew if Jeff came on board he would take the material to the next level—and he did.

SDTC: Who do you think this series would appeal to most?

AM: According to our Google stats: Males 13-17, females 25-34, and don’t forget the 65+ demo who represent 0.9 percent of our fans! Honestly, anyone who is a comedy fan will find something to laugh about with this show. It’s hard to make comparisons, but I’m guessing fans of shows like Parks and Rec and The Mindy Project, or some of my favourites Ab Fab, Curb your Enthusiasm, Party Down and The Office (British) will fall in love with this ensemble and our style of comedy.

SDTC: What excites you most about this series?

AM: It’s female driven! It’s exciting to create your own work and have it produced at the level you imagined it could be. I love that we have found a loyal audience in Canada, and that people are starting to recognize inSAYSHable across North America.

SDTC: What sets inSAYSHAble apart from other web series out there?

AM: A) It’s fucking FUNNY. Truly FUNNY. 
B) The production value of our show is incredible. We have a rockstar team of artists involved.

SDTC: The hardest thing you overcame in creating inSAYSHAble was…?

AM: Learning to let go of the things that weren’t working and move on. I’m a perfectionist and a Virgo, so that’s not easy.

SDTC: The best thing you learned in this process was…?

AM: Stick to your vision.  Have a plan and commit to the content. Create a voice that is yours and that you are passionate about. Work hard, harder than you want to, and honestly, have fun—it shows.