Hey Fans! In preparation for the June 3rd return of Bizness As Usual, we will be interviewing some of the shows cast and crew! First up is the creator and one of the stars of the show, Joshua Shernoff.
BAU: Hey Josh, thanks for joining us!
JOSH: Of course.
BAU: Right off the bat, let’s get a list of everything you do on this show.
JOSH: (Laughs) Everything!
BAU: You wear a lot of hats.
JOSH: Yes I do, but I love it. I’m the creator of the show; I wrote 10 of the 12 episodes this season. I have a hand in directing every episode, and then I edit them.
BAU: That’s a lot.
JOSH: I also help with lighting and props and all that good stuff.
BAU: How about acting?
JOSH: Oh yeah I do that too (Laughs).
BAU: Just a bit.
JOSH: I really love it though. It’s very rewarding in the end. I’m feeling really good about the second half of this season.
BAU: Well before we get into the big June 3rd return, can you tell us a little bit about how you created this show?
JOSH: Sure. Back in… I want to say 2004, we did a five minute short for a competition. We called it BIZness As Usual, with the Biz part capitalized. We didn’t have characters or anything like that; it was just six friends sitting around a table in a diner, talking about life. One of the friends Bis (Bismad Channey) was the central focus of the short. So that’s where the BIZ came from.
BAU: How different was it from the show we see today?
JOSH: Oh it’s not even the same thing. Night and day. The only things that are the same are the name, a few of the actors and the location of the diner.
BAU: Which is where?
JOSH: Red Lion Diner on 611 and County Line Road in Warrington, PA. I think this is the first official promotion we have done for that place. The owners there are just great people and let us shoot whenever we want.
BAU: So the free publicity is due.
JOSH: Oh definitely.
BAU: Next question.
JOSH: Shoot!
BAU: For the fans who don’t know, the cast is made up of a group of your friends.
JOSH: For the most part.
BAU: How similar are the characters to the people who portray them?
JOSH: Not as similar as you’d think. When I wrote the pilot episode, I kept things pretty close to real life. Everyone was kind of an extension of themselves. I would say by the second episode, the actors and the characters were just different people.
BAU: So there are no similarities between you and Jack Sanders?
JOSH: (Laughs) Um, not in personality. Jack is very….flamboyant. (Laughs again) He’s an interesting dude. I mean, there’s a bit of myself in the character, but mostly it’s a caricature of a few people I’ve known, rolled into one. I like him though. I think you get to see a lot of different stuff with Jack. In Episode 4 (Happy Holidays) you see his softer, more vulnerable side. I like to think that all the characters have a bit of depth to them.
BAU: Who is your favorite character to do a scene with?
JOSH: You know it’s really hard to say. My favorite actor may not be my favorite character.
BAU: Explain…
JOSH: (Laughs) Well, I would say my favorite characters to work with are Ranjin or Ed. It’s a lot of fun to do those scenes. Actor wise I would say it’s pretty even. I really like doing scenes with Amy and Jordyn. They seem to really get the characters and they always know their lines!
BAU: Is that usually a problem with some of the other actors?
JOSH: Not a huge problem. Sometimes, especially in the last month or so, we’re shooting like 18 scenes from like 7 different episodes in one day. You get a little mixed up with your lines. It makes for great bloopers though.
BAU: Yes it does. Fans can see these bloopers on the Videos page at BiznessAsUsual.com
JOSH: I think we have Bloopers for the first 3 episodes.
BAU: Let’s talk a bit about this shooting schedule you mentioned. You released 4 episodes in 2008, how many are coming in ‘09?
JOSH: 8. I’ll give you a brief history of our show. We started as a Web TV show in September 2008. The idea was to do a four episode arc and then shop it around. We were doing one episode per month. They aired the last Wednesday of every month. That was September to December.
BAU: So did you shop those around?
JOSH: Well, by the time the 3rd episode was done, we had developed a good following and a really good grasp on the show and its characters. We noticed that each episode kept getting better. We didn’t want to start shopping around a weak product so we all agreed to do a 12 episode season. We figure at the end of this, we will have some really good stuff to shop around.
BAU: Any interest yet?
JOSH: Yes, some. I was out in LA talking it up a bit and I think we are going to head out there for some competition or convention thing next summer. Right now most of my focus is on the show and making each episode as funny and unique as we can. What I really hope is that our fan base will keep growing, and it really has. This MySpace Page has been growing like crazy and we aren’t even back yet.
BAU: Speaking of coming back, June 3rd is your return date. You said there will be 8 new episodes. How frequently will they be released?
JOSH: Almost weekly!
BAU: Really?
JOSH: That’s why we’ve been off for six months. We have been filming the new episodes and are planning an almost weekly release.
BAU: What does almost weekly mean?
JOSH: The next 3 episodes (5-7) will be released weekly. I think we are then taking a 2 week break and coming back again in July with a few weekly….maybe another week off. Something like that. I know I’m very exact with these dates.
BAU: What can you tell us about the second half, or should I say last three quarters of this season?
JOSH: It just gets better. Our first episode back is called “Black Out”. It takes place in January, more or less picks up where “Happy Holidays” left off. Matt is with Amy, Randy’s beard has grown in and Jack is hosting ‘movie night’, until the power goes out and everyone is stranded there during a blizzard.
BAU: That sounds fun.
JOSH: It was actually the shortest episode we ever shot. As far as shooting time. Only one location. The lights are off so the whole thing is by candle light which turned out really cool.
BAU: Ok, the big question….Will there be a second season?
JOSH: How about a first “real” TV season?
BAU: Sounds good to me!
JOSH: (laughs) A second season is in the works. It’s not 100%, more 95% right now. We’ll know by the end of this season.
BAU: What’s the hold up?
JOSH: No real hold up just need to see how many people are on board, and that counts the fans! The show is a blast to do but only if someone is watching, which right now they are!
BAU: So what else does Joshua Shernoff do when he is not in front of a BAU camera?
JOSH: I have a real job (Laughs). I’m also working on a few other projects. I just recorded a three song solo album. Just me and my acoustic guitar. I’ve been doing a few gigs, and have a few lined up in the future.
BAU: Where can we hear this?
JOSH: You can check out my music MySpace at www.MySpace.com/JHSMusic1
BAU: Awesome. Anything else in the works?
JOSH: I’ve been working on a few new songs. I’ll be back in the studio recording a full radio ready single this summer. So I’m looking forward to that. I’m also going to try to do some more TV acting. The first professional job I had in this business was some Peanut Chews commercial with Fred (Fredric Lee Shernoff). It was a long day! After that I did some stand in and extra work for It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
BAU: That must have been fun.
JOSH: Oh it was so cool. It was two, fourteen hour days of shooting exteriors in Philly, but it was awesome. I was hired as a stand in for Charlie (Day). The guys loved me for some reason and I ended up standing in for all of them, even Charlie’s mom (Laughs). They liked me so much that they threw me in as an extra and that’s really how I got my start in TV acting.
BAU: Did you ever go back to Always Sunny?
JOSH: I wish I would have. I had stopped acting for a few years and went back to school. They came around to do more exteriors for a later season and called me to be in it. It was shooting on the same day as finals so I had to turn it down.
BAU: You were a Professional Wrestler too.
JOSH: (Laughs) Yeah, I wrestled for 10 years. Started when I was 15 years old.
BAU: What was your name?
JOSH: “Superstar” Rocky Styles!
BAU: That’s great!
JOSH: The Superstar character was about as far from Jack Sanders as you can get (Laughs)!
BAU: Why did you stop?
JOSH: (Laughs) That’s a long story. Fred is actually working on a book about my 10 year journey in that business. Basically, I was always into the showmanship side of the business more than the physical side of it. It took its toll on me, and I was happy to leave it, although I do have some great memories.
BAU: Ok, one last question.
JOSH: Good (Laughs)
BAU: If you could work on one TV Show, what would it be?
JOSH: The first one that offers me a job (Laughs). Dude that’s way too hard to answer! I would have loved to have worked on Buffy or Angel. ER was another one. If I had to choose from today’s shows….I would pick either House, Bones or LOST.
BAU: You really have a hard time with these “pick one” questions don’t you?
JOSH: What can I say?
BAU: Well, thank you so much for sitting down with us!
JOSH: Anytime.
BAU: Any final words for our fans?
JOSH: Thank you guys for watching! You have no idea how exciting it is to be able to entertain you. And please leave comments on the MySpace Page! We love to hear feedback. Oh and one more thing. Spread the word!
BAU: Thanks Josh.
JOSH: Thank you.