Where the Bears Are is a new webseries coming online in August, and in the words of producer/actor Ben Zook, "...it follows the story of three bear roommates who live in the gay trendy neighbourhood of Silver Lake in Los Angeles. We wake up the next day after a wild party and we find a dead bear in our bathtub. We spend the entire season trying to solve the murder because we become suspects. We have to clear our name and find out who the real killer is." It’s twenty-five 4-5 minute episodes...and it’s all one continuous story filled with funny or sexy bears..

Ben, who also plays one of the leads ("Nelson"), writer/producer Rick Copp ("Reggie") and director/producer Joe Dietl ("Wood" and Ben’s real life husband) have years of experience working in front of and behind the camera. Given their history in the entertainment industry, I wondered how different is it writing a short scene which is a standalone episode.

"It’s been really fun, because you can get right to the point. You have to cram in a lot in 5 minutes." Ben has experience in sketch comedy – he went to Second City in Chicago. "When you come from that background it’s easier to...think of every episode like a comedy sketch. With this show we always end with a little bit of a cliffhanger for the next episode. They are self-contained...in each episode, we’re looking for a specific clue, we go and investigate it, funny things happen, and that leads us to the next clue."

The story behind the series is inspiring, because with their experience and contacts, the three of them did it themselves without studio or network assistance. Fortunately, Ben, Rick and Joe were at the stage of their careers where they could buy the equipment they needed. "You get so frustrated trying to get stuff set up because you have to sell it to studios or production companies...we really wanted to do something where no one could say no to it. So we went ahead and bought the camera, the lights, all the equipment. The technology has gotten great, you can make things look pretty good ...for a relatively low amount of money."

Being able to produce it cheaply because equipment costs have come down, and having a distribution network (the Internet) evoked a comparison in Ben’s mind to the Golden Age of Television. "Anyone can have their own television show now....it’s like Andy Warhol’s words are coming true. Everyone will be famous. Everyone can do their own TV show now just with their own computer...it’s an exciting time for anyone who’s funny or creative or can write or act, because now with the technology, you can just put it out there."

As well, a small web series like this allows Ben the freedom to craft a story he may not have had the chance to do on larger productions. "It’s incredibly freeing and it’s one of the most gratifying things we’ve done. I do mainly screenplays, and as a writer of movies, it’s just gruelling. It takes forever." You’ll end up with notes from your manager or agent, notes from a producer, notes from a studio, notes from the star. To be able to do what they want, what makes them laugh is satisfying. "Obviously we want to make enough money to do another season...but the goal creatively is what’s going to make us laugh our asses off and have fun and make everyone else laugh." You don’t have the pressures to make it more commercial or sacrifice your vision.

As you watch the series, you’ll probably notice the chemistry between the three leads. As they all know each other through either marriage or friendship.  There can be good points and bad points to having the social connection. "Joe and I have been partners for 18 years now...we’ve always kind of avoided working together creatively, because you just don’t want to jeopardize the relationship." Over the years they slowly dipped their toes into working together, and this is the first time they’ve been equal partners. Ben and Joe have alternated the roles of actor and director before, yet this is the first time they’ve collaborated with Rick, and it has gone quite well. Usually if there is any stress, it’s not with the creative side, it’s with the promotions, the editing, the casting; but even then it has been pretty stress free, Ben said.

Furthermore, because of their industry contacts, they did manage to get a few actors or comedians as guest stars (look for Tuc Watkins, Bruce Daniels, and Shawn Pelofsky among others), as long as they worked around the actor’s location and schedule. "You make it very easy for the actor, and they’re like Okay, sure that sounds like fun." They didn’t try to cram the first season with stars. The problem is that the show is an unknown element; however once they see what the tone of the show is, they should have more celebrity cameos (including a possible Margaret Cho appearance).

The fur starts flying August 1, with new episodes coming online every Monday and Thursday for twelve weeks. Fans can like "Where The Bears Are" on Facebook. Additionally, depending on the reception, it could be ongoing, Ben said. "We definitely want to do other seasons and each season would be a murder mystery." The long term plan is to release the episodes all together as one continuous story – or as Ben calls it, "season one". Watch and enjoy it, but try not to get too attached to any of the bears you see...after all, one could be a...killer bear.