9 /10 1 Votes
Created by Otessa Ghadar Original language(s) English Number of episodes 98 | 8.9/10 IMDb Country of origin United States Number of seasons 7 Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Ellen Winter
George Ross
Rachel Peterson
Nick Libowitz
Storm Garner
DeAndre Baker
Donnis Collins
Kristin Roger
Sarah Hirsch
Albert Tholen
Aleca Piper
Andrew Cohen
Hannah Goldman
LeAsha Julius
Laura Long Theme music composer Juicy Demise (Ellen Reid, Sara Curtin) Opening theme "Midnight Joyride (Concentrated)" Genres Web series, Drama, Comedy-drama, Young adult fiction, Adolescence Similar Anyone But Me, Out with Dad, My So‑Called Life, Venice: The Series, Física o Química Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Orange Juice in Bishops Garden is a web series, created and directed by Otessa Ghadar, detailing the lives of a group of teenagers as they navigate high school in the 1990s. Currently in its 6th season and on the cusp of its 7th, it is one of the oldest and longest running web series, having started in 2006. The show is set and shot in the greater metropolitan Washington D.C. area.
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Orange Juice in Bishops Garden is distributed by KoldCast TV, a Broadband Television Network that delivers on-demand entertainment programming to a global audience, via the Internet. This partnership enables Orange Juice in Bishops Garden to be viewed on iTunes, Zune, Boxee, and Roku. The series is also available on its own website, orangejuiceinbishopsgarden.com, and on Blip TV.
New episodes premiere every Wednesday during the season, accompanied by interactive social networking on the official website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook pages. The show is available in closed captioning for hearing impaired viewers, in addition to being available with French subtitles. The show is also currently being translated into Spanish and Russian, as part of a larger translation push.
History
Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden started in 2008 as Otessa Ghadar's MFA Thesis for Graduate Film studies, at Columbia University’s Film school in NYC, and grew from there. Otessa now creates the show with the assistance of her mother and Production Designer, Lis de Tuerk Ghadar. Otessa is also the founder of 20/20 Productions, which produced the film.
Episodes are inspired by memories of Ghadar’s own teenage years in Washington, D.C. Ghadar continued Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden in 2009 to focus on the culture, the fashion and the indie lore of the nation's capital. The production team is female driven, and the cast and crew is composed entirely of local area residents.
Reception
Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden is currently viewed in 146 countries (Top five: USA, France, UK, Canada, Brazil), and is consistently one of the most popular series on KoldCast TV.
In Season 2, a new relationship began between lead characters Sarah (Ellen Winter) and Gwen (Katie Foster). The couple has since developed a cult following, with many LBGT media sites —including AfterEllen.com, SheWired, and OneMoreLesbian.com—praising the true to life portrayal of the story. In 2010, the cast and crew of Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden were invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Battle of the Lesbian Web Series at the Dinah 2011. The event was hosted by OneMoreLesbian.com and was attended by several popular lesbian web series.
In 2011, Otessa Ghadar was named July Filmmaker of the Month by the District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development for her creation and direction of the show.
Music
Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden features songs from a variety of composers and indie artists. The soundtrack is heavily influenced by indie rock, reggae, ska, and ambient music.
The original theme song was created by Juicy Demise, a duo consisting of musicians Ellen Reid and Sara Curtin. Together, they created the song, “Midinight Joyride (Concentrated)” which was used in Season 1. Season 2 saw the introduction of a new theme song, titled “Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden (Season 2 Theme Song)”, composed by Brent Katz of the Harlem Shakes. A sing-a-long version featuring various members of the cast was used in Season 3. Season 4 brought the return of “Midinight Joyride (Concentrated)”. A truncated version was recorded live during the taping of an episode, featuring vocals by most of the cast and several extras.
Another song by Brent Katz, “Polo”, was featured in the Season 1 episode “Will You Be There Tonight?”. His band, the Harlem Shakes, contributed the song “Josh Studies", which was heard in the episode “Midnight, Hunter’s Moon, Pt.3”.
Lead cast member Ellen Winter is also an up-and-coming singer-songwriter. Her original songs “Bank Statement” and “Comfortable” were featured in several Season 2 episodes.
Live performances by Ellen and Washington, D.C. based band Bake Sale (formerly Las Hermanas), were highlighted in Season 4 episode “Sarah Live! @ Comet Ping Pong Tonight”. Bake Sale can also be seen in later episode “In the Army Now”. Many of Bake Sale's songs were used throughout Seasons 3 and 4. Otessa Ghadar directed a video for their song “Hide & Go Seek”, which will be released as the Season 4 finale.