I once had a roommate whose hygiene was not only suspect, it was out-and-out non-existent.  Another former roommate rarely had money for his end of the bills.  These are common stories amongst anyone that ever had to share living space with another human being.

However, never, ever, did I have a robot or a ninja for a roommate.  Gay guy, yes.  Robot, no.  Ninja, no.  And that's the premise, and the appeal, of Travis Richey's hit comedy web series Robot, Ninja, and Gay Guy (RNGG).  Here's the official synopsis:

“A recently dumped gay guy struggles to live in harmony with his two unusual roommates:  a robot curious about the human world and a gentle ninja with a mysterious past.  Three unlikely roommates take life’s ups and downs together, along the way finding friendship, companionship, and, just maybe, themselves.”

Robot, Ninja, and Gay Guy was created by Travis Richey & Curtiss Frisle, directed & produced by Rob wm. Wood with Eric Loya as Head Writer, and stars Travis Richey, Ryan Churchill, and Brian Giovanni. Guest stars include Nicholas Brendon, best known for his portrayal of Xander on the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Phil Brown; and Jordan Krain.

RNGG has one season under its belt and is gearing up for a second season with a fund-raising campaign on IndieGoGo.  The 3 a.m. Screenwriter was lucky enough to get connected with Travis through Twitter friend Marinell Montales, and is proud to present this Insiders Interview.  Ladies and Gentlemen... Travis Richey.

For those who don’t know, tell us a bit about yourself and your journey in filmmaking.

I'm an actor, first and foremost.  I discovered when I was 14 that that was my calling.  I did a lot of theater in high school and college, but I realized early on that I was in love with movies and television just as much.  I didn't really care for the theater program at the University of Minnesota, and they had no film program whatsoever, so I dropped out, purchased a camera, built a computer, and went about trying to make my own short film.  The result was a horror spoof called "Footwear," which was too long to be a short, and too short to be full-length, but in the end it did surprise me how much it didn't suck.  

It took me a few years to get to LA, and after I did, it took me a couple more years to really get anywhere with my acting career.  Once I got rid of my debt and was able to start taking classes at the ACME Comedy Theater, I kind of had a jump start in my creative process, and started producing whatever I could afford to.  I did a podcast with my friend and RNGG co-creator Curtiss Frisle called "Boy Cow Radio" that was a lot of fun, my second short film, "Another Life," that is kind of a superhero story, and I produced a documentary series on Youtube called "Musecast."

So, tell us about the genesis of Robot, Ninja, & Gay Guy?

A few years back Xbox was having a contest for new web series.  I was doing "Musecast" at the time, and I got a few of my friends from ACME together to brainstorm some ideas.  Curtiss came with the concept for “Ninja, Robot & Gay Guy” about three roommates.  He didn’t have much more than that, and our initial concept for the show was much more wacky than it ended up being.  

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the resources or equipment to produce anything, so we kind of just sat on the idea for a while.  Then I moved into a new place with my boyfriend Rob Wood, and we knew we wanted to produce something together.  I emailed my friend Eric Loya (who was part of Musecast: Year 2 – where I realized how brilliant a writer he was) and asked if he wanted to be the head writer of this web series “Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy.”  He said sure, and I said ok and went back to moving.   

A month or so later I got 4 scripts in my inbox and loved them so much I decided to go into production the following month.  It was a really frenetic period getting ready for that, and those first few episodes kind of suffered, technically-speaking, because we didn’t’ really know how to do what we wanted to.  But I’m so glad we just jumped in, because we learned fast, and I had a small but amazingly talented group of people around me and Season 1 of “Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy” is probably the best thing I’ve ever done. 

Mentors are a big part of this business, finding the right sources for career advice and direction.  Who were your mentors?  What were the most important lessons you learned from them?

That is a fantastic question!  As an actor, the person I would most like to emulate is Tom Hanks.  He started in sitcoms ("Bosom Buddies") and slowly graduated into comedy films, and wasn't until later in his career that he moved to more dramatic fare, which I've already dabbled in.  Tom also does more directing and producing now, which I can't deny the appeal of. 

I write because I have stories I need to tell, but I don't really consider myself a writer.  "Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy" never would have happened without the wonderful work of Head Writer Eric Loya.  That being said, I really love good writing, especially in TV.  I grew up watching Star Trek TNG and Deep Space Nine and marveled at how brilliantly they cared for the characters in those shows.  Those writers went on to shows like "The 4400," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Battlestar Galactica," some of the best scifi in modern TV.  

And speaking of Buffy, I've loved Joss Whedon since reading his script for "Alien 4," which was SO much better than the movie ended up being.  I also think good smart sitcoms are underrated.  "Arrested Development" was one of the funniest things on TV.  I'm really thrilled that "Modern Family" is getting so much praise, because it's a very smart, intelligent show disguised as a simple family sitcom.

You managed to get Nicholas Brendon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame to guest star in RNGG.  How did this come about?

This goes back to the Musecast, as well.  Helenna Santos was in Year 2, and for her final vlog, she interviewed Nicholas, whom she’d met at her work and become friends with.  Then, a few months later, Eric Loya was invited to go to a play that Nicky was in.  Eric is a huge “Buffy” fan, so it was a particular treat for him.  By this time, we were through Episode 8 of RNGG, and Eric just mentioned it to Nicky who was tickled by the concept.  When it came time to find our Mr. Furper, we managed to get in touch with him, sent a script his way, and based on that, he said yes.  It was tremendously exciting.

Whether he’ll be back is completely up to him.  Last I heard, he wants to, and we want him to, and Mr. Furper has potential storylines in Season 2, but with Nicholas being a relatively successful actor, it’s always hard to say how those things will turn out, especially when we still don’t have a proper budget.

You’ve partnered with IndieGoGo.com and the San Francisco Film Society to raise funds for Season Two.  Tell us about that and how people can help make it happen.

We chose Indiegogo over other sites like Kickstarter because they have some great partnerships, including the San Francisco Film Society.  We submitted our project proposal to them and they decided to fiscally sponsor our fundraising, which means that all the donations that come in through Indiegogo.com or via the SFFS are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!  This is a huge deal for us, as it opens the doors to a wider range of supporter.

So, we are trying two avenues of fundraising.  First, get a LOT of people to donate a tiny amount of money.  Say, $5 apiece.  If 12,000 people were to donate $5 each, that'd be our entire budget for Season 2!

On the other side of the spectrum, we're also trying to reach larger donors and businesses that may want to take advantage of the tax deduction and some of the other perks we have set up.

We have a number of thank-you gift levels for all donation sizes, from personalized notes and signed cast photos on the lower end to being included in the credits and (at the $5,000 level) getting a personalized video produced by my team.  This is the one that excites me where businesses are involved, because that could be a viral video, a commercial, having the business be a setting for the show, anything, and it only costs $5,000, and it's tax-deductible, and they're supporting independent media!  How awesome is that?  Well, it sounds awesome to me.  I just don't know any businesses yet.  

Please visit our Official fundraising page for details:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Robot-Ninja-Gay-Guy-Season-2

What’s next on your agenda after RNGG?  Another web-series, or a feature-length version of RNGG maybe?

I'm actually hoping that there isn't an "after" RNGG any time soon.  I think its a wonderful show that could go on for at least a few years.  I do think its important to have a budget, though.  I've been demanding some great work from the people who've been involved in the first season, but I haven't been able to give them a cent for their time and effort.  Me included.  But assuming we can achieve some sort of sustainability, I'll do "Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy" until it's not funny any more.

Other than that, I have another web series that is currently in development with Curtiss Frisle.  We're only giving out tiny crumbs of info at the moment, but here's one more tidbit:  It's a sci-fi comedy.  But it's not a sitcom.  It's sci-fi that has some natural funny in it.

We've also got more "2 Hot Guys in the Shower" on the way, and more "Smiley Town," which was a fan favorite this year.  Oh!  Eric Loya wrote a full-length comedy about zombies that I'd really like to get produced.  It's very funny, and fits in well with the current resurgence of zombie movies without retreading old ground.  I've got several full-length features I'm developing, too, but haven't had the time to get very far with those.  I think that's understandable. 

The 3 a.m. Hypothetical:  It’s 3 a.m. and you find yourself awake.  What are you doing?

Well, I'm currently answering questions for an innovative and compelling blog about screenwriting.  And since I recently had to take on a third job, I'm usually pretty sound asleep by 3am these days, so it is way past my bedtime.  However, I'm normally a night person, and this year was full of late nights where 3am seemed positively early.

On those nights I was usually editing one of my twice-weekly videos for the YouTube channel,  writing a sketch for a show at ACME, researching ways to promote myself and RNGG (and all my other content), illegally walking my dog around the block without a leash, and every so often finding time to squeeze in some vigorous masturbation exercise.

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Robot, Ninja, & Gay Guy has a little over two weeks left in its IndieGoGo campaign.  If you'd like to donate, you'll find a widget at the end of this post that will take you straight to the campaign site.

Many thanks to Travis for the interview and to Marinell for the introduction.  Tell everyone you know about RNGG, a funny show with some talented people behind it!

Other links:

The Official RNGG Website

The RNGG Facebook Fan Page