ChomPics Guest Post- Connor Droll, "Pressed" Episode 5 Co-Head Writer
Fun fact about Pressed: The longest, most grueling meeting the writers ever had when creating this series was when we had to come up with the title. Hours-as in more than one- were spent mulling over every single cheese pun that could ever exist in hopes of finding that perfect name for the crazy story we had come up with (well mainly Del, but I feel we all get some of the credit). Somewhere out there in the vast expanse of Beth’s hard drive is a master list of every single cheese pun we made just begging for Nicolas Cage to come find.
Pressed, though, is more than just a sitcom about a girl trying to pay the bills through the super conventional way of owning and operating her own restaurant. In the episodes to come you will see how we push the boundaries on very real and ongoing social issues like loving your food, loving your friends, and French people depressingly loving each other.
On a more personal note, the first writers meeting I had with Pressed was somewhat intimidating. I didn’t know anyone there and I had never been in a place where I created a story with other people, or had to share such ideas. Looking back on it now, that intimidation was very misplaced. The writers and producers of Pressed were some of the kindest, most accepting people I have ever been around, and having the chance to work with them was one of my favorite experiences at UF (like it’s in the top 5 best sober things I have done in college). After the first couple meetings, I had warmed up to everyone and despite maintaining my mysteriously quiet persona, always felt very comfortable sharing any of my ideas with them. Also, I got a nickname on the first meeting since I had the same name as the president so that was cool too.
Getting to spend every Thursday night collaborating with the other writers and producers was a great way to close out my four years at the University of Florida. It was honestly the first time in my life that I didn’t dread doing an extracurricular activity, and that says a lot because I always felt that just curricular activities were more than enough for me. Going to the meetings, turning in critiques, or writing scripts with these guys never felt like something I had to do because it was always something I wanted to do.
For me, and hopefully the other writers, Pressed was a way to let out all of the insane and hilarious thoughts we had bubbling in our minds throughout the week and put them into one crazy, yet still somehow very coherent, adventure. Pressed is essentially a five episode showcase of the talent the lies hidden throughout Weimer…or at the very least, a five episode reason for our parents to question what we have been really doing up here in college. Regardless, Pressed is something I never thought I would get to be a part of but I am so proud I was.
Also, a huge shout out to every single person on the production and post-production end of this project, for turning our craziest thoughts into an awesome reality.
