joan on her own
Joan on Her Own Trailer
“As the daughter of Holocaust survivors who emigrated to the United States from Romania, I learned from an early age that the only way to survive feeling like a fish out of water was to view the other “characters” in my life story through a comedic lens.
Los Angeles as a melting pot, and in particular, the Fairfax District setting, where the old-world values of immigrant and Orthodox Jews collide with the modern-day sensibilities of hipster millennials, provides a perfect backdrop for the story of a young woman who is trying to figure out how to embrace her future without (god forbid!) forgetting her past. And it’s my story to tell because these are my people.
The series provides a first-generation perspective, and delves into how intergenerational trauma informs choices made and paths taken by young people who may not even be aware of its impact on their day to day lives.
Hollywood and its inhabitants are generally depicted as glamorous, monied, and celebrity adjacent. While it’s true that the characters in “Joan on Her Own” grew up and continue to exist in a world where wealth and privilege are oftentimes taken for granted, their Los Angeles, and their family unit, are deeply rooted in the culture of the Eastern European shtetl, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not.”
Sherise Dorf
THE STORY
Joan on Her Own is a dramedy series about first-generation siblings born in West Hollywood and raised by Eastern European immigrants. A generation that was forced to figure out how to fit into the world around them while staying true to their history. The show casts a lens on a lesser represented part of Jewish identity - assimilation, intergenerational trauma - using humor to avoid pain and trying to live up to the expectations of the people who let you know they “sacrificed everything for you” while seeking out your own idea of happiness and success. Ultimately, the desire to maintain menschiness (and her own sanity) is what drives our protagonist Joan to start speaking her truth and let the chips fall where they may - and hopefully that’s not with her beloved father being escorted by ambulance to the hospital after suffering a heart attack due to her mishegas.
The series setting in Los Angeles as a melting pot of immigrants (versus the Calabasas of the Kardashians) provides the opportunity to incorporate many neighborhoods, locations and cultures. Additional characters will include diverse ethnicities, genders and underrepresented groups.
A majority female crew has been and will continue to be utilized to bring the series to fruition.
