If you don't know about Brat TV yet, this digital network creates online-only episodes
for Gen Z tribes. And its big breakout show, Chicken Girls, follows young adults who mix
excitement, drama, and ships with school, just like the series' real life stars. Here's
the real truth about Chicken Girls.
"Let's begin."
Hollywood is already fiercely competitive, so imagine how scary it must be to launch
an entirely new network. That's exactly what co-founders Darren Lachtman and Rob Fishman
did with Brat TV. Having previously launched a successful marketing company which was later
acquired by Twitter, the pair felt that no good content existed for Gen Z. According
to Inc.,
"[Lachtman and Fishman] became obsessed with the idea of creating an entertainment company
for teens."
"We're not just playing for kicks. We're playing for glory, and for…"
"...and we're playing for fun."
So, the partners launched Brat TV, with a model that skillfully diverts from the industry
standard; they write, produce, staff, and publish their shows, all on their own. But
all of that meant taking a financial gamble early on and using budget-saving film tricks
to create their content. Securing the right actors and directors helped, as well, and
the team set their sights on even bigger goals. At the time, Business Insider reported,
"Fishman wants to use Chicken Girls [and other shows in the future] as the basis for a franchise
[and] he's exploring merchandising and other avenues as well."
Fishman kicked things off with 2018's Chicken Girls: The Movie and the Chicken Girls book
series deal with Skyhorse Publishing. All of which led to an expansion deal with MGM
TV in 2019.
According to Variety, for its lineup of shows, the Brat TV team created the Attaway High
universe, with the outlet reporting,
"[Production] took over a high school near Pasadena, California, and filmed a slate of
overlapping shows set in the same fictional high school…Characters cross over between
various productions in order to foster an environment that approximates a typical American
high school."
"It has come to my attention that here at Attaway there's a lot of dancin' and singin'
and prancin'."
"Yeah, duh."
This sunny filming location and character-swapping work in several ways: the audience gets to
see more of its favorite stars, and Brat TV saves cash on production. But since the production
team can't officially move into the Pasadena school, the network re-created its own scaled-down
version. The L.A. Times reported,
"At Brat’s cramped 10,000-square-foot office in Hollywood at Willoughby Avenue and North
Highland Avenue, part of the building has been modeled as a set for a fictional school’s
hallway, complete with lockers and bulletins for the school’s play and math club sign-ups."
"I have a feeling we're not in Attaway anymore."
Did you even notice it was all happening on a stage? Or did Hollywood work its magic,
yet again!
"Chicken Girls has been the craziest experience of my entire life."
What would life at Attaway High be like without Rooney? Indiana Massara, who plays the character,
quickly became the other main star on Chicken Girls, alongside Annie LeBlanc. But did you
know she almost didn't make the cut? Massara told TigerBeat,
"I originally auditioned for another show called Attaway Appeal. I went in, read lines,
and the director of that was like, 'Hey, I really like you. Do you also want to do this
thing called Chicken Girls?' [I said] yeah. Sure, why not? I'm not doing anything else
this week."
"Okay, Madison."
"Woo!"
She definitely made the most of the opportunity and went on to be a shining star for the network.
Massara has also played Rooney in other Brat TV series, like Attaway Appeal and Total Eclipse,
plus Chicken Girls: The Movie and the original film Intern-in-Chief.
It must be nice to be so popular that a series gets turned into a movie. What's surprising,
however, is just how Brat TV told its Chicken Girls stars about their upcoming 2018 film.
According to Massara, the cast didn't even realize they were shooting the movie, at first.
She told TigerBeat,
"They sat us down [one day on set] and gave us our script, and it was a lot bigger than
normal!"
"Lights, camera, action!"
Typically, series episodes run about 15 minutes, so this script must have been one thick stack
of pages. Massara added that the producers told her and the other actors,
"So we're filming a movie. Should we start next week?"
In 2018, Brat TV released Chicken Girls: The Movie directly to its YouTube platform, but
this film nearly had a "traditional" theatrical release, according to the L.A. Times. The
outlet reported that after Brat TV landed a distribution and marketing deal with Lionsgate,
the two companies differed on a few things: the network reportedly quote "wanted to release
the film before the launch of the show's third season," but Lionsgate supposedly "wanted
a more traditional studio-quality movie."
"So none of this?"
"No, none of that."
According to Business Insider, when it came to Lionsgate's Erik Feig, who co-runs the
motion pictures division, the outlet reported,
"[He] first invested as an individual in Brat, but…got interested in Chicken Girls specifically
when he was talking to his 13-year-old daughter."
Feig told the outlet that when he mentioned the show's star, Annie Leblanc, his daughter
said,
"'Oh my God, of course I know her!'…[She] was immediately hooked."
"One, two, three, Chicken Girls!"
Unfortunately, the film received mixed reception, including a Decider review that recommended
readers quote "skip it," when it never made it into theaters. But it wasn't all bad news.
The L.A. Times noted that the $500,000 flick drew hoards of new followers to the brand's
YouTube channel, where ideally the company could recoup some cash through marketing.
When the cameras aren't rolling, the Chicken Girls cast can be found "fighting" backstage,
but don't worry, there aren't any beefy feuds to speak of here. Sure, the show is full of
high school drama, but most of its stars get along really well. It turns out, this "fighting"
is totally reasonable. As Massara revealed to TigerBeat,
"We always fight over the snacks. We're always like, 'No. I want the last hot Cheetos!' All
the time."
"This is single-handedly my favorite part of set, you know?"
While they also claim to be big fans of Cheez-Its, Massara added,
"We picked up a lot of behind-the-scenes vlogging, and our lives are pretty much an open book
on video, so they'll see those when they come out."
Let's hope for some candid footage of these stars dusting it up at crafty.
Did you have a part-time job during school? Did it involve studying lines, getting hair
and makeup done, and performing for millions on YouTube? Well, that's just life for the
cast of Chicken Girls. Actress Lily Chee has said that her devotion to school matched that
of her character, Britney, confessing to Brat TV,
"In my freshman and sophomore years I was more focused on friends and boys, but this
year I'm definitely focusing more on schoolwork."
"Sounds amaze."
But it can be tough to drown out all the action on set to get schoolwork done. Riley Lewis,
who plays Quinn Forrester, opened up about filming with other teens, telling Sweety High:
"It's kind of distracting, because you have all your friends around and you all just want
to talk and hang out…It's hard because even though there are only three hours [of school]
a day, you still have to get everything done!"
Actress Annie LeBlanc also stays busy with her studies as part of her daily routine.
She revealed how she starts her day, telling Brat TV,
"It's time to eat breakfast, look over my schedule to see how many scenes I have, and
then start school."
Similar to say, the Harry Potter franchise, it's amazing how much young actors change
as they get older. Indiana Massara started at Brat TV in 2017, but a lot has happened
in her years on screen. She opened up about blossoming right in front of the Chicken Girls
audience, telling Brat TV,
"In just over two years with Brat TV, I've changed so much as a person and an actor.
I was 14 turning 15 when I started. I've had my first boyfriend, been broken up with and
had my heart broken, had jobs, recorded songs."
"Our lives have been on this show. We were all like so young and like we had no idea
what Chicken Girls was gonna be and then it just became this huge thing."
It must be stressful enough to deal with all of those things even without starring on a
show. But add to that the shooting schedule for Brat TV, and you get a better sense of
Massara's daily life. Luckily, things appear to be on the up and up for the starlet. She
said,
"As a person, I've matured so much and hopefully become a better actress during it all."
One of the coolest things you may not have known about are all the real-life ships on
Chicken Girls. No, not romantic ones, this time, we're talking about family. First up
are Dylan and Caden Conrique. This sister-brother duo play Kayla and Tim. When CelebMix asked
Dylan who she was closest to in terms of bonding on set, she said,
"Besides my brother Caden who plays Tim Sharp, my closest relationships are Annie and Hayden."
The next siblings set is Riley and Madison Lewis, who play Quinn and Birdie. These sisters
are actually part of the Lewis Triplets, complete with brother Dakota. In a video for Famous
Birthdays, the three sat down to test out how much they knew about each other. While
discussing who's got the brains in the family, Madison admitted,
"[Riley's] the smart one, [Dakota's] in the middle, then it's me."
"What do you think?"
"I think that until my next growth spurt, that sweater belongs to me."
And don't forget about Chicken Girls star Annie LeBlanc and her little sister, Hayley.
While the two even have their own cooking show on Nickelodeon called Annie vs. Hayley,
their dad, Billy, also steps in on-screen and off, for Brat TV. Billy has appeared in
four episodes of Chicken Girls and co-executive produced other network series.
Brat TV got its start with the aim of providing entertainment for a new generation, and that
included advancing the type of conversations presented for teens, as well. Sam Silver,
Brat TV's head of development, told Fast Company,
"The younger generation is a lot more open than we realize and give them credit for."
"Okay, let's give the people what they want."
"Do you really want a piece of me?"
"I'd give you a nasty look, but it looks like you already have one."
"Let's get this party started."
Before joining the Brat family, Silver was a writer and creator for Disney and Nickelodeon.
But he recognized that something different needed to be done at Brat, saying,
"We want to do stuff that is a little bit deeper and is thoughtful and has real issues
that teens are going through."
"I'm not allowed to talk to you. And I'm not okay with that. That's so hard for me."
A great example of that, is the relationship between Stephanie and Mel on Chicken Girls.
As Silver put it,
"[Intimacy] is not as big a deal to kids as it is with the older generations, they just
want to see it reflected."
Indeed, viewers took notice and applauded the show's open-minded and realistic approach.
In an article posted for Medium, the author revealed how she wished she'd experienced
similar storylines to watch while going through high school. But although this fan didn't
grow up with a character on TV to relate to, she declared,
"[Chicken Girls] delivered on this for a new group of teens."
The cast of Chicken Girls is chock full of musicians. Some first started on the platform
that later became TikTok to show off their vocals, while others jumped right into the
music scene. Annie LeBlanc, Hayden Summerall, Indiana Massara, and Brooke Butler all have
their own songs and the music videos to go with them, and Brat TV wisely incorporated
their talents into the series, as well, with LeBlanc, Butler, and Summerall performing
the show's theme song, "Birds of a Feather." Since its very first season, Everly Mag reported,
"Chicken Girls started to feature original music from its cast members. The songs are
catchy and the lyrics are super relatable, which makes the songs perfect within the show
and for jamming on their own."
"Five, six, seven, eight."
The show's young cast even took the show on the road, in 2018, on a U.S. tour with the
Rock Your Hair company. And it seems like these actors like to show off their musical
talents during downtime on set, too. Discussing her most memorable moments while filming,
Massara told The Daily Shuffle,
"The laughter, impromptu guitar playing and singing will stay with me forever."
While the on-screen talent, of course, deservedly gets most of the credit for hooking viewers
into Brat TV shows like Chicken Girls, we can't forget about the people working hard
behind the scenes. And perhaps the biggest workhorse for the Brat family is Chris Campbell.
The Vietnamese-American had his hand in directing seasons two, four, and five of Chicken Girls.
And he's also directed episodes for other Brat series, including Red Ruby, Crown Lake,
A Girl Named Jo, Total Eclipse, Brobot, and Attaway Appeal.
While Campbell's got quite the television resume, you might also recognize his work
in the music scene. He's directed several commercials and music videos, including those
for the LA DJ trio Cheat Codes and hip-hop duo The Siege. The man clearly knows how to
make content that appeals to Generation Z, and beyond.
"That's a wrap everybody. Great shoot!"
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