Hard to Be Me
Hard to Be Me is an independently produced comedy-drama television pilot created by and starring Edward Robert Bach. The show follows second-year art student Kevin Hamilton (Bach) and his vlog in which he tells the story of his week through art. This framing device led to "Hard to Be Me" being called "the first web 2.0 television show" and was cited by the director of the pilot episode Erik Cieslewicz as one of the main reasons he worked on the project. It was described as "a little "Gilmore Girls" a little "Everybody Hates Chris , which was called a major component of the show by the pilot's creators. "Hard to Be Me" won a "slew of awards at film festivals" and was also pitched to several networks, ultimately landing on Amazon Prime. Synopsis. Using the framing device of Kevin's video blog, the pilot follows Kevin receiving the weekly assignment of creating the blog from his demanding Communications 101 professor Dr. Candice Wilkes (Biggs). His first blog, introducing his family and friends, introduces the audience to the universe of the show as well. The show also follows a group of characters, who like the  audience, are watching Kevin's blog as part of the narrative of the show. Production. Bach stated that "There is definitely some of me in the plot and character developed around Kevin" and that he hoped "Viewers will see themselves in all the characters" as well. It took approximately a year from start to finish to produce the pilot episode. Bach stated numerous times that he would like the characters in the show to be relatable and empathetic while the plots to be universal and family friendly. Additionally, the reason to set the show in Washington, D.C. was to show  the softer, non-political side of DC and the people who live here. According to Cieslewicz, "the goal from the beginning was to create a broadcast-ready pilot", and that the production considered "hundreds" of actors from the Washington, D.C. area when casting. Kevin's favorite artist in the show is also one of Bach's as well: Drew Struzan. According to Bach, Struzan "liked the idea of the Pilot" and his self-portrait appears in the pilot. In August 2010, the show reached an agreement with Cyndi Lauper to provide her track "It's Hard to Be Me" as  the theme song of the show. Before that date, and beginning again in 2020, the theme song for the show is " Ready or Not " by Long Since Forgotten. Release. As of June 29, 2020, the Pilot episode of "Hard to Be Me" is available to stream on Amazon Prime. Reception. In addition to calling the pilot "the first web 2.0 TV show", "The Wausau City Pages" also described it as "giving a truly unique perspective on youth, life and social media technology." Blogger William Powell declared in his review that the show was "directed with crisp professionalism by Erik Cieslewicz  and that Hard To Be Me is a pilot that will probably wind up on the small screen on a major network soon. Mark my words." Additionally, the pilot won several awards at film festivals, some are listed below.