Podtalk: Brad Riddell & Anna Maria Hozian of Web Series ‘Other People’s Children’

CHICAGO – The education system of America has been ripe over the years for comedic skewering… and with today’s overindulgent parenting style, it’s never been a better time for those knowing laughs. The focus on parent teacher/conferences is the subject of the latest comedy web series, shot in Chicago, called “Other People’s Children.” (OPC).

OPC centers on Margot Antler (Astra Asdou), who dreams of becoming a renowned novelist, but in reality she’s a rookie second grade teacher who is about to experience the insanity of parent/teacher conferences for the first time. The series develops as a series of vignettes, as Margot finds herself at conferences where the adults behave worst than their children. In those encounters, it’s not so much the second graders who have problems, but rather their post millennial parents.

Astra Asdou in ‘Other People’s Children,’ Co-Created by Brad Riddell & Anna Maria Hozian
Photo credit: OPCTheSeries.com

The web series project is the brainchild of Brad Riddell and Anna Maria Hozian, who also are screenwriting professors at DePaul University in Chicago. Riddell wrote the direct-to-DVD cult film “American Pie: Band Camp,” and his directorial debut of 2016, “Ten More” is currently in the film festival circuit. Anna Maria Hozian was one of 12 finalists chosen for the New York Women in Film & TV Writer’s Lab, and her short film “The Guitar Lesson” screened at the Illinois International Film Festival. The shot-in-Chicago series also features some of the best comedy talent from the Windy City scene…. Brooke Breit, Michael Tepeli, Scott Morehead, Sara Sevigny, Jeff Garretson, Ryan Kitley, Victor Holstein, Karisa Bruin, Ronald L. Conner, Mary Cross, Lorena Diaz, Meg Elliot and Minita Gandhi.

In Part ONE of the two-part Podtalk, Brad Riddell and Anna Maria Hozian relate the background issues and development of “Other People’s Children.”

In Part TWO of the two-part Podtalk, Brad and Anna Maria talk screenwriting, current Hollywood events and what they would say to bar patrons.

[27]	By PATRICK McDONALD [28] Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [27]