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Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming truly apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—would understand that she holds plenty to say, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. And, by the end her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from personal, originally fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for followers. It was an era that included her grasp major truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Raised in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and very) unconventional skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might easy to create a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged twentysomething living that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant