"Nikki & Nora" - more than Lady Cops

Available: www.onemorelesbian.com/tello/webseries/nikki-nora
Monthly subscription $3.99
Starring: Christina Cox, Liz Vassey, Armin Shimerman and Wallace Langham
Dir. NancyLee Myatt
Release: Season 1; 7 episodes; 1-6 available now; finale released Sunday 9 February






The very hotly anticipated web series Nikki & Nora, that began life as  TV pilot way back in 2004 as the first lesbian-themed drama series in serious consideration for a network TV slot, finally hit screens much to fans delight in at the end of 2013. Although the “ahead of its time” series did not get an order, the pilot was leaked on the Internet to an under-served TV audience, a loyal fan base was created… And they never stopped loving their favorite Big Easy couple. 

Nikki & Nora follows New Orleans locals Nikki Beaumont (Liz Vassey; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Nora Delaney (Christina Cox; Better Than Chocolate), former NOPD cops turned private investigators.  They navigate the channels of their personal life together alongside their dedication to uncovering the truth in the one city that really likes to keep its secrets, New Orleans.  

As well as being an attractive and comfortable lesbian couple, there pair are dealing with life in New Orleans post Katrina - the impact this (and their relationship) had on their families. All within the context of solving an unsolved murder pro bono for a client who really needed their help.

Created originally by current web series Director, NancyLee Myatt, and retaining the original cast, it's easy to say we have not been disappointed with what's been delivered and the only downside is that we already want more! The quality and demand for the series is clearly backed by the all-star cast the web series has attracted.

Following a brief self parodying appearance under the guise of LA based Lady Cops in Myatt's 2007 web series 3Way, it seems the appetite for these two characters never died down. When creator, Nancylee Myatt, approached her stars about a reboot of her original idea, they came on board without hesitation to recreate their roles as Nikki and Nora. Nikki & Nora will be the first time an unaired network pilot has been re-imagined and made for distribution exclusively on the web.

Using Indie-gogo funding to the tune of $65,000, 2013 finally saw the web series everyone wanted drive into production. All made possible by fans that would not let go of this concept and this crime fighting couple in America’s oldest party town.  They rallied around the creator, producers and cast supporting the crowd-funding campaign, which is now the largest funded campaign with lesbian lead characters – surpassing their goal by 30%. 

Sardonic, stylish, engaging, appealing...what more can we say about this excellent series that deserves a platform? Fans have been rewarded with 7 webisodes of high quality, well made drama that is true to the origins of the series and the characters.


We spoke to Nikki and Nora Director Nancylee Myatt about the return of the women.  Myatt reflects on the ten year journey the series has been on, which will be familiar to the die hard fans...

"We (myself, Liz Vassey & Christina Cox) had always wanted to resurrect it in some way and work together again.  We even wrote a couple of pilots together teaming up Liz & Christina solving crimes together in various scenarios.  But eventually we all had to move on and keep re-inventing ourselves and pay the bills.

"During the writer's strike and while on hiatus from South of Nowhere, Maeve Quinlan, Paige Bernhardt and myself wrote and produced 3 Way exclusively for an online audience.  With the help of our very generous professional friends in TV, and Clockwork Media, an awesome company in Minneapolis who designed and built the website, and the international voice of AfterEllen.com we were able to pull it off and find a worldwide audience.  In 3 Way we created a couple of spin-off series within the show: Young Doctors Who Cry, and Lady Cops.  In Lady Cops, Liz and Christina played a wildly comedic version of Nikki & Nora.

"Because of the positive audience response from that, our success with 3 Way, and then teaming up with tellofilms with Cowgirl Up, I knew the time was right to do a web reboot of Nikki & Nora.  And more importantly, the rights for the original version of Nikki & Nora came back to me exclusively."

So, how much of a role did the fan love play in making the web series happen?

 
"I didn’t really know about the N&N online fan love affair until years later when I was working on South of Nowhere.   At that time I became aware of all the fan videos being posted on YouTube dedicated to the teen couple on the show Ashley & Spencer aka Spashley.   Sara Warn and Karman Kregloe at AfterEllen.com suggested that I search Nikki & Nora on YouTube and Google and see what’s been going on.  My head almost popped right off when I saw the hundreds of thousands of videos dedicated to a pilot that never even aired!  Clearly it had been bootlegged and shared with the world.  It was a clear message that we had done something right, giving our lesbian audience a view of themselves that was not represented on the television landscape at the time.  That was the ultimate message of support.

"During that time I was also made aware of the tens of thousands of pages of online fanfiction dedicated to Nikki & Nora.  I knew then without a doubt that the fans still wanted to see these girls back on the streets of New Orleans. (Legal disclaimer -- I have not read a single page of the fanfiction, per my legal counsel) 

"Liz, Christina and I started talking about what we all wanted the new show to represent and still honor the original.  As the script was being written, Christin Mell and her team at tellofilms launched the Indiegogo campaign to see if the fans were still interested in seeing Nikki & Nora again... and to help make it happen.  And here we are." 

And what comes next? Has the show been successful enough to encourage a season 2?

"This is a tricky question.  Our big picture plan was always to produce this first web season to test the water and see if in fact the “Field of Dreams” adage is true: If you build it, they will come.  And they did!

"Our plan now is to take the webisodes and cut them together into a new pilot presentation for Nikki & Nora and shop it to bigger outlets that can hopefully afford to produce the series with a roomier budget.   To give you some perspective – the original 2004 Nikki & Nora pilot was produced for 1.2 million dollars by the studio and network.   Our tellofilms version was made for much, much, MUCH less.  And financed entirely by crowdfunding.  The resources are there now to make a show that looks pretty darn close to that original pilot for a fraction of the cost.  I think we did a good job in that respect with our current web version.  A great job, actually.   So, moving forward we’d love to be able to write some bigger crimes for Nikki & Nora to solve.  To see a little more of them in their world.  And a good car chase would be fun!"

How will it happen?

"While we’ve got all of this great support and visibility we’ll be looking for the ways to bring you more Nikki & Nora in the future.   We will definitely keep you all posted.   In the mean time, please thank your readers for their continued support and ask them to keep crankin’ out those positive thoughts for our favorite New Orleans couple.   Because, like you, now that they’re back, we’re not ready to lose them again."

Myatt sends a personal note of thanks to all the viewers. So, get watching and post your feedback and comments of support - we have the power to contribute to more great lesbian themed content made for us!

By Katie