Kassius Marcil-Green and Summer Martin. Photo Credit: Erik Zelda
Kassius Marcil-Green, Summer Martin, and Morgan Davis discuss their latest project “Lotusland.”
‘Lotusland’
On the concept for this project, Morgan said, “Summer and I recently moved to Los Angeles within the last year. We were coming in to the industry from different backgrounds. When we got here, some of the things we started seeing were eye-opening. We started talking and then we clicked with an idea to make fun of it.”
Summer remarked, “We were both new to Los Angeles. I met Morgan while out on a hike this past September. I learned that Morgan is a writer, and we instantly connected.”
“We both shared imposter syndrome entering the entertainment industry without having any exposure to Los Angeles, feeling a little bit different, at least on the outside, from the average LA-er. We were inspired by different characters we saw, and that’s how the concept came about… There were so many things to make fun of,” Summer elaborated.
“Also, we are both fans of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ and we decided to take the humor and we put it in the context of LA and the influencer culture,” Summer added.
Morgan revealed that “Lotusland” is a term from the land of lotus eaters in “The Odyssey,” where people ate lotus flowers that made them forget everything they ever knew, where they came from, and where they were going.
“Ironically enough, Lotusland was also a term for LA in the early 1900s, so we started playing on that too. It just stuck and we loved it. I could not have picked a better title at all,” Morgan said.
Kassius Marcil-Green
Both ladies had great words about Kassius Marcil-Green, who plays Cassius Gonzalez, a pop star.
“Kassius is amazing, and he is so nice. He seems like such a genuine person, and we are so lucky to have him onboard,” the ladies concurred.
On being a part of “Lotusland,” Kassius said, “I was sent the pilot script and I fell in love with it. ‘Lotusland’ is able to make you laugh but it can also really show you serious, toxic problems in the world we all throw ourselves into each day as we just try to make it. I think this will be really exciting.”
“I felt like I’ve known both of these ladies (Morgan and Summer) for a long time,” he noted.
On playing Tevy Woods, Summer said, “I think the character of Tevy exposes the fact that people will come off as mean, especially when they are not happy with themselves, and they are not comfortable with themselves. A lot of her worst behaviors come from her trying to fit in and become a persona that isn’t completely natural to her.”
“Raising awareness of that is really important to shed light on, especially in this industry. That means a lot to me because of my personal experiences here in Los Angeles,” Summer explained.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, Summer said, “Social media is the next step up… that is what I realized when I first moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t realize how inhumane social media is until I deleted Instagram for a few weeks.”
“Then, I realized that so much of my motivation (who I spend time with and where I want to go) is based on social media,” Summer said.
“Social media influences LA culture and people’s mental health at large,” Summer noted.
“With social media, we just get to see the highlight reels of everyone’s lives,” Morgan observed. “Nobody wants to show you the bad days, the tantrums, or the other personas that come out behind closed doors. With these characters in ‘Lotusland,’ we are showing the duality of people.”
“Also, these big, giant characters are not as righteous and moral as you put them out to be,” Morgan admitted. “We are making fun of that a little bit while also showcasing that to everybody.”
“Social media has created a culture where there is such a lightning rise and fall of everyone all the time. You explode really quick, and if people learn something about you that is bad, you are cancelled just as fast. Everything moves so quickly these days,” Kassius acknowledged.
They revealed that their plan is to have “Lotusland” out in the fall of 2024, where it will be out in the film festival circuit.
“I want people to see how zany these characters are, and try to do better when you go out there,” Morgan said.
“These characters have a lot of flaws, which are common flaws that we all have as people. I hope this inspires people to be better when they interact with others, and with what people put out online. I want people to notice that these flaws exist,” Morgan elaborated.
Creating the characters
On creating these characters, Morgan said, “I put different parts of myself in people I saw as I wrote it with Summer. I poked fun at my own little flaws that I saw with myself and my surroundings.”
“One of the things that I liked about my character’s story is the way that a lot of us have to sell who we are for the success that we are trying to chase, and that really is a big part of Cass’ story,” Kassius said.
“My character has to completely sell who he is and be a version of himself that doesn’t make him happy at all, and has to hide and he has to live in fear of that. That’s a really cool thing to see people go through because we all do that in a way in life,” Kassius explained.
Closing thoughts on ‘Lotusland’
For viewers and fans, Summer said, “I want Lotusland to be an outlet for people who were negatively affected by not fitting in, or being bullied by people, or people being mean to them. I want it to be a fun outlet for all of them.”
“I want people to watch it and recognize that it’s super relatable to what is actually going on,” Summer said.
“I want people to see their own behaviors or their friends’ behaviors in it, and I want them to accept that this actually goes on, and to have an acceptance for the ways things are right now. Hopefully, with that acceptance, it will make people change and become more genuine,” Summer elaborated.
“The general point is to accept all of our imperfect pieces because none of us are perfect people. I think we all can try our best to be better,” Kassius concluded.
To learn more about “Lotusland,” check out its Indiegogo campaign.
For more information on “Lotusland,” visit its Instagram page.