The Asylum

The Asylum is a workplace comedy set in the world of a Hollywood production company, and seen through the eyes of neat, organized, and tattoo-free JULIE JONES (27). Recently divorced and fresh to Los Angeles, Julie embarks on her new career working for KIKI and COLIN McGRATH (30s), the hard-partying, heavily tattooed and unpredictable husband and wife owners of a film production company, The Asylum. Julie moves to Los Angeles from Silicon Valley after a high-profile divorce and very embarrassing arrest for her “stress-related condition” aka kleptomania, which she attributes directly to that jerk of an ex-husband (and former boss at a tech start-up), Chad. Los Angeles represents a clean slate for Julie. Or so she thinks. Part of Julie’s plea bargain is court-ordered therapy and gainful employment (just not in the tech industry). So Hollywood here she comes. Julie thinks her new job is going to be a piece of cake. Standing in the way of that sweet dessert are her wild bosses, eccentric employees, unusual job demands, and high-profile and high-maintenance clients. The Asylum is primarily focused on Julie’s “work” world but that world is often interwoven with her bosses’ personal lives (there is very little separation between work and personal for these two). When Julie is not at work she is usually Facetiming with her acerbic lesbian sister Brooke, or attending court-ordered therapy to deal with her kleptomaniac ways (aka her “stress related condition”). The series begins on her first day of work at The Asylum when she meets sarcastic and flamboyant receptionist Bradley Cooper--not that Bradley Cooper (but this Bradley Cooper believes he is much better looking than that Bradley Cooper)--who is prone to doing pirouettes when stressed out. As Julie waits in the lobby for the HR Manager, she is stunned by the environment. Peanut butter smeared on the walls. Dudes riding skateboards down the candle-lit hallway. Hipsters and hipster-ettes drinking booze at 10 in the morning. Footballs flying overhead. Music so loud the reception desk should hand out earplugs. This job might not be as easy as Julie thinks it will be. The Asylum is a 30-minute single camera comedy, a classic “fish out of water” story as the main character attempts to get her life back in control, and ironically ends up working in a place so out of control, it’s truly akin to an actual insane asylum. Each episode’s A story will be centered around a client, whether it’s a famous director, an actor or a producer. It’s similar in the vein of Entourage in that there will be guest cameos from famous actors. With each episode, we will watch Julie try to navigate this crazy world that she’s now depending on to literally survive.