The FonDana Show
"Indigo Life understands their clients and the nuances each production brings. Seamlessly, they have brought to life the FonDana Show's poignant moments, humor and community outreach. Their strength is their ability to listen and integrate vision with voice. We have always known we could trust their direction."
–Joshua Stucky AKA Dana Sintell of The Rubi Girls
Icons without a stage
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought live events to a halt, two of Dayton’s most beloved drag queens missed the thrill of performing and bringing joy to an audience.
Fonda and Dana came to us with the seed of an idea — some kind of talk show, where the drag queens interview community leaders, with a game-show component that gives back to worthy organizations.
The pilot process
Creating a successful reality TV show from scratch involves experimentation and careful attention to feedback. Cue the pilot season of the FonDana Show.
To find out what elements would resonate with viewers, we created three pilot episodes and released them to a limited audience that was already familiar with the drag queens. While viewers were happy to see them performing again, the format of bringing guests into a static film set didn’t fully showcase the queens’ comedic talent. Viewers wanted the drag queens to take the spotlight.
Based on that feedback, we decided to send the hosts to visit the organizations they were highlighting — in full drag. They participated in activities like building a campfire, learning to throw a punch, and freestyle rapping.
Bringing it all together
Indigo Life provided a full-service package for this project, including editorial direction, casting of local charitable organizations, production, promotion, and more.
As with other shows we’ve created, we enriched the streaming experience with live events to give fans another chance to connect with the hosts and the spotlight organizations. One memorable event was a self-defense class that we offered after airing an episode featuring Total Taekwondo & Fitness, with proceeds going to the local domestic violence center.
Drag queens in the wild: a natural comedic setup
Hosting a reality show is a glamorous idea, but few people understand the secrets that transform chitchat into entertainment. By implementing viewer feedback from the pilot season, we developed a format that provided endless prompts for the improvisational comedy the drag queens are known and loved for — and created a show that both entertained and raised awareness and support for worthy organizations in the community.