How did this project come about?

"I am always trying to invent or create something. I wrote Family Dinner about a year ago as a half hour sitcom and then I put it away. I would take it out every once in awhile and take a look at it and think 'this has possibilities' and I would put it aside again. It picked up momentum when Martha Byrne [ex-Lily, As The World Turns] introduced me to Anne Clemmons. She said 'I want you both to meet. You are both talented and cool girls. I feel like you could work together.' So I started telling Anne my 10, 000 ideas and she probably thought I was a blonde nutcase but as we were about to leave and I started talking about Family Dinner. Anne felt like it was a really good idea and then I turned to Scott and said, 'We should do this!' The writer's strike was going on and I thought what do we have to lose?"

"I turned to casting and then Aaron said 'yes' and Dan said 'yes' and then the unbelievable Phyllis Diller said 'yes.' We started casting the kids and it just happened!"

What inspired Family Dinner?

"My parents taught me that a show can be completely character driven. You don't have to have all the bells and whistles just great characters. I really felt that I could create a show that everyone could identify with and it could be centered around a dining room table. Everyone thinks their family is crazy. I feel like people could watch this and identify with the family or realize that their family is not so bad. I didn't know how it would turn out but I knew it was something that we all could relate to."

"Growing up, when we would get back from holiday, I wanted to hear about everyone's stories from Christmas or Hanukah or Thanksgiving or Mother's day. I liked to hear the crazy things that happened."

Tell us about the casting process…

"Aaron Lustig and I go way back on Y&R. We were on a remote for the show. It was really a tough shoot and Scott and I really bonded with Aaron. We have remained close since then. Dr. Reid didn't have a lot of scenes and Scott was just hanging around waiting for me so the boys really bonded. Immediately I thought Aaron would be great as the husband. How can you not love him? And he is the perfect contrast to my zaniness. He is so dryly brilliant and just great at everything he does. Dan has been a friend for years. He has great timing. I really thought he would be perfect as the producer running the show. And Phyllis, I wrote her character as a Phyllis-type. My mom said she would give Phyllis the script to read and I just thought 'Great Mom! That's really sweet…' and then when she didn't say anything the next day I thought Phyllis just passed off the idea. But Phyllis said she really wanted to do it. I was shocked. The kids are great as well!"

"I emailed little Max's mom and her name is Lauralee. She grew up watching The Young and the Restless. When she found out that Scott and I were doing this, she was beyond giddy. I emailed her that her son's picture was in TV guide and she said, 'Oh, Miss Lauralee! First you cast my son and now he is in TV guide. What's next?' She was very sweet! And I am thinking maybe nothing is next but we're trying."

How has it been working with your husband on this project?

"Scott has been great. I would write and he would look it over, grab a red pen and look it over, just like my father used to do, add a comment here or an idea there and make it better. Make it pop. He would help me to push the envelope especially when it came to the kids' comments."

What kind of feedback have you received?

"One of my friends saw the trailer the other day and called me up. She said, 'I mean this as a compliment. You do trailer trash really well!' That was so nice to hear. That's what actors want to hear. A great dramatic scene is always good for an actor but it is nice to do something different. One thing I learned all those years on Y&R is to get to the point where you feel comfortable enough to look crazy on camera. It is so liberating to be able to scream on camera or make ugly faces. I am all for that! I want to keep pushing the envelope as actor and an artist."

You have teamed up with Funnyordie.com to promote this project?

"If you are doing comedy, you can't go wrong with Funnyordie.com. There are some amazing comics posted on that site and if we can be up there for a week or more that would be great."

Eden Riegel's [ex-Bianca, All My Children] web series Imaginary Bitches just got nominated for a Daytime Emmy®. Do you have high hopes for Family Dinner?

"I sure do! I hope we shoot tons of Family Dinners and I already have plans for a second web series. There is a lot of opportunities for fun guest appearances, sponsorships, contests. There are a lot of fun avenues to explore and a few famous friends have said 'if you shoot anymore I would love to do it.' I want fans to look forward to the day that Jeremy talks and what he says. The testimonials on the website are very, very funny. The cast had a great time in front of the camera addressing the audience."

This was your first time directing. How was your experience?

"It is more complicated then you think. I called David Winning, the director of my Lifetime movie, several times with questions. He gave me some great suggestions and advice."

"It was a little difficult at times jumping up from the makeup chair and running into the next room to direct a scene and then back again but Scott was a huge help. He is so visual and he was able to see things that I couldn't because I was sitting at the table doing the scene. The whole team was fantastic. Dave Gill was with me through the whole process. Jack Allocco from The Young and the Restless, who just got nominated for 3 Emmys®, did all of our music. We called upon our friends and they came."

"The kids were great. The rest of the cast as well. The only trouble I ran into was the dog. I couldn't get him to go up the stairs! He was afraid to go up the wood stairs and nothing I did made a difference and I had to scrap that scene."

"My character is totally opposite of Christine. People who do not know me don't realize that my true nature is to find the joke in just about anything. I am a jokester. Growing up and doing scenes opposite Doug Davidson [Paul] was difficult because we would laugh at everything. I am the first to say that I intentionally geared Family Dinner to be really goofy. I really wanted a broader audience and this is so not Cricket in the courtroom."

What do you hope fans will take away from Family Dinner?

"I hope they will love the family and come back to find out what's happening. What are they having for dinner? Is grandma getting more senile? What is the daughter fighting her mother about this week? Do the parents love each other or hate each other this week? Will Jeremy ever speak? It's a mess of a family! I want fans to love them like they did the Y&R and miss them when they are not on. I hope they get attached."

What surprised you the most about the process of creating this web series?

"The editing. There's a lot of editing and it's a long process. I think music and editing are so important. It can make or break it. I used to say at the end of a scene, 'they'll save us in editing' and it is true but it takes a lot of time and patience. I had a phenomenal team though."

The trailer began airing this week on www.youtube.com and www.familydinneronline.com.

Fans can catch Lauralee's new web series online on June 8 at:

familydinneronline.com

or

funnyordie.com

The second episode premieres on June 17th on www.familydinneronline.com. Stay tuned and keep checking back for details of upcoming episodes.

"Emmy®" is the trademark property of ATAS/NATAS.

Congratulation, Lauralee!