SYNOPSIS
A reclusive nerd begins a journey to self-confidence by forming a successful escorting agency with her three best friends.
Eddie is a geeky porn editor and programmer whose low self-confidence and body image leave her forever single. Her three hot friends want to save her from her unhealthy isolation, and when they start a high-end escorting agency for money, Eddie reluctantly joins on as their tech mastermind and fellow escort. Together they successfully navigate the extraordinary sex industry with Eddie as their CEO.
For all the main characters, escorting is a powerful way to contextualize themselves as women. Although all of them leave the sex industry by the end of the show, the wisdom and confidence they acquire along the way actually set them up for a lifetime of sexcess. Er, success. Same thing.
The central emotional plot is Eddie’s positive journey from asexual cynic to joyful, self-caring creative. The formation of the agency is a massive jolt to Eddie’s system, and being forced to dress, act, and exude beauty helps Eddie start to value herself more—$1500 an hour more, to be exact. She starts to understand herself not just as a brain, but as a body and heart as well. As an object of desire, she starts to fall in love...with herself.
High-rolling as millionaire sex workers is anything but simple, however, and between their clients, their taxes, their competitors, and the police, the women are constantly tip-toeing the line between success and oblivion.
Characters
EDDIE
A genius in all things Internet, Eddie swallows her sex-shame and loneliness on a daily basis to edit and program porn sites for a healthy paycheck. When her friends decide to start escorting, Eddie is fiercely opposed at first, but her love for them compels her to build and run the company as their CEO (aka pimp). Soon Eddie is cajoled into escorting alongside them, which forces her out of her asexual hermitic shell and into the world of real-time human interaction where she might just meet the hot, nerdy boyfriend of her dreams. Sex work sends her on a journey of self-love and self-confidence that anchors the entire series.
LUCY
Endlessly kind and empathetic, Lucy is so focused on the needs of those around her that she can become a charming doormat for her friends and family. Lucy typically goes for Anna Wintour-type MILFs both in terms of sexual attraction and as a practical climb towards achieving the journalism career she so desperately wants. She doesn’t mind sex with men though, and it's escorting that brings out her inner Goddess, teaching her to tap into her power center as a woman. Her conservative parents secretly bankroll her life in New York, but if they ever found out she was escorting or, God forbid, gay, she would lose everything.
EVA
An alpha female with Hollywood beauty, Eddie’s roommate Eva is as charming and gregarious as she is bullish and irresponsible. Her insatiable appetite for life, money, and men leaves her constantly scheming and living beyond her means. This stands in stark contrast to Eddie's practical solitude, and Eva routinely pulls Eddie into awkward and illegal circumstances, including the idea to start escorting. In spite of her bullying, Eva loves and admires Eddie and wants badly to impress her. Eddie, on the other hand, would give anything to look like Eva, and the friends' mutual jealousies only get worse as they escort side by side.
CHANDALEER
Fashion model and would-be writer Chandaleer quickly learns to love the high life of New York City, literally and metaphorically: she landed in rehab while still in college. Although her ADD, chain-smoking and compulsive drug use makes her seem like a candidate for death before age 30, she mostly wants to bulldoze the memories of her depressing and chaotic childhood in the Canadian boonies while gathering material for her autobiography. Profoundly devoted to her friends, Chandaleer thinks of them as the supportive family she never had, and they manage to rescue her whenever she parties herself into a crisis.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT by Michelle Cutolo
Strut explores women who love what they do and are empowered by their bodies. Unlike the dark, morose takes on the sex industry that we've seen a lot in film and television, my team and I sought to look at things from a more light hearted perspective, giving voice to the women who enjoyed their time in a "taboo" occupation. As a comedy, our show dismantles the shame and ostracization that comes with the territory of being a sexually explorative woman. This is a show about breaking apart patriarchy and giving women a new image.
During the filming process, I had the amazing opportunity to work with four strong, independent characters and the talented actresses that played them. One of my favorite moments on set was watching Eddie's character evolve and grow. I believe that her evolution will inspire audience members to feel secure about themselves and not give in to normative ideas of beauty. And the cherry on top was witnessing Eddie's dynamic reaction to someone calling her "gorgeous" and actually believing it. I hope that her reaction will be mirrored in all our female audience members.
