A Connective Corridor bus flies past College Place, and panicked students are chasing after it — a sight many Syracuse University students are all too familiar with. In that moment, the struggle is real.

This feeling sets the scene for the student-run web series “Struggle Bus,” described by its creators as a “relatable drama-comedy.”

In late 2014, senior communication and rhetorical studies major Cadienne Obeng and recent SU alumnus Jonathan Wigfall decided to create a YouTube series called “Struggle Bus” to practice the ins and outs of television production. Now preparing for its third season, the show has become much more than just a taste of the industry.

With close to 15,000 hits on YouTube, the show has seen instant success. Obeng said the show focuses on the ups and downs of relationships on college campuses.

“We really zero in on having conversations about the things that we don’t talk about on campus, like the grey areas of relationships that we all struggle with,” Obeng said. “That’s why we call it the ‘Struggle Bus.’”

 

The show is run by a 16-person team comprised of 10 actors and a production team of six. Between classes, they spend hours writing, revising, memorizing lines and creating the final on-screen product.

Though most of the cast and production members do not major in television or content creation, “Struggle Bus” has accumulated staff members who use the show as an outlet.

“We wanted to create this project because it allowed us to apply what we were learning in the classroom to something that we weren’t doing in class,” Obeng said.

Obeng serves as head writer, producer and has played the role of Cree in the first two seasons.

In the past year, the show saw a surge in views, despite not releasing videos for several months. Obeng said this rise in popularity pushed them to strive toward a more professional level in their production quality.

“My ultimate goal for the series is for it to be as close to what TV looks like as possible,” Obeng said. “I want it to be something that makes people laugh if they talk about it.”

Demarquez Grissom, a junior in the School of Education, will continue his role as Mac in the upcoming third season. After being on the show for the first two seasons, he said “Struggle Bus” has taken on a special meaning for him.

“It connects with me being a college student, in general. I think anybody at Syracuse University — anybody in general — could really relate to ‘Struggle Bus,’” Grissom said. “Its so realistic, its not made up. This stuff actually happened to us.”

Grissom added that “Struggle Bus” has big plans for the future, and that the crew has hopes to take things to the “next level.”

“We’re trying to take it where the quality is better, the sound is better, and maybe where the series gets subscribed to by HBO,” he said. “We’re trying to actually get on TV.”

Marissa Lewis, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major, was a co-producer and actress through the first two seasons, and will serve as co-writer for the third season.

Lewis and Obeng originally planned to end the series after graduating this coming May, but its growth and popularity made them reconsider.

“At first, me and Cadi kind of sold ourselves short. We were originally thinking, in the beginning, that this could possibly end with us, and that’s okay,” Lewis said. “But I think the more we work with it and the more time we put in, the more we want to see it really grow into something.”

Although she’s approaching graduation and departure from the show, Lewis is excited for the future of “Struggle Bus.” She plans on passing the proverbial torch of “Struggle Bus” down to younger, inspired members of the SU community, and is excited to watch the product once she is no longer directly involved.

In a search for new members, Obeng wants to work toward becoming a more diverse cast. In the future, she said “Struggle Bus” hopes to eventually have an “equal representation of SU’s campus” by adding members of sports teams, Greek life and other organizations.

When the cast first took shape, it was just a group of friends. It was an all black cast, Lewis said, but one race’s perspective doesn’t cloud the viewer’s ability to relate.

“’Struggle Bus’ is a show for you and me. It’s a show that is supposed to represent everybody and showcase maybe a different but realistic side of college life,” Lewis said. “… People can just relate to it. And that is what I think I love the most about it.”

Published on January 19, 2016 at 10:58 pm

Contact A.J.: ajgersh@syr.edu