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Cheri Oteri Joins Zen Room as Production Begins in Chicago
Reel Chicago on the origin story: SNL’s Cheri Oteri joins Ashley Joyce’s homegrown mockumentary as it starts shooting a 10-episode first season in Chicago.
Before the festival lights — the build. Reel Chicago covered the start of production on Zen Room, the Two in the Bush single-cam mockumentary set inside a small-town yoga studio.
SNL alum Cheri Oteri signed on as lead, executive producer, and writer alongside creator Ashley Joyce, who wrote the series and stars as idealist studio owner Lauren. Layne Marie Williams directed, leading a largely female crew on a deliberate Chicago homecoming — proof, as Joyce framed it, that a writers’ room can live anywhere. The ensemble pulled from Chicago’s deep bench, including Lisa Beasley and Aaron Latterell.
A writers’ room can live anywhere.
The plan: ten short-form episodes, shot start-to-finish with Chicago talent, in partnership with Chicago Media Angels and Cinespace’s Alex Pissios.