Ester, our protagonist, is an every-chick (who’s name I have been told I have misspelt but seeing as how its my party blah blah blah). She lives her life in hope despite the continual curve balls that test her belief for a brighter more compelling future . Joy is her coworker the ‘she-who-sits-next-to-you-every-chick’. Her ambitions in life are to be as organized and efficient in her daily chores as possible. Her skill lies in her ability to carry on a completely functional domestic existence while at work. She has done her job for so many years she can do it with her eyes closed or while cooking, or mediating or in soaking in a tub…
The heart of Joy and Ester’s relationship is tolerance. Their approaches to work life are polar opposite but they beg to differ. Ester puts up with the smell of Joy’s incense and Joy indulges Ester’s insecurities. It’s the ‘we-might-as-well-get-along’ option that most people face at some point in time in their work place.
I would like to think I am not the only person you has worked with a ‘Bismarck’ in their life. That peculiar breed of boss who is completely clued out and unable to cope with the most basic of tasks. His ability to maintain his position remains a mystery to all who work with him as does the stroke of genius that put him there in the first place. Generally the Bismarcks of this world are a happy and relaxed sort, confident that whatever mess they left behind at 5:00 will be gone upon the morning’s return.
Johnny is (was) a kick your butt drill sergeant major whose hard graft keeps Bismarck in the style to which he has become accustomed. There is only room in her heart for one and that is her taught-tummied little dog Rhett. Like many of the ‘workplace’ pets I have encountered Rhett has an innate sense of his master’s status. He antagonizes Ester accordingly.
Schroeder is that easy breezy every guy who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the job and will be replaced by someone similar within the next few months. In my early storyboards he acts as Esters sounding board allowing her to talk shop without the threat of interruption or conflicting opinion. Subconsciously, I must have been channeling the image of the Peanuts character Schroeder playing on his baby grand while Lucy talks his ear off.
Finally there is Skype. His name is another reminder of the longevity of this project. When he was originally conceived, I imagined a bit of hype, a bit of Michael Stipe (who I think at the time was hitting a personal pretentious peak) and a dash of Victor Lewis-Smith (British presenter and columnist) who had these really bad white man dreads. The result was Skype!
Skype’s pretentious, unavailable and Ester can’t stand him.
But I digress as there are only three characters that remain: Ester, Joy and Bismarck. Creamers as it stands today is almost exclusively a solo journey for Ester. Her only real companion is her imagination. Joy is beside her in body not in spirit and Bismarck…Ester learns fairly quickly that Bismarck’s world couldn’t be further from her own.
