In summer 2008, four college friends pooled $6,000 to shoot a 15-minute presentation for a Web series.

A year later, the demo attracted Thomas Schlamme as executive producer and sparked interest from a couple of TV networks as a comedy series, landing at ABC with a script commitment plus penalty.

"Boyfred," the single-camera comedy from Alan Schmuckler, Michael Mahler, Blake Silver and Jarrod Zimmerman, centers on Fred, a twentysomething Web designer in Chicago whose girlfriend goes overseas, so he creates a Web site for their circle of friends to keep in touch.

Read more in the Hollywood Reporter. [1]