FOR THOSE OF YOU who are tired of the same old boring morning and evening news shows San Diego has to offer, Aaron Heier and Ophelia Later’s online talk show “He Said, She Said” may be just the twist you need to get you out of your primetime slump.
Heier and Later, began their show just over a year ago. It all started when they ran into each other at a party and talked about a possible podcast, but then came up with the idea to do a videocast instead.
“I was a guest on BearCast 619 and I had such a good time [that] I wanted to do a podcast”, said Later. “So I started to think of who I could team up with; who would be fun; not share my same thoughts and could have dialog with me without really “fighting.” Then one night I ran into Aaron at a party and it just clicked. So the next morning I called him to talk about it; we met for lunch; talked about it and [decided] to figure out how to do it live. About two weeks later we were sitting at #1 Fifth Ave. with a laptop and five minutes into videocasting, I was calling producer Joey Mathis to come and help and the show was off and running.”
Heier adds that the two were definitely amateurs in the public access live streaming world and weren’t at all sure how things would turn out. They quickly learned that it would take a lot more than simply opening up their laptops and pressing record to make it all happen.
“We learned quickly and the show has morphed from that [first streaming] into what it is today”, said Heier. “It continues to evolve. We couldn’t do any of this without the dedication and help from fantastic friends, our crew producer Joey (Mathis) and producer Kurt (Cunningham).”
Only Later seems to have a background in performance being the host for the Wet N’ Wilder show at the Hole for 17 years now. Heier’s background was in public relations working mainly with the entertainment industry.
“I had zero performance experience in front of the camera or on stage”, said Heier. “I’ve worked in PR for almost 20 years, half of that spent working closely with the entertainment industry, so I was fully aware of what it takes to be in front of the camera from a behind-the-scenes perspective. I’ve always been outgoing and chatty and I knew this little show would be fun to do because Ophelia and I just have this chemistry that works – sometimes like oil and water – but it works nonetheless.”
Both Later and Heier would love to see their little homegrown show turn into something bigger, but love where they are right now.
“Going Mainstream would be great … but I like where the show is and I think it will only get better,” added Later. “I would love it if more people would come and watch it live though. I love the energy of people.”
Heier agrees 100 percent.
“Of course something mainstream would be great, on a Bravo, Logo or E!-type network. When we started this, we didn’t really create it with “mainstream” in mind. As viewership has grown, so has the show itself. It [has] just been this organic evolution based on what works well for us, and what doesn’t. As long as we continue to make people laugh, think, question, gripe, be informed etc. – and they continue to tune in – I’m very happy with what we’re doing right now.”
For old fans, or new ones, who would like to catch the show live they can check out Later and Heier at The Brass Rail every Monday evening at 7:30 p.m., or at Mo’s every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
