It Ain't Easy

It Ain't Easy is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Genevieve LaClotte and Joey Moody. It premiered on October 10, 2006 on RKOx. It stars LaClotte, Moody, Steven Mason, David Sanroman, Kimberly Rosen and Lee Elliot as the owners of Alphonse's Inn in, , who frequently spend their days going on misadventures or planning elaborate schemes to earn money.

Cast

 * Genevieve LaClotte as Giselle Jacques
 * Joey Moody as William Tobin
 * Steven Mason as Howard "Howie" Griffith
 * David Sanroman as Tobias "Toby" Martinez
 * Kimberly Rosen as Daphne Plesner
 * Lee Elliot as Adam Steele

Production
Genevieve LaClotte and Joey Moody met while touring the North American comedy club circuit. They both expressed interest in doing comedics short films together. They first came up with the idea for It Ain't Easy in 2002 on a fishing trip. Their original idea focused on a sultry innkeeper and wannabe blues singer from trying to find ways to sell off her family's inn so she could achieve stardom.

After a chance meeting with Steven Mason, he introduced LaClotte and Moody to his friends David Sanroman and Kimberly Rosen, and they began making more short films, including the pilot for It Ain't Easy. The pilot was made in October 2003 for little-to-money using a camcorder and using LaClotte's parents' house as the "set".

LaClotte and Moody pitched the show to several networks, before RKOx picked up the show for an initial 15-episode run. RKOx wanted a "recognizable name" in the cast, so LaClotte chose action film star and fellow native Lee Elliot. LaClotte and Moody visited Elliot at his house in with the pitch for his character, Adam Steele, a down-on-his-luck action movie star with parallels to Elliot. Elliot found the character of Adam Steele to be "actually pretty funny" and agreed to star in the series.

With the series ready to go, the show was budgeted at less than $220,000 an episode, using prosumer digital camcorders such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100 and the Theorysonic DVC100. Production on the first season was delayed by the impact of on New Orleans, resulting in most episodes of the first season taking place in indoor locations.

The series is shot on location throughout the New Orleans area. The exterior of Alphonse's Inn is the Milton Lattner Memorial Library (housed in the historic Isaacs-Williams Mansion) on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Studio filming for the first season was done in a disused paper products factory in an industrial area of New Orleans, which the cast and crew nicknamed "Alphonse's Shed". The roof tended to leak, and there was issues with electricity and rodent infestations. The show then moved to the ' Nims Center Studios in, where production was centered from seasons two through eight. The show's current base of production is Second Line Stages near downtown New Orleans.