In college, many teeter on whether or not they want to spend their four years with someone else, if they want to use this time to explore, or if relationships are pointless considering the relatively limited time we'll spend here. They wonder what love has to do with their future, their present, or if it's something they should temporarily leave in the past. Basically, college students ask, what's love got to do with it? Howard University student Lisa Satchell recently released her new web series, "What's Love Got?" which focuses on college girls faced with the ultimate question mark that is relationships.

What is the “What’s Love Got?” series?

What’s love got is about three girls and how the way they grow up affects the way they love. There is Leslie, Tia and Carmen. It’s them just going through college, navigating love, how your friends help you get through it, and the different fears and reservations you have about actually falling in love.

How’d you come up with the idea?

It’s funny, I actually was listening to “What’s Love Got” while I was in the car with my dad during the last spring semester. I was like, “Hmm, I know what this song is about now.” Because, you know when you’re younger, you don’t really peep that they’re talking about sex. So I figured I could write about a girl who doesn't see the value in a real relationship, but thinks, “Well I like having sex, so what does love have that sex doesn’t?” And what if she has two friends, so the question becomes more. What does love got when I just want to get down and dirty? What’s love got more than pain and hurt feelings? What’s love got if it’s not fun and exciting? Those are the three main lines of each of the girls within their own episodes. Why would I fall deeper in love or is love worth sticking it out?

What kind of work went into the project?

A lot. I wrote it and had a close friend of mine help me as a producer. In the beginning, the script was set in present day, but as she was reading, she pointed out that I made a lot of 90s references. So she asked if I ever thought about having the series set in the 90s. I was like, “That’s a lot of work… so no.” She told me to think about it, to go home and immerse myself in the 90s. I love black 90s films like I’m obsessed. I have a problem. “Poetic Justice” is my favorite movie. I was watching movies, watching T.V, mainly listening to the music, and then I realized, dang it, we have to rewrite the entire script. So I did the rewrite and after that was the casting process. I put up posters around campus, GroupMe has been a Godsend and social media. Then I got a Creative Director, who made my life easier by picking out the outfits and making sure everything looked like it was from the 90s. My Cinematographer was great because she filmed it so I could focus on directing. I had an Assistant Director who kept me sane and kept order on set. A lot of times, I’d ask him what he thought, because me being female, I might not see what a male would see.

What was the casting process like?

Casting was a lot — 31 people came in. We went to the Annex on campus and rented the multipurpose room. For the casting, we had people come in and we had one day for audition and two days for callbacks. I gave the girls the voiceovers you see in the show and the boys had to do their main scene. A lot were nervous in the beginning, so I tried to calm them by asking what they thought love was about, or what they thought love is. It was to one, get them relaxed, and two, to see how they were as a person, which is important when fitting someone to a role. The day before the auditions I was pacing around like, oh my God, oh my God, I’m so nervous. But why am I nervous, I’m not the one auditioning. Directors always say they’re more nervous than actors are, and I thought that was bull, but it’s not!

How’d you go about the writing process?

I just wrote it. I’m very good at relatable dialogue because I like to think of what I would say and what my friends would say in certain situations. People who know me and watch the series always say that there’s a piece of me in every character, even some of the guys. I try to make it as relatable as possible. The first process was getting it down and out of my system. The second was cutting it down because I love dialogue and having people talk, but not everybody’s going to watch that. Then I had other eyes on it, making sure that I didn’t find some things funny that others wouldn’t. In the beginning, I was scared because I’d never done a web series before and I didn’t know how. I had to read a lot of books about how to structure a script before executing it. First I thought of the concepts of the series, then the concepts of each episode. Then I had to figure out what order it had to go in to make sense. In each episode, it ends with them coming back to their diner they go to because I wanted to really stress that in the end of everything, they could always come back to their friends, they could always come back to each other.

What's the view count on the series right now?

1,069. I check so often it’s not even funny. And it’s not that I care if a lot of people watch it or not, it’s more about you liking it enough to want to do this interview or someone else liking it enough to stop me on the street and tell me they really liked it, or someone stopping one of my actors on the street and saying “Oh you’re in that web series, I really liked it.” But that view count ain’t gonna hurt nobody, I’m not going to lie. I like the number. And I can’t stress how much I needed and appreciate the team that helped me, not just the crew but everyone who had my back. There were so many times when I wanted to call it a wrap and just say we weren’t doing it anymore. They helped so much.

Can you describe each of the characters and how you came up with them?

So Leslie is the first character who came to my mind because like the song, she asks what love has that sex doesn’t. But I wanted her to be deeper than that. Not just someone who has sex a lot. So I made her outgoing and adventurist, which are characteristics of her liking physical stuff, but then you have to ask why she’s like that. So then came the storyline of her father not really being around, so when she physically has someone, she really cherishes that. The actress who plays her is such a fun and sweet spirit, that it makes it so when you see Leslie, you just think of how she just likes having fun and that’s OK.

Then there’s Tia. Tia is most like myself in the way that she’s just afraid of love. She’s adorable and relatable and a lot of people our age are afraid of love and think it’s too much to get hurt. She was the easiest to write, especially because we all want her love interest; we all want a Trevor. That line she says about him, him having the “let-me-kiss-you-lips,” someone said that to me about Trevor Jackson. So that’s how he got the name Trevor. Tia is so fun and free spirited that when she’s guarded when it comes to Trevor, that’s a real human contradiction that a lot of people face.

Carmen. Well, when people say they fell out of love, I don’t get that. What do you mean, you fell out of love? Carmen and Kyle came — he’s more chill and laid back while she’s more prissy and bougie. The actress really brings that to the character. In the Valentine’s Day episode that’s coming out soon, the actress said that she would never accept the situation they get into and I thought that was so funny, because she’s really similar to her character. She has high standards. I don’t want you to think Leslie is too loose and Carmen is too rigid. Carmen just comes from a different place than Kyle and she likes what she likes. She loves him and how simple he is but come on. Like the chip scene? I told Keith so chew as obnoxiously as he can and play with it, and it was so perfect and gross. Ew! It falls out of his mouth and it was great.

Was it hard to write from the viewpoint of the males?

Well I had helped and had guy friends look over it, but I really was focussed on making sure I wasn’t playing into the stereotypes of what people usually see from guys on screen.

What was your goal coming into the project?

To show people how the way we grow up affects the way we love, but that we don’t have to fall dependent of that. Like you watch your parents go through whatever in their love life, and you have to remember that you’re not them; you’re friends may love a different way but you’re not your friends. You have to find your own path.

What are your goals for the future of the project?

We have a “What’s Love Got” cast and crew GroupMe and everyone keeps asking for a season two. I wanted to see how the first response was, but when we hit a thousand, they asked again. And the night of the premiere, when there was a good response, everyone asked again.

O.K, I’ll say it. Remember when I said I come up with the concepts of each episode? I’m in that step for season two. That’s an exclusive, I haven’t even told my cast and crew yet. The skeleton for season two is drawn out, but I’m not making any promises. It would take another year to half a year for another season to come out. I see it happening, but if it doesn’t I’ll feel bad, so I just don’t want to make promises.

Will more people be able to get involved in the project?

All the siblings will come back. There’s a guarantee of at least one new character. People should look out for fliers and message me if they want to get involved. My email is: findrelisaproductions@gmail.com

If people have scripts they can email it to, because I really want to produce scripts that aren’t mine, as well.

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to start their own web series?

Believe in yourself and your idea. Write it and show it to somebody, but don’t show it to a Yes-Man, because a Yes-Man will say it’s good no matter what. Show it to someone who will be honest with you, someone who will give you criticism and ideas. I learned to get out there and do it, and get a good team around you that will help you. I’m so lucky to have everyone in the credits list. They’re honest and have great ideas. I’d tell people to write fearlessly and find a mentor who will show you how to do things correctly. Also find someone who won’t stop you from doing things the way you want to do them. There are a million different ways to do things, so I would never tell someone they have to focus on one. There’s so many series to be written, but you’ve seen series with three best friends, so you have to be different. Be fearless, which is something I still struggle with. I’m still afraid season two will suck, even given what I’ve already written. I should be confident in it, but you’re always worried about your work. Be confident and go for it, and there’s no better way to go about that than to just do it.