Saturday, June 20, 2026
1:45 PM
TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood
By Teri Kinne
Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 06/22/2026 – A small-town yoga studio may seem like a peaceful place to breathe, stretch, and reset, but in Zen Room, it becomes the perfect pressure cooker for ego, ethics, community, and comedy.
The new single-camera mockumentary comedy made its debut at Dances With Films LA 2026 with two pilot episodes that introduce viewers to the wonderfully specific world created by co-writers Ashley Joyce and Cheri Oteri. Directed by Layne Marie Williams, Zen Room is set in the fictional town of Silver Park, where Lauren, played by Joyce, is a genuine idealist trying to bring yoga to her eclectic suburban community. Her cohort Sunny, played by Oteri, is far less pure in her approach.
“Sunny is a little, uh…. unscrupulous,” Joyce said with a laugh during a remote video interview during festival week.
Cheri Oteri
The series has already completed a full first season of 10 short-form episodes, giving it the feel of a ready-to-go package. Joyce said the show can stand on its own as a short-form series or serve as a strong proof of concept for longer-form development.
Joyce drew from lived experience when building the world of the show. While studying comedy in Chicago, she also worked at a yoga studio, where she found the setting richer than simple wellness parody.
“A yoga studio that is really practicing the ancient system of yoga, the eight limbs, and not just an exercise studio, you’re talking about spirituality and morality and ethics,” Joyce said. “Of course, there’s a lot of comedy that can ensue in this world.”
That reverence is part of what keeps Zen Room from becoming an easy takedown of wellness culture. The satire is sharp, but the show understands why people seek these spaces in the first place. The comedy comes from the collision of sincerity, self-importance, vulnerability, and small-town social dynamics.
Williams said the mockumentary style was part of Joyce’s original vision, and the format quickly proved right for the material. With director of photography Dan Izui and B-camera operator Gianna Aquilina, the production used two cameras and zoom lenses to catch the awkward pauses, sideways glances, and tiny human tells that heighten the humor.
For Williams, the challenge was not just making the show funny, but making sure the audience could feel the deeper emotional lives underneath the jokes.
“Everybody has multiple parts, has multiple things and nuances about them,” Williams said. “Though we want the audience laughing, we also want them feeling and to touch their hearts.”
I asked her about her directing style. “I’m very hands-on” she said, “But I also like to give talent the room and space to breathe and make their own choices and be free.”
The ensemble is led by three women from three different generations, a dynamic Joyce said was intentional. Though they communicate differently and occupy different stages of life, the women often face the same wants, fears, and frustrations. Around them are the studio regulars, including Ethel, a truth-telling student who functions almost like the chorus of the show, and the potential for visiting guest teachers from Los Angeles and New York.
The opening theme, composed by Jack Lipson, adds another layer of retro comedy. Catchy, goofy, and lyrically on point, it announces the show’s tone before a single yoga mat is rolled out.
With its mix of workplace comedy, intergenerational tension, guest-star potential, and oddly tender wellness satire, Zen Room feels like a series with room to grow. It has laughs, but it also has an eye for the strange, sincere ways people try to become better versions of themselves, even when they are getting in their own way.
Zen Room @ZenRoomSeries
Writers: Ashley Joyce @AshleyJoyceBush @TwoInTheBush.tv and Cheri Oteri
Director: Layne Marie Williams @DirectorLMW @LegacyMariePictures
Producers: Two in The Bush Productions, Legacy Marie Pictures, Ashton Swinford, Aimy Tien, Jon Silver, Grace Hahn
Cast: Cheri Oteri, Ashley Joyce, Lisa Beasley, Aaron Latterell
Composer: Jack Lipson @Thejacklipson thejacklipson.com
Director of Photography: Dan Izui
B-Camera Operator: Gianna Aquilina @dp_gigi giannaaquilina.com
Dances With Films @danceswithfilms
