“I have a role for you,” playwright Rosary Hartel O’Neill said to actress Kelly Lind within minutes of meeting of her last year at a Christmas party. Six months later, Lind has assumed the role of Kitten Dubonnet and production of “Damaged Goods” is now in motion.

On Thursday, “Damaged Goods” hosted a mixer at Parkway Bakery and Tavern to kickoff fundraising for the family drama television series. Instead of a traditional mode of development, in which a script is shopped around to different production companies that can fund and distribute the project, the team behind “Damaged Goods,” is crowdfunding the piece as they go. The production and distribution companies will come later.

This means you cannot yet watch “Damaged Goods” online nor on a cable channel, but rather you can track and donate to the project as it develops (link at the bottom of the article).

The show already has heavy hitters attached to it, like Bryan Batt of “Mad Men” fame.

It was seeing Batt perform at table reading that sold local Producer Jennifer Taylor on the project. Taylor, who also works as an architect and is part owner of Gasa Gasa, was introduced to the project by Lind. The two recently filmed another crowdfunded, still unnamed production together on a cruise ship.

“It was just mesmerizing,” Taylor said. “I stopped looking at my script and just started watching Brian, and that’s what sold me.”

Far from a cruise ship, this series is an adaption of eight of O’Neill’s plays—she has published 17 in total—that follow the fate of the Dubonnets. Like the plays, the show will trace the events of the established Uptown New Orleans family navigating the death of their patriarch and, more urgently, the arrival of his will, which says two thirds of fortune can only go to a single of the 13 heirs. Who gets it, the will says, is up to his wife, the matriarch of the family and recipient of the final third of his estate, Irene Dubonnet.

As the “Damaged Goods” team puts it, think “Dallas,” but in New Orleans.

This internal strife is set against against the fractious forces of the twenty first century, as the family’s antiquated New Orleans traditions that thrive on exclusivity and status hit up against today’s rapid cultural change. These traditions, and the hierarchy they symbolize, fight to survive in a time where status is counted in instagram likes and “the old way” is viewed with a skeptical, dismantling eye.

“This is kind of the paradox of New Orleans because you have this old wealthy society and it’s what’s created so many of these great traditions in New Orleans, but then at the same time it’s also what starts to make [it] crumble,” Lind said.

A New Orleans story written by a New Orleans playwright, O’Neill and the “Damaged Good” team are making every effort to hire and film locally. O’Neill said wants to create local institutions that allow both artists and the business they create to stay in New Orleans.

“We have immensely talented people here that aren’t seen enough and they deserve to be seen and their talent deserves to be enjoyed,” local theater legend Janet Shea said. “… [New Orleans is] a cultural center and it also deserves to be a center for producing great television.”

Alongside New Orleans-born Bratt and Lind, Shea will reprise her role as the family’s matriarch, Irene Dubonnet. She has played the part on stage four times before.   

Dari Lynn Griffin, Carl Palmer and O’Neill’s son, Barret O’Brien have also joined the cast. Oley Sassone will serve as the director. All are New Orleans natives.

Not only will this keep money and talent in the city, but it will keep authenticity in the production. The cast said many other shows and movies that have tried to represent New Orleans simply miss the mark. It’s to write the soul of this city from an office in Los Angeles.

“We understand the culture, the society here,” Griffin said. “We all have experience.”

“Damaged Goods” will begin filming on June 15. First, they will create a 15 minute short film that summarizes the show’s first episode. They will submit this film to different festivals and use it as a way to secure more funding.

“I want people to take away the power of being able to create something in your hometown with the local talent that could be excellent,” O’Neill said. “I want the people to feel pride in local and feel pride in excellence.”

If you would like to donate to “Damaged Goods,” you can do so here.