Sitting on Ayelette Robinson’s gamechanging web series ‘The Couch’

One of our previous Web Series of the Day was Ayelette Robinson’s The Couch. Ayelette showed us all her skills: she’s not only the lead actor in this groundbreaking series, she also produced it.

We have to agree with reports that The Couch is “a groundbreaking new web series” – the action follows the life of psychology graduate student Penelope (Ayelette Robinson), who has to see multiple therapists concurrently in order to complete her required hours in time for graduation.

The Couch follows an ingenious “make it yours” narrative structure where the viewer has the opportunity to alter the narrative in real time. (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, eat your heart out). If it sounds like your type of show, just check out the trailer here. We were hyped to sit down with the master of ceremonies behind The Couch, Ayelette Robinson, and chat more about her groundbreaking new series, and her work in general.

FD: The Couch is different from a traditional web series. You’ve implemented a format that allows and encourages the audience to be interactive. How did you develop the idea?

AR: The idea came to me about four years ago. I knew that I wanted to create my own work – to get my acting out into the world – and I thought once I’m creating something, it might as well be something that changes the landscape in some way.

I wanted the audience to feel like they were a part of the story, and as I brainstormed, I remembered how much I enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure stories as a kid. It dawned on me that there was no reason you couldn’t create the same kind of experience through film!

In addition to directing the narrative, what else do you hope viewers take away from the Make It Yours format?

There are a few things I hope viewers take away from it. First, I want them to have fun and get excited by the possibilities! Second, I want them to feel that they are a part of the story – the fictional one on screen and their own personal lives. They have power and agency to change how their own stories go, just like they can decide what choices Penelope makes.

You’re an accomplished actress and established voiceover artist. What made you decide to try your hand at producing?

As actors, we’re advised time and time again that we have the power to shape our careers, and part of that power comes from producing our own work. Having come from a corporate background, I immediately understood the business side of the profession and producing seemed like a totally natural step. It also excited me to build something that would showcase my work.

You play the lead role of Penelope, a psychology graduate student who is required to see multiple therapists in order to graduate on time. Can you elaborate more on the overall premise of The Couch?

I have to give a giant shoutout to the beautiful and inspiring writer Sarah Knapp for designing and gorgeously executing the premise. I had come up with the Make It Yours concept, but didn’t have a specific story or characters in mind. I reached out to several writers and had several false starts before finding the perfect match.

I told Sarah that I wanted the narrative-changing format, but really left it up to her to come up with the idea and the story. As I’m an independent filmmaker, of course I wanted to keep production costs low, so I was looking for a story that could be told entirely within a few interior locations.

Sarah came up with the concept and I loved it. I have to laugh when I picture her trying to organize not only what Penelope has told each of the four therapists, but also what she’s told each of them across multiple storylines!

I can’t share what was in Sarah’s mind when she created the story, but I know that when I read it, it spoke to me immediately – there are so many elements in there that are universal to all of our lives and yet completely personal to each of us.

The idea of trying to make sense of how the parts of our lives fit together, the struggle to decide what parts of our lives to keep and which to shed depends on how each is serving us – sometimes we hold onto things for the wrong reasons. There’s a challenge just to take time to reflect on our choices.

Legacy and Awards Recognition

The project now sits on Robinson’s professional pages as an award-winning title, with the interactive structure still cited years later on her site, LinkedIn, and resume materials. Retrospective profiles continue to flag the viewer-choice format as a standout feature. The recognition has held steady without new seasons or revivals, turning the original DIY effort into a durable calling card rather than a one-off launch.

Robinson’s Subsequent Producing Work

After The Couch, Robinson produced the shorts Laughing Again and The Boy Outside in 2023. She also founded ActorsGuru, a career-management tool aimed at actors navigating auditions, representation, and day-to-day logistics. The move from single-project producer to ongoing creator and tool-builder shows how the original decision to take control of her own material has scaled into a broader practice.

Writer and Director Career Updates

Sarah Knapp added writing and directing credits on the short Laughing Again, which screened at festivals after The Couch. Katy Harliss later shifted focus toward wellness coaching while keeping an active hand in acting and occasional filmmaking. Both paths keep the original credits intact while illustrating how the core team moved forward once the series wrapped.

Interactive Storytelling Context in 2026

The Couch landed in the first wave of choose-your-own-adventure web experiments, arriving just before Black Mirror: Bandersnatch pushed the format into mainstream conversation. Retrospective coverage still flags its real-time branching as innovative. The project predates many later streaming experiments yet remains referenced in profiles that track how interactive storytelling has evolved since 2018.

The response to The Couch has stayed positive long after the initial release. What began as a DIY project to share Robinson’s acting work has held attention as an award-winning title, with project accounts and professional bios still referencing the series. Robinson credits director Katy Harliss for the moving execution and notes that each therapist’s distinct personality continues to draw viewers in.

The decision to build a diverse, almost all-female cast and crew was deliberate. As a white woman, Robinson has described being on both sides of the majority-minority equation on screen and behind the camera. She has said society changes based on what appears on screen and that she wanted to put work into the world that leveraged skill sets from people who rarely get the chance to express them on or off camera. Her current bio continues to emphasize advancing underrepresented communities, and later projects have kept the same approach to team-building. The heartbreak of a child never picturing herself as a director, astronaut, or head chef because she does not see women in those roles remains a driving point for Robinson, and the project’s legacy still reflects that intent.