Kit Williamson is extremely busy. Not only does he have a recurring role in one of TV’s most exciting shows, “Mad Men,” but he’s also got a huge fanbase thanks to web series “EastSiders” and “Hipsterhood.” ShockYa was excited to be able to speak with Williamson about his projects and what it’s like to have fans both on and offline.

I know that you’re in “Mad Men.” Could you tell me a bit about your character, Ed Giffords?

Kit Williamson: He’s a copywriter in Elizabeth Moss’ [as Peggy Olson] office. And he’s kind of insecure and anxious, especially around Peggy. The two offices actually merged…so now my character works at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Oh, okay. Well that’s interesting! How do you feel about playing Ed?

Kit Williamson: It’s really fun and Ed and [John Mathis, played by Trevor Einhorn] are kind of this dynamic duo. They pitch ideas together often with hilariously mediocre results. I like to think about them psyching themselves up in the hallway before they go into a pitch meeting, trying to do their best but failing every time.

I also saw that you’re writing and starring in “EastSiders” for Logo. How did you come up with the idea for this show?

Kit Williamson: I knew I wanted to write a story about gay characters that were flawed and interesting, and I knew that I wanted tow write a story about a gay relationship because I feel like too often, gay relationships are depicted as perfect little marriage equality ads. While I think that representation is great–I’m certainly not knocking it–I wanted to explore the different sides of life. I also wanted to write something set in my neighborhood. I live in Silver Lake, California and the neighborhood has some really interesting characters in it.

You’re also in a show that I need to watch more of, “Hipsterhood.” What attracted you to that series?

Kit Williamson: I actually met the director, Shilpi Roy, at a barbecue, which is one of the more hipster contexts that I could have met Shilpi in. It was totally a hipster barbecue–the host, who’s a friend of mine, makes his own craft beer and there were tofu skewers on the barbecue, so it was kind of the perfect setting to meet Shilpi for the first time. I had no idea that she was writing this rom-com satire about the neighborhood that we live in. She sent me the script and I thought it was really funny and cute and had a heart at the center of it because it’s about the insecurities everybody experiences, the insecurities everybody has when they have to muster up the courage to actually talk to someone they have a crush on.

With “Hipsterhood” and “EastSiders” being popular web shows and “Mad Men” being on TV along with your presence in film, such as your role in “Best Friends Forever,” it seems like you’ve built a well-rounded platform for yourself. What does it feel like to have different venues to go in and entertain?

Kit Williamson: It’s really cool to see the way in which people interact with you differently based on which show they found you through. One thing I love about doing web shows is that there’s not this huge boundary between the creators of the show and the fans. There’s actually a really open dialogue…I really love the fact that I love so many of the “EastSiders” fans by name from Facebook or Twitter and have gotten to know people on a personal level. There’s not that same disconnect that comes from being in a movie and being on a TV show.

It wasn’t too long ago that webseries were almost unheard of. How does it feel to have such a foothold in the web and that web series are now doing just as well as regular TV shows?

Kit Williamson: It’s really exciting to me where web television is going. I actually just wrote a blog for the Huffington Post about this web TV renaissance that we’re experiencing and the fact that some major players are now getting into the game, like Amazon Instant and, obviously, Netflix Streaming and Hulu Plus are doing more original series. I think independent filmmaking is really flourishing online as well. “Hipsterhood” and “EastSiders” both started as completely independent projects. We shot most of “EastSiders” in my living room…So I think that the fact that major companies like Viacom and Blip are looking to independent filmmakers for content and creativity is…there’s an openness.

There are opportunities that don’t exist in film and TV anymore. You have to be a little bit more established to get your voice out there, whereas now, the internet listens to who the internet listens to. Nobody’s completely figured out how a web show finds its audience. Either it does or it doesn’t. I’m very lucky that two of the shows I’m in have found an audience and have struck a chord with people.

Are there any projects you’re working on now?

Kit Williamson: I am trying to figure out what I am shooting next summer. I know I want to shoot another web project and I have a feature in development that I wrote. It’s actually a horror feature called “Golden State” about two burn-out heroine addicts that get turned into vampires and go on a killing spree in Valencia. Sort of a dark comedy. I’m really excited for “Best Friends Forever” to come out this summer. I think that’s such a cool, amazing movie and I’m so proud to be a part of it.