Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Speaker A: We interrupt usual programming to bring you our very first 5050 bonus episode. We present to you a Q and A recorded last month at the Broadwater Theater in Los Angeles, featuring this week's guest, Karen Zippor, as well as me, 5050 co host Wyatt Sarkisian, in conversation with one of the first guests we ever pod, Johnny Marks. This was in conjunction to a dual screening for Karen and I. More information on that in the link in the episode description.
Quick reminder that this bonus Q and A serves as a continuation of the week's main episode, where Karen discusses the many roles she embodies as a director and producer of live action and animation alike. Enjoy the bonus content.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: Thank you, Johnny.
[00:01:01] Speaker D: Anytime, anytime.
Us kind of in Russia right now. Do you see there's a little map under us? Yeah.
[00:01:10] Speaker D: Okay, so I have a few little questions and then we're open it up to the audience.
I just want to start off by saying, can you guys talk a little about the initial inspiration for both projects? Why a mockumentary about film bros? Why kind of worm movie?
So why don't I start with you?
[00:01:27] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:01:29] Speaker E: The bros were kind of something that my old roommate Elijah and I would joke around about a lot. Like sophomore year, junior year, and we started just because we're both writers just creating these characters. Maybe one's a cinematographer and just like shooting the shit. But eventually I graduated, moved back to la, and Elijah was at a party with another writer friend of ours in New York and he just started talking about the film bros. And the writer guy, Matthias, who's the other, the third co creator, was like, why don't we do it? Why don't we write it and make it?
And I was like, I'm in la.
It's impossible. How could you do it?
And then we just started writing it. And as we started writing it, it became more and more real.
At first it was five episodes, then we finally went down to four. Once you figured out budget, all that and we raised some money and we.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: We did it.
[00:02:24] Speaker F: I think it's.
[00:02:24] Speaker E: If anything, it's just a testament to like go and do it, you know?
[00:02:28] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: And for context, Wyatt and his bros all went to nyu, hence all the USC hate on warrants.
[00:02:39] Speaker D: I remember you talking about this so long ago. What was the timeline from like idea to like first episode posted? Like, do you know how long that that period was?
[00:02:47] Speaker E: It was probably, if I backtrack it, it came out in September, we shot it in May, so had the whole summer to edit. I would say it was probably like a 9 or 10 month process. Totally from the first time we, like, sat down. Brett Pyle.
[00:03:05] Speaker D: And then I'll bring it over to you. Initial inspiration. Why this project?
[00:03:09] Speaker C: So the inspiration was a man hurt me.
[00:03:13] Speaker D: All good art. Like, all good art.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: All good art starts there.
[00:03:15] Speaker E: It was not a worm.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: It was a man.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: It was a man. It was based on and it was based off, like, the true story of, like, how I had to deal with a big heartbreak and move out to LA and resume to the rest of my potential and the rest of my life. And I was like, where the hell is this coming of age story? Because no one's. No one's got this ending.
And as well, the meme of, like, would you still love me if I was a worm? Wasn't a thing when I first came up with this. This was like early 2025.
[00:03:46] Speaker D: I was gonna ask about that.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: Okay, big, big worm. Capitalize on the worm content.
[00:03:50] Speaker D: Worm moment going on.
[00:03:52] Speaker E: Worms are really hot.
[00:03:53] Speaker D: Worms are huge right now.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: But what was kind of nice about the meme was like this short film kind of answers part two of that question, which is, well, don't you deserve more than a worm? Why are you settling for just a worm?
So period, Period.
Thank you.
[00:04:13] Speaker D: Well, that's kind of what I was gonna ask. When did it we come from man to worm? Like, did you know going into.
[00:04:20] Speaker E: The.
[00:04:20] Speaker D: Eternal question, the angel question, did you know going into it it was gonna be about a worm? Was it ever just, like, about a guy? And then you made that change or how the hell that happened?
[00:04:30] Speaker C: It was always gonna be about a worm. In the very first draft of the script, I wanted to do a montage at the end going through all their little dates and all their little mamas together again, but with a real human boy.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: And then my amazing writer friends are like, no, you don't need that. Keep them warm. It's better this way.
[00:04:49] Speaker E: And I also want to say that, like, when you do, from my experience, when you think about doing an animated thing, you're always asking the question, like, why an animated thing? And I think, like, when you write a story with a worm in it, it makes sense. Like, it'd be really fit.
[00:05:04] Speaker E: That's my thought.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: When they first wrote it, I thought it was going to be live action. I thought we were going to do like, live worm bait and make it.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: And then finally I. I come from the animation world. I worked at Disney. I worked on 2D animated short shows before. And I was like, I'm not gonna make an animated Short until I have a script that's worthy of it. Because I know how long it takes and how expensive it is. And I'm like, I'm not. I'm not doing that until it's a story is worthy of it.
[00:05:35] Speaker E: And oh, my gosh.
[00:05:37] Speaker D: And adaptation.
[00:05:38] Speaker E: I want to see it starting.
[00:05:39] Speaker D: Stone.
[00:05:39] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:05:40] Speaker C: Emma Stone.
[00:05:48] Speaker D: I love ball work.
[00:05:48] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:05:50] Speaker D: Very awesome. You guys mentioned earlier that a lot of the team is in the audience today. I. I just wanted to ask for both of you. I know it's kind of in different ways. How did the team come about? Riot. I know you, like, brought it up. Your first question. Can you give me the rundown of, like, the core Film Bros and then how you guys kind of found the larger team in that way?
[00:06:10] Speaker E: What I'll say is kind of crazy is that there was a. There was a summer program in 2018 that I went to NYU. I don't want to. Yeah.
[00:06:23] Speaker E: But, like, I would say, like, five or six of those people of, like, the same 17 of us were on the set in 2025 when we filmed this.
Half of them, you know, Elijah and Matthias were kept in touch with. I kept in touch with a couple people out here, were going to school out here. And it's really just like a testament to, like, keeping in touch with people. And all these people are so, so talented. And I think it helps when you're friends with these people and they have seen you, you know, do shitty sketch comedy and fail and try to develop your comedic voice over and over so they get it. When you're finally, like, putting stuff, something out there and you invite them into your world, they're like, oh, like, I see what you're trying to do here. So I think that's. That's sort of how it all formed.
[00:07:09] Speaker D: Do you remember the initial pitch for Film Bros? Like, do you remember what you kind of bring to someone when you were gonna, like, did you have, like, a log line, like, to bring them onto the project or not?
[00:07:16] Speaker B: So latch.
[00:07:18] Speaker E: I would always start with being like, you know, film bros, right?
You know, they're like the most pretentious, like, annoying, you know, people ever show us. Yeah, we just, like, name drop all the time. And I think, like, the joke is that, like, where we. We love to shit on them, but, like, we are them too, you know, so it's like, it's making fun of ourselves and that. The part that I would try to nail in was like. And we have a lot of love for these people too, because at the end of the day, they're just like awkward people who have found this thing that they latch on to, to find community, you know. So that's kind of the way that I would try to pitch it.
[00:07:59] Speaker D: And then how many people worked on your film?
[00:08:03] Speaker C: Nearly 40 people.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Crazy.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: And finding a team of 40 people is a very hard task, especially when mostly are remote. It is so different from Live Action in that you're like, you're not like, are you free this week? You're like, are you free for like the next, you know, year of your life to work on this?
[00:08:22] Speaker E: Yeah. Wait, what was the timeline?
[00:08:24] Speaker A: I'm curious.
[00:08:24] Speaker C: Yes, we started pre production August 2024.
We didn't start animating till July, sorry, January of this year. And it wasn't finished till some September. Yeah, yeah. So it's soft, right?
[00:08:39] Speaker D: The first few years.
[00:08:40] Speaker C: Yay. This is the first time a big group of people have seen it.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: I think you're whispering it to people until now. But speaking of getting a huge team, it was just my friends and people I love in animation who I've just kind of grounded around me for so many years. But to animate something like that, each person can only really take like four to five shots max, you know, it's just too much of a load. So I've had to outsource and find more people. And we had animators from Australia and the UK and France, like people all over the world, the Philippines have worked on this. And this was just a long hiring process of just like, who has the right style and the right talent and can bring this really complicated.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Character to life. Yeah.
[00:09:32] Speaker D: We've also produced on Film Bros. And also cameoed as the news report.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Yeah, that's the first time.
[00:09:37] Speaker D: Okay, Actress.
What is like, what's the difference between producing Live action and producing animation? I couldn't even imagine producing anime. Is it a lot of like zoom calls?
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Like what?
[00:09:47] Speaker C: Oh yeah, we're on Discord because we're cool.
[00:09:50] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:09:52] Speaker C: Live Action. First of all, life art imitates life. Because I love how the one girl character is the producer in the show.
[00:10:03] Speaker C: It is true. And Live Action is more like gathering everybody, building the edit after. After you've shot everything, animation is blipped. You are putting together storyboards and locking the edit first.
And then in January starts your nine month long process of, of slowly animating and cleaning and coloring every single shot. So it's like the edit of this has been done for a year in like a really rough storyboard format. But it's kind of like really an amazing, you Know, producing that, you need a tight ship, a tight, tight, like, pipeline from, like, one end to the other, and lots of weekly goals for everybody.
[00:10:50] Speaker D: So were you having everyone from all over animate sections at the same time, or would one person do a section, then next section then?
[00:10:57] Speaker C: Yeah, it's almost like a little conveyor belt. Somebody is doing the rough animation. Then you pass it on. Somebody cleans those lines. Pass it on. Someone adds the colors and shadows. Pass it on, and somebody does all the VFX and compositing work. Pretty lighting, the fire, anything. Shadows. Every character's shadow needs to be added after. It's a very long process. And I lived in a Google sheet for a whole year. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:23] Speaker D: Well, then why does. I ask you? Similarly, you produced on film rows, you wrote and then you acted. What was that like? And what was it like being on set as an actor of something you were so close to in the writing and the producing? Did you have to kind of, like, let that go? Was it all happening at once?
[00:11:39] Speaker E: Yeah, I think it was. Much the way it went was like, writer first, right? And then you start putting on the producer hat, and then you start realizing that you can't wear the producer hat as much as you wanted. So you bring Karen on, and she really, like, she.
The whole project would not exist without Karen. Like, she is. Yeah, this is Karen's.
[00:12:03] Speaker E: You bring Karen on and you just see it like, we need help. Here's the idea. Do you like it? She was like, I know people like that.
[00:12:11] Speaker E: I can do it.
And to find someone who, like, loves comedy and has produced comedy, too is weirdly hard to come by at comedy at this level, you know, at, like, an indie level.
So brock Karen on. And then I was able to, like, take the producer hat off a little bit.
Still involving casting, things like that, Casting zooms all over the country, everything.
[00:12:33] Speaker E: And then.
[00:12:35] Speaker E: I, as an actor, I. I tried to really just be acting. I think if I were to think, I mean, Karen, you know how stressful it was being on that set just as a producer? Like, I could not add to.
[00:12:47] Speaker D: I could.
[00:12:47] Speaker E: I. I was. I had a full plate as is.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: As an actor.
[00:12:51] Speaker C: I think you was full method.
[00:12:53] Speaker E: Yeah, full method. It was crazy.
[00:12:55] Speaker D: How similar was the film bros set to the set we see in the series? It was ironic.
[00:13:00] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:13:00] Speaker E: Yeah, it was. No, it was. I mean, it was like.
I think it was.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: It was hard.
[00:13:06] Speaker E: Sometimes the character's such, like, a douchebag sometimes my character and I. I just.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: It.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: That was hard.
[00:13:13] Speaker E: I was like, sometimes after takes, I would be like, are you okay? Like, I'm so. Just so mean to you. And we did a lot of improv too. Like Elijah, my old roommate and the director was really into, like, let's rewrite a scene on the spot if we, if we feel something in the moment. So it was a lot of, you know, go in there. So we went there and then.
[00:13:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I was going to ask you on that with the characters, ideally there'd.
[00:13:35] Speaker E: Be maybe more seasons.
[00:13:36] Speaker D: These are our main characters. We'd watch them for much longer. How did you guys balance between, like, this critique of film bros and kind of like, being unbearable, but also like, this group of people that we really do root for and will connect with throughout what could be an entire series?
[00:13:51] Speaker E: I think my initial thought is that, like, each character has their own, like, you know, they're, they're right for this reason and they're wrong for this reason. And they're all dealing with ego in a very strange way. And I think this, like, giant ego comes from a lot of insecurity. And like, I, I picture these film bros, I try to think of them as like, if they're little kids, you know, they're like, they're just, they're just little kids. At the end of the day, they're just wanting to, like, fit in and they're like, basic things that I think all these film bros want.
So.
[00:14:22] Speaker D: Yeah, and then I was gonna ask you, Karen, for the character of the worm. First of all, I want to get into who it's about, if you, if.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: You care to speak. Yeah. So his address is.
[00:14:31] Speaker D: He's here today?
[00:14:32] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: But no.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: So you.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: I mean, there's so much emotion conveyed through the worm, and that's such a big part of the short. But the worm itself doesn't even have, like, eyes or like a facial feature from an animation perspective. Were you ever worried that you weren't gonna be able to get that point across? And like, how did you ultimately develop the character of the worm?
[00:14:52] Speaker C: Well, it all started with the character designs. Once we, like, started playing with, given the little outfits, we were like, okay, okay, wait.
And it was the amazing. Where Anna Simpson is somewhere in here. Yes. She did all the storyboards.
Like, so many jokes. There were jokes written into the script, but she just added even more.
And then Ella Louise Kahn, she was the lead worm animator. She worked on at Disney on like, Once Upon a Studio and the Donald Duck Hot Ones video. So she's got that Disney touch. So any, any like, close up shot of the Worm or breakdancing or anything is her.
And teeth, too.
[00:15:32] Speaker E: The worm had teeth.
[00:15:33] Speaker C: He has teeth. He has a little tongue. When he eats the popcorn, he goes like. And so cute.
[00:15:40] Speaker C: But also, she also was a huge reason he can emote and stuff. And then finally, Jared Fellows, who did the sound, he's also somewhere in here.
[00:15:52] Speaker C: He's the voice of the worm. Anytime the worm goes or, like, any weird little noise, that's just him. And we had so much fun in, like, sound mixing sessions being, like, which should we use?
[00:16:04] Speaker C: And directorially, it was my, like, goal the whole time that I wanted him as adorable and emotive and cute in the first half. And once he becomes avoidant and reclusive and checks out from the relationship, he just becomes more and more still. We animate him less and less. Like that one shot of him on the bed, on the pillow. Like, he's not moving in that. But yet you're like, oh, my God, this guy Worse.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:34] Speaker D: And then I was gonna ask for both of you. I could start with Kari Perrin. Do you see any. What is the next goal for this project specifically? Is it a festival run? Is this a proof of concept for something bigger? Is this. Is there a worm multiverse here?
[00:16:46] Speaker C: We could.
[00:16:47] Speaker D: Yeah, I see it.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: She could date more bugs.
[00:16:51] Speaker E: Very specific time.
[00:16:56] Speaker C: It's early in its festival run, hence we can only do private screenings like this.
But it's out, it's submitted. The most important, helpful thing everyone here to do is just follow zip dub films and just interact with the post. That's it. Because we just want to prove to festivals, hey, this is cool and fun. You should include it in your lineup.
Thank you.
[00:17:14] Speaker D: And then White, same question to you. What is the. Where do you see film?
[00:17:17] Speaker F: Rose.
[00:17:18] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, I would love to do a season two. It was definitely.
I have a theory personally that I have one opportunity to ask my friends and family for money, and then I'm like, need to get it elsewhere.
[00:17:31] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:31] Speaker E: And this was my opportunity. I don't like crowdfunding. I. I respect it, obviously, but I just.
It's so. It's so hard to do.
So I would love to. I. I think, as Karen said, like, as long as you guys are sending this to friends and we can start getting, you know, you have a lot of conversation about it, but we can start getting it even more popular. Then eventually we can work with some sort of production partner and find out if there's a possibility for a season two, because we definitely have ideas for these characters.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: So we're the Film girl.
[00:18:05] Speaker E: No, exactly.
[00:18:06] Speaker C: I wanted, like, Alvin and the Chipmunks too this week.
Yeah, yeah, they're like those three same.
[00:18:13] Speaker D: And then the film gays for season.
[00:18:15] Speaker C: Three.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: Are all coming.
[00:18:19] Speaker D: Well, that was gonna be my last question before I open up to the audience. What is most helpful for audience members to now go do for the project, but, like, following, what are the specific Instagrams you mentioned? Your production company, if you want to shout that out again. Okay.
[00:18:31] Speaker C: Amazing Tiptofilms.
[00:18:34] Speaker E: Yeah, filmbrosofgv. So feel free to follow it also in your goodie bags. Thank you, by the way. I know goody bags are in.
[00:18:43] Speaker E: There's little printouts that have a QR code that you.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: You could scan.
[00:18:46] Speaker E: And on the QR code is a link tree.
Stay with me here. It's a link that.
That you can find me at Film Bros. Instagram. Film Bros. YouTube zipped up films. Instagram zipped up films.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: YouTube.
[00:19:00] Speaker C: They should follow you. Johnny Marks, you follow me on Instagram.
[00:19:03] Speaker D: @Johnnymarks with two exes. I just posted for Halloween and it's kind of flopping, so go give that a yeah shout out to my girls.
Okay, I now need to kind of throw it to you, you all. I'm gonna ask some questions from the audience.
Does anyone have any questions for our lovely creators? What's the vibe? Feel free to put those hands up, by the way, and don't be shy.
[00:19:26] Speaker F: Yes.
[00:19:27] Speaker D: You right in front here.
[00:19:28] Speaker C: My name's Nick. I actually work on.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: Nice to meet you in person for the first time.
I do have a question about more animated films from Zinza Films.
[00:19:42] Speaker C: Great question.
[00:19:43] Speaker D: I'll repeat that just so everyone definitely hears it.
[00:19:44] Speaker C: Yes, yes, yes. Do we have more animated films coming out? I want to say absolutely.
I need a little break first because it's like I just gave birth, like, for a year to this war.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: But I absolutely do. I want to go bigger, better, longer films, and who knows? I'm writing a feature. So let's get that on the box.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:20:10] Speaker D: You go over there.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: I have another question for Worm character to me with the script in some of its earlier days, and I was a fan from since then. I was curious, though, because I saw, like, you know, stuff for the visual development and the style and everything. It wasn't quite something that I'd seen out there before. So I was kind of curious as to, like, what your rules behind the style were and, like, what was the inspiration behind, like, the color palettes you use, the types of brushes you use, and more kind of, like, what you amalgamated into this.
[00:20:35] Speaker C: Love it. It's just going into the art style. What was the inspo? And I definitely wanted it to feel like cute fairy tale children's book. It's very watercolor backgrounds. It's very Disney esque. Of course, like Ghibli is a huge inspiration. And that final shot where the worm is like looking at the plane going by is like pulled straight out like the wind rises, you know.
And same with even the rough kind of sketchy style of the nightmare. I was like, let's go berserk. Let's go crazy. And. And, you know, an insane amount of anger into the frame.
Yeah.
[00:21:15] Speaker D: Okay. Oh, my God.
[00:21:17] Speaker C: Wait.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:21:17] Speaker D: You look really excited.
[00:21:18] Speaker E: Hey, guys.
[00:21:20] Speaker G: I love the pieces so much. I was gonna ask. There goes so well that all the right views to the right side. And I added that's a long time to kind of get it that perfect. So I wanted to ask in a writing process for both of you whether ap towards that we never would have thought you took sort of the final.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: Product.
[00:21:39] Speaker G: Make it any filter bar leaks that you about to share from Burleigh in which, you know, the trust is off.
[00:21:48] Speaker D: Questions about detours in the right process. Just in case an anaphy is here each year. The questions that are being asked. Okay. And I'll downstart. Okay.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: Do you want to go Bears?
[00:21:57] Speaker E: Well, I can think of like, so many jokes that we. That we didn't use.
It's also crazy watching it with the live audience because, like, you guys laugh at things that maybe like, we didn't.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: Even think were jokes.
[00:22:10] Speaker E: And then you don't laugh at the ones that I.
[00:22:14] Speaker E: Johnny has told me two jokes that he loved that you guys didn't laugh at today and that I also wrote.
But I think with the writing process, the way we tried to do it, and I'm not going to answer your question because I don't have an answer, but a fun fact about the writing process that it was written by me, Matias Brainger and Elijah Gordon.
And we had like weekly writing calls for probably like four months straight. And then we got the budget and then we were like, oh, we could rewrite some stuff because, you know, whatever. We. We cut it down from five episodes, four episodes, all that.
But we had a rule, like a two to one rule. Right. So it's.
[00:22:54] Speaker C: It's.
[00:22:55] Speaker E: If two people agree on something on a joke, then it's in.
[00:22:59] Speaker E: Yeah. And that was it.
[00:23:00] Speaker C: I love democracy.
[00:23:01] Speaker E: Yeah. We tried to. We tried to keep with that. And you know, there's always roadblocks with, you know, thinking. And if you really are fighting for a joke, then you can like plead your case. But it definitely was.
I think writing with three people was kind of two people break the story and then another person goes and like writes the story. And we kind of had like a mini writer situation going on. And then maybe one person is like, oh, I think it could go in this direction. So you do a rewrite. I click that. So that was kind of the overall structure. But yeah, the two to one rule was very, very helpful.
[00:23:35] Speaker C: And for me, the biggest darling I killed was the man.
[00:23:42] Speaker D: We're on time, question mark for audience questions. Yeah, probably.
[00:23:45] Speaker E: Yeah. Five more minutes.
[00:23:46] Speaker D: Amazing, amazing.
Ask a question next. I saw you first back there in the black shirt.
[00:23:52] Speaker C: What's up?
[00:23:52] Speaker E: My name Asher.
[00:23:53] Speaker D: I say yo.
[00:23:54] Speaker E: This is real inspiring coming from acting myself to see you too. And then just seeing all the people who came up to the show that supported you all work on this. This real mark says you're really inspired showing you go to get the. Got to create the passion. Yeah, I went for song. Thank you.
[00:24:18] Speaker D: Okay, now walk through it. She used you. Okay. Yeah.
[00:24:20] Speaker A: You in the front.
[00:24:21] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:24:22] Speaker H: I'm f. I'm Nick Licious Beyonce.
[00:24:26] Speaker C: Congrats.
[00:24:29] Speaker H: Mine is more like a question, what would he give as a bites or sip? Because I've tried to do my own thing as well and there's a gig to where it's like, I found cop really genius. Or maybe I'm not going to get.
[00:24:44] Speaker F: A lot of support.
[00:24:45] Speaker H: I get the friends that get to.
[00:24:47] Speaker E: Oh, it sounds good.
[00:24:48] Speaker H: It sounds good. But have you ever been to that situation where you just want to conserve to that product and what motive you can use?
[00:24:58] Speaker C: Amazing question.
[00:25:00] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, just take care of your people first. Like, don't make it about the work when it's a. When it's like an argument. Just make sure your people are okay. Because I think with the creative process, you run into, you know, people really feeling passionate about ideas and things like that. But at the end of the day, like, it's just about taking care of your crew and your cast and everybody. Because without that, the project's not going to happen. Or worse, it's going to show up on screen that things are happening behind the screen.
[00:25:31] Speaker C: I say this is just such a collaborative art core. You're only as strong as people you're surrounding yourself with. I cannot do every single thing and animate in color and be effects. So I surround myself with amazingly talented, exceptional people who can and people back people they don't back projects.
That's true crowdfunding. That's true of any art you make.
So, yeah, be that kind of golden flag of like, come on, guys, let's make this.
It'll be fun, I promise.
[00:26:05] Speaker C: If you.
[00:26:06] Speaker D: Wait for a few more.
Who's next?
[00:26:10] Speaker A: Oh. Oh, yeah.
[00:26:11] Speaker G: It's you in the corner.
[00:26:11] Speaker D: Hi.
[00:26:12] Speaker E: I have a question for film Bros.
First off, the coloring and the sound was incredibly impressive for.
For four episodes. And I wanted to ask.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:26:23] Speaker D: Of course.
[00:26:24] Speaker E: I wanted to ask because it seemed very mockumentary style. What was the shooting timeline? I understand animation takes a good year, but having it looking so like fast paced and everything.
Before post production, how long did it.
[00:26:41] Speaker D: Take you to shoot all four eps?
[00:26:43] Speaker E: It was nine days total. Nine days straight.
Show 53 minutes of footage in nine days.
It was like in. It was long hours and insane.
[00:26:52] Speaker C: It basically was like half a feature.
[00:26:54] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the mockumentary style really does help with timeline in a lot of ways because you can, you know, you don't need the lighting to be perfect all the time and you want it to feel like it's kind of like an onlooker rather than you're really immersed in the world.
But Elijah and the Pelorus Mason are so talented that there were times watching where I was like, oh, this is not a mockumentary anymore. This is like a drama. Or this is like very elevated in some way. So I think the color, notice I can't take credit for that at all, but it is really.
It's interesting to think about that there were some sort of elevated elements. But yeah, nine days.
[00:27:32] Speaker C: And I want to say, like, it looks chaotic on screen. Screen, but we had a really chill shoot. Like we were like a day ahead of schedule and like could cancel a day.
[00:27:40] Speaker E: Yeah, it was very, it went from very, I feel from my end. It was like very stressful the first few days just because I feel like we're all like getting the hang of how we work together, you know. But then afterwards we like, we did one day that we thought was going to be split. Two days. We just made it one day and we were ahead of Scope.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:28:06] Speaker D: Hey, Darian.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: Guys.
[00:28:08] Speaker E: Darian was the cowboy in the Foundations.
[00:28:16] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:28:17] Speaker E: Such an honor.
[00:28:18] Speaker D: Can't wait for my Oscar.
Who or what inspired you to become filmmakers?
[00:28:25] Speaker B: Like the very beginning of your life.
[00:28:28] Speaker C: We now are going to do.
[00:28:30] Speaker E: Oh, my God. I mean, the first thing I thought about was like SNL and that whole world.
That's like been my inspiration for so long. I think, like, that. That show and the people who have come out of that show are like, my biggest inspiration always.
[00:28:46] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:28:47] Speaker C: I, like, watched so many Studio Ghibli movies as a kid, and I was just like, yeah, I'm going to do that. I just. I just. And I was like, yeah, that's going to be me.
[00:28:57] Speaker D: One or two hand questions?
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah, a couple more.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: This is your last call, and then we'll go to the bar, I promise.
[00:29:05] Speaker C: And if nobody does, we'll just go to the bar early.
[00:29:12] Speaker D: Last question.
Who want the last one? Ask this.
[00:29:15] Speaker C: The other one.
[00:29:15] Speaker D: Do a funny one. Yes. You brave man over there.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: Thank you. I'll ask one more. It's just because on the note of sound, I'm a bit of an. I'm just like. I like sound. I like music a lot. You both have very distinct music pieces.
So I was curious as to kind of like, what was the inspiration for where you kind of, like, source your musical style and stuff from.
[00:29:34] Speaker C: Yes.
My composer's in the audience. The fashionable.
Right there.
[00:29:42] Speaker C: It's so fun getting a shout out, people.
We worked on it.
I've worked with her before. She's amazing. On my last short, and it was really challenging to find the sound because we started with. You called it Mickey Mousing.
[00:29:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: Where like, every little noise and every little movement, you'd, like, accentuate it and go. And, like, you know, different things like that. I was like, this is not that kind of cartoon. We gotta get it. Like, this is serious.
This is a serious drama. You're inspired by a lot of, like, house, moving castle, romantic piano motifs.
[00:30:20] Speaker E: I have no answer for this. I mean, I didn't do this. I didn't direct it. I, like. I wish I really could give a profound answer about Dan Spurt. Do you know what we're inspired by?
[00:30:33] Speaker C: All I know is the last cut I saw didn't have the music. And now that I saw it just now with the music, I'm like, wait, this is intense.
[00:30:41] Speaker E: Yeah, totally. It adds a lot to it.
You know, I don't. I don't love sound like, telling you how to feel, like, really, like, out there.
But I. I don't think it did that. I think it just, like, enhanced it in a very tasteful way.
So that's my thought.
[00:30:58] Speaker D: Oh, God. Okay, now, everyone.
Okay, well, I'll go to you in the back. This Coming out in the blue.
[00:31:04] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:31:05] Speaker C: Hi. Your favorite parts of both your projects. Favorite Muppet at the end.
[00:31:13] Speaker C: I have a lot.
[00:31:15] Speaker E: I. As a person who loves tv, I love Episode two, because it's kind of a split off story and there's two people on one storyline, two people on the other. And there's a clear goal with each story.
I. I'm partial to Gwen with Felix because we had a lot of fun filming that. That was actually filmed in my grandma's house. That's, you know, cheap location. Right.
And we had to.
It was just a lot of like, lovey dovey chemistry stuff, which was.
Yeah, it was very bromance, which was very fun.
[00:31:50] Speaker F: So.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:51] Speaker E: And Bo's in the audience too. Shout out.
[00:32:01] Speaker C: My favorite are all the frat throw worms on that log.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: I'm like, these are the best. I want a spin off series. But then.
[00:32:09] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:32:15] Speaker C: One last.
[00:32:16] Speaker D: Okay, one last question.
[00:32:18] Speaker E: Yeah, you got it.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:22] Speaker H: All right. So what was your first step into Book Procter and how did you kill here?
[00:32:29] Speaker D: It's a great kind of question.
[00:32:35] Speaker E: The first step was just like improving around our New York apartment when we were, you know, 21 years old and just like having fun. Shine was like the first character for some reason that we thought of right away. We were like, it's. It's this guy who just always kind of gets like he's the afterthought. He's the cinematographer, he's not the director.
[00:32:53] Speaker F: Right.
[00:32:53] Speaker E: So he doesn't get a lot of creative say, but he's just like always, like, trying to be more, you know, like Shine after this, I think is probably going to be a director or something.
[00:33:03] Speaker A: That's.
[00:33:03] Speaker E: That's how I envision him.
And then I. I feel like it's.
I don't know, like you're doing festivals. We're still pushing, like, social media promotion and I feel like it's not really done and I would love to. To keep it going.
[00:33:18] Speaker C: Yeah, the war work never ends.
[00:33:21] Speaker E: Exactly.
[00:33:22] Speaker C: So the first real step of animation is adding some concept art and some character designs and actually iterating on that. And once you finally see that in real life, you're like, oh, now it's coming together.
And the final step was doing that very last VFX shot, which was a crazy nightmare for her. Eye complexity. Figuring that out, we had a trip, try a lot of different things. And then it's a very unceremonious thing to wrap an animated short because you don't go like, that's a wrap, everyone. You're just like, alone in your room and you go, yay.
[00:34:03] Speaker D: Well, not. I think that's been our Q and A. Thank you so much.
[00:34:20] Speaker F: Did you learn something? I'm like your mom. Did you learn something in this episode? I hope so. Or not. That's okay. Thanks for hanging. Make sure you follow us at the 5050Fest on Instagram and give us five stars, because. Why not? Why not subscribe? Why not? You know why not. Okay, bye.
