The Andrew and Matt Show

As the clock turned from 2007 to 2008, Andrew Rosas and Matt Ryan were sitting on a dynamite idea. A story that since its inception (over a late late dinner at Jim’s Restaurant) simply had to be committed to film, video, or whatever was cheapest. This story the duo had concocted would be primed not for theaters or home video but for the last outpost of unbridled and pure creativity- the internet.

Matt Ryan- “Matt”, co-writer/director/producer

Andrew Rosas- “Andrew James”, co-writer/director/producer

The premise was simple- a single mother who’d just lost her family under mysterious cirumstances finds herself working for an ambiguous corporation which is secretly a front for a worldwide network of super spies on a mission to protect the world from total annihilation. And along the way, she unravels the history of her family and her place in what seems to be an elaborate plot to bring down the governments of the world.

To Andrew and Matt, it quickly became obvious that what was “Slingshot” (copyright 2008 Mister Films Productions) was far out of the relm of being executable. So, they whipped up some nonsense of a show about two friends making an internet comedy show and the “zanyness” that follows. A very meta-concept project that is part satire of web content as a whole. “The Andrew and Matt Show” would be a scripted, exaggerated version of what can happen when perhaps too much effort is put into something meant only for the internet. They then proceeded to assemble a production team which would consist of Sarah Gonzalez, trusted production assistant and friend to handle cinematography…

Sarah E. Gonzalez- Cinematograpy / Lighting

…Greg Gustafson, some guy they’d just met but who seemed to know his way around filmmaking equipment things…

Greg Gustafson- Cinematography / Lighting

…and none other than Eric Rodis, faithful composer who’d worked on everything from our early features and animations to our more recent music videos and shorts.

Eric Rodis- Original Score

Over the course of the first half of the year, scripts were written, pizza was consumed, plans were made, rehearsals run-through, tapes bought, favors called-in and snobbish movie opinions set aside all in time for production to commence in June.

To fill out the cast, many familiar faces from past Mister Films productions were summoned. There was Alicia Barone, stage actress, as Andrew’s girlfriend “Whitney”…

Alicia Barone- “Whitney P. Worthington”

…Sir Wright Sulek as surly and unapproachable sound man “Bruce ‘Doogs’ Doogan”…

Wright Sulek- “Bruce ‘Doogs’ Doogan”

…Eric Hurst, who to this day has yet to play someone not named “Eric” in one of our productions as rapper / cinematographer “Eric ‘F-Stop’ Farnesworth”…

Eric Hurst- “Eric Farnesworth / F-Stop”

…and newcomer Caleb Hey whose role as “Doug” the dimwitted leading man was half a bribe to get him to also hold a mic for the remainder of the shoots; which he did a bang up job of doing, by the way.

Caleb Hey- “Doug”, Sound, Production Assistant

And when Caleb wasn’t around to do such things, including but not limited to moving cables or manning the slate, our good friend Dan “Bio!” Boillot took the reigns.

Dan “Bio!” Boillot- Production Assistant

There was however, one character remaining whose description none of Matt or Andrew’s friends fit enough to play. This forced an impromptu casting call and brief auditions which eventually led them to Brooke Friesen and “Audrey” had been found.

Brooke Friesen- “Audrey”

Last, but most certainly not least of the cast was Mister Films veteran Tim Simpson who starred in our earliest and most embarrassing productions. Gracious enough to come out of acting retirement for a weekend, Tim inhabited the role of “Jeff”- the drug addicted and insane musician- a role written with him in mind but not for those reasons.

Tim Simpson- “Jeff”

Production of the show lasted the majority of the summer, although it was spread out and sporatically on weekends. In total, everything was in the can in just under 10 days. With several pick up days in the early fall when, upon watching footage, it was discovered that some scenes sucked a bit and needed to be re-written, shot or just plain re-thought. Luckily, such attention to detail made for a show completely devoid of any errors whatsoever.

Work and school schedules made for a post-production phase that lasted longer than anyone on board would have liked but the show was locked and loaded for an early 2009 launch. Season 1 ran on semi-consecutive weeks (there were two 1 week breaks in there somewhere) and concluded with episode 13 in May of 2009. Originally conceived as six 10-15 minute episodes, it was decided early on that there are no attention spans that long online and the call was made for each episode to be split into parts. This allowed for a longer run as the episode count jumped to 13. However, the episodes will most likely be re-joined for a DVD release scheduled tentatively for the Fall of 2009.

It is around that same time that Andrew and Matt hope to either be ridiculously rich off the series or at least in the planning stages of season 2.

For more on Mister Films Productions visit www.misterfilms.com.