We got this!

I wanted to make this week's blog about a web series I wrote called “The adventures of Chronic Boy” but I found myself fighting to put words down. These are really trying times, and like everybody, I’m trying to make the most of this free time we don’t normally have. I’ve been so excited about this new website, writing a weekly blog, and all the other productive things I’ve been up to. This week though, not so much. I’m sure we all have these moments. I mean this is uncharted territory. I live in the greatest city in the world and I’m confined to working only a few days a week, staying inside most of the time and not seeing friends or meeting new people. This isn’t going to a blog about complaining but quite the opposite I promise. I think we can all agree that this is the perfect opportunity to do a lot of self-work. Take a step back from all of our busy lives and really do things we just didn’t have the time for or just blew it off. I think after this quarantine is over most of us will never be bored again lol. I’m really looking forward to this new chapter in the world and I really believe we as a whole will be better from this. More waste aware, living cleaner lives, and appreciating what you have because it can be taken away so fast. This is such a great opportunity to read that book, play that instrument you always said you wanted to learn, connect with family, or maybe life was so hectic you just need a break. Please stay positive and make the most of this! That’s all for now, see ya next week!

Sunday Skits

Brandon Allan in a sketch for “Sunday Skits” called “Ball Boost” 2015.

After the premiere of our first film, we got right back to work. I started writing sketches that we could film at the studio or on location. Small ideas that only took one or two actors with minimal props and set up. It was Chris Costa, Chris Machado, Mitchell Palumbo, Wayne Malm, Eddie Resendes, and myself who would meet at the studio a few days a week and film for hours. Sometimes we wouldn’t even have a script, we would just have an idea and let the camera roll. We started meeting up for writing sessions and would come up with ideas, turning this weekly thing into a huge creative space (and a place to drink). In the first few months, we shot a full season of sketches (20 episodes), releasing them every Sunday calling them “Sunday Skits”. Similar to Saturday Night Live and MAD TV, the topics would range from politics, sports, celebrities, commercials and more. For example, one sketch was about a guy who was assumed dead but was buried alive. That guy, before dying made a promise with his brother “If I ever die make sure you bury me with a flashlight, a cellphone to call someone to get me, and snacks to hold me over until someone shows up.” He had a paranoia of being buried alive and fortunately, he was right. But as the sketch comes to an end he wasn’t so fortunate. Chris Costa came up with a great idea on how to film this, we built a wooden box and set the camera above it facing down and also had a side angle. We added some fog from a fog machine and with only the flashlight lighting the scene it was super tight and dramatic. As we went along these sketches got a little more complex and took a little more planning. This actually kept us busy in between writing and doing pre-production on new films we would be working on, so instead of sitting around getting these films going, we kept working on our crafts to stay sharp. This went on for a few years, and as of today, we have 2 seasons and over 40 episodes. Take a look at the “Buried Alive” sketch below. Enjoy, and see ya next week! Also submit your email below the sketch to subscribe to my newsletter, and stay up to date!

My First Short Film

Brandon Allan as Marcelus Qwade in a scene from “The Origins of The Harlem Shake” 2013.

So here I am living in a third-floor apartment in East Providence, with little to no experience of writing sketches. For days now I’ve been thinking about some kind of short video that I could present to Chris so we could film. Then BOOM it hit me, I can’t remember how but I thought of shooting a movie trailer, for a film that would never get made. A sketch. The idea was based around “The Harlem Shake” and how it was invented. Again, no idea how that came to mind. It was originally written to be 45 seconds to a minute long. I brought the idea to Chris and he was in. Day One: we set my room up for a scene where my character was watching TV and was getting inspired by dancers in a commercial. We had lights set up, a green screen on the TV, the cameras were ready, and we were ready to go! About ten minutes into the shoot, we came up with so many more ideas then originally planned we just stopped and said: “why don’t we just make this into a film”? So that is exactly what we did. I started writing a script and we started planning our first film. The script was written on Microsoft Word and it looked like a school essay. I had a lot to learn, but at the time I felt I wrote the funniest most well put together script since Malibu’s Most Wanted. During the writing process, I knew it would be hard getting locations, so I wrote according to places I knew would let us film. I had a scene in a restaurant, and since I worked at one I asked my boss and he said yes. I wrote a scene that took place in a cellphone store and luckily my good friend Mike was managing one and of course, he said yes. And this went on for a number of scenes, like a gym, a comedy club, and a warehouse (which at the time Chris and a few of his friends started renting a studio in a warehouse for a production company they were starting, how perfect right?). I knew a few people that really wanted to help out and act in it so we took all the help we could get. I asked local actors, friends, family, and anyone that showed interest just from overhearing us talk about it, to help us out. This took a lot of work from a lot of people since we really had no idea what we were doing. We improvised a lot of the dialogue, camera angles, and had to adapt on the fly to things we didn’t plan for. We sure learned a lot. We shot all of the scenes within a few months and decided to go take a trip to New York to get some shots of the city. Since this movie was based on “The Harlem Shake” we had to go to Harlem. We got shots of my character walking passed the famous Apollo Theater, shots of Times Square, and other b-roll shots of New York. We were super happy with this project and couldn't wait to show it. For the premiere, we rented out The Comedy Connection, the largest and most famous comedy club in Rhode Island and probably one of the most popular ones in all of New England. The turn out was amazing and we even made some money. We printed DVD’s and sold them after the film. Every reaction we saw, we knew we were onto something. I felt it during the shooting but seeing the reactions from all the hard work we put in, it really solidified those gut feelings. Well, that’s it for now, and I hope you all are staying safe during these trying times. Enjoy the movie below, and see ya next week for more! Also submit your email below the movie to subscribe to my newsletter, and stay up to date!

Showcase my talents

Brandon Allan in Hollywood, 2016.

So after I was done making music and doing stand up comedy, I really started to focus more on acting and film. I enjoy making people laugh but doing it live is a whole other beast in its own. I felt and still feel more comfortable being in front of a camera, rather than staring into the darkness blinded by stage lights trying to make a room full of people I can’t see laugh (even though filming is similar, you just don’t get a redo if you mess up lol). Everything I was doing was leading me to up to this point. One thing I notice when I come across a lot of actors is I feel some really limit themselves to one form of their art, “I’m a theater actor, I’m a serious actor” etc. I strongly believe doing multiple forms of art will only make you a better artist. When I first started I remember an acting coach telling me “If you throw one big rock into the water you only get one big splash, but if you throw a hand full of rocks, you get a ton of splashes in all different areas”. That still sits with me. Knowing if I don’t limit myself I’ll be able to have more opportunities to showcase my talents. I mean don’t get me wrong some people know their calling and for that, you should focus on that one thing and master it, but if you feel compelled to give multiple forms of art a chance GO FOR IT! So here I am, I had just met my new friend Chris and we wanted to film something. I started writing a script for a spoof movie trailer for us to film. This was supposed to be a two-minute video, but being totally new to writing scripts this small idea turned into a 6 month, a trip to New York, 40-minute short film. I’m going to leave you with that and we’ll talk about that process next week. Take care!

Hello There!

Brandon Allan and Chris Costa on set of “Sunday Skits” 2014.

First off welcome to my first blog EVER! My intentions are to bring you into my world of acting, writing screenplays and to help you understand the process of making your films. So thanks for stopping by and I hope this is fun and informative for you! My name is Brandon Allan (obviously lol, I mean you are on ItsBrandonAllan.com) and I have been acting and writing for about 9 years now. Originally from East Providence, Rhode Island, I moved to Brooklyn, NY in the fall of 2016. I started writing in high school when I was in a rap group with my friends (yes a rap group), and that started me on a path to storytelling. After a few years of writing, recording, and performing I started to slowly realize I just wasn’t that into it. NO REGRETS! It opened my mind to telling stories and shortly after that, I started doing stand up comedy. During this time I signed up for a casting agency and I started doing background work for small and big-budget projects (United America commercials, Johnny Rockets commercials, The Equalizer with Denzel Washington, Ghost Busters with Kristen Wiig, etc). But these jobs were so far in between so I started to write my own little sketches. One day I applied for a local acting gig for a student project and while on set I started talking to the director (IF YOU ARE AN ACTOR I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU CHAT WITH EVERYONE YOU CAN ON SET, NETWORK!). Long story short, we became really good friends, started a film production company and together we’ve produced over 8 short films, over 40 sketches, and 3 seasons for 2 different web-shows. His name is Chris Costa and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for talking to him that day on set. That’s all for now, see you next time for more details on how I wrote those projects and how Chris and I got around to filming all of them! Take care.