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!