Something Remote
Encyclopedia
Something Remote is a 2009 American independent
comedy film
written and directed by Alex Laferriere, and produced by Nick Allain and Steve DiTullio. Starring C/J Haley, Rick Desilets, and John Selig, it follows three overeducated, TV
-addicted roommates trying to stay together as an ex-girlfriend tries to tear them apart. Something Remote was the first feature-length film by Broken Wall Films
.
Something Remote was filmed for only $150, in director Alex Laferriere's actual apartment. It was awarded "Best Feature" and "Funniest Flick" at the Silk City Flick Fest in 2009. Something Remote was also shown at Gen Con Indy 2010
and the 2010 Wanderings Film Festival.
The cast also includes Sammi Lappin as "Abby", a random passerby hired to pretend to be Neil's new girlfriend (whose actual name remains a mystery), Hunter Giles as Homeless Al, a hobo
hired to do the same thing for Lisa, and Jeffrey Desautels as Bruce, one of Lisa's coworkers. Director Alex Laferriere and producer Nick Allain have a brief cameo as Neil's boss and boss's underling, respectively. Assistant producer Steve DiTullio also appears in the film as Nelsin, a passerby with the ability to turn his surroundings into a kung fu movie.
Auditions were held on June 3, 2008, bringing in several dozen local actors trying out for the film. At the first readthrough, the original cast saw George Aldrich as Neil, Rick Desilets reprising the role of Mat, John Selig as Erik, Rebecca Davis as Lisa, Sarah Neslusan as Shannon, Matt Heron Duranti as Skott, Sean Cusick as Homeless Al, and Jeffrey Desautels as Bruce. At the time, no one had been cast as "Abby". Due to unknown conflict, Aldrich dropped out of the project, and was replaced on the first day of filming by Chris "C/J" Haley. Sean Cusick also dropped out, and was replaced by Hunter Giles, and "Abby" was soon given to Sammi Lappin.
Filming began on July 1, 2008 in director Alex Laferriere's actual apartment at 7 Goulding St. in Worcester, Massachusetts
. Alex and his roommates Neal Humphrey, Matt Lowe, and Eric Kolodziecjzak (the namesakes and inspirations for the characters of Neil, Mat, and Erik) had to live with a fully equipped set in their living room for 40 days while the movie was shot. The portion of the script involving Skott and Shannon (nearly one sixth of the full script) was filmed entirely on one day.
Because of Worcester's unpredictable weather (in fact, during the filming it rained nearly every day for six weeks), and to allow for late filmings, posters were used to cover the windows. This was later said to be a nod to the movie Clerks
, which was a major inspiration for Something Remote. Additionally, to maintain continuity on-set, all of the on-table props were fixed in place with strips of Velcro
. While much of the apartment's geography is used accurately in the film, it should be noted that the door used to leave the apartment in the film actually leads to the side of the apartment building, whereas the front door to the building leads to a door near the television.
Filming on-set wrapped on August 10, 2008, ending with the "pie shot" used as a stinger after the film's credits. External shots and sketch filming continued as late as October 26, 2008, the day before several film festival submission deadlines. The final film length came to 92 minutes. While the film failed to be accepted into thirteen film festivals, Broken Wall Films held a premiere screening event at the Elm Draught House Cinema on January 9, 2009, primarily to friends and family of the cast and crew.
Laferriere and Selig have recently re-edited the film, fixing color and audio issues, as well as trimming the fat on the film itself. This "Plus Edit" clocked in at 86 minutes.
Something Remote: Plus Edit is currently being prepared to make a second run through various film festivals, including being shown at Gen Con Indy 2010
.
series of the same name as the feature-length film. The first episode was webcast
on June 28, 2009 on Something Remotes official site via Viddler
, as well as the following day on a dozen online video sharing
websites, with new webisodes scheduled every Sunday. The show followed roommates Neil Trembley, Mat Highland, and Erik Goulding as they struggled to live together in peace after their television ― the one thing they had in common ― was stuck on the Spanish Home Shopping Network
.
The series was written and directed by Alex Laferriere and produced by Nick Allain and Steve DiTullio through Broken Wall Films. The Something Remote website also featured an RSS feed for video podcasting purposes. Something Remote: The Complete First Season was released on September 21, 2009.
The web series served as a prequel
to the feature-length film, following Neil, Mat, and Erik as their remote
is broken, leaving them stuck on the Spanish Home Shopping Network. While all this is going on, Neil encounters friction, both with his friends Mat and Erik, and with his girlfriend Lisa. The conflict inevitably leads to Neil and Lisa breaking up (on ambiguous terms) and Neil stealing her oversized remote, leading into the plot of the film.
The series featured C/J Haley, Rick Desilets, John Selig, Matt Heron Duranti, and Sarah Neslusan continuing in their roles as Neil, Mat, Erik, Skott, and Shannon. It also featured Broken Wall Films veteran Dustin Deren as the oafish Officer Red, Steve Harwick as Steev (a caricature of himself), and Jim Perry (the owner and operator of the Elm Draught House Cinema) as himself.
In the pilot episode, "Something Broken", Erik challenges Mat and Neil to a blogging competition: the blog with the most views after one year receives $50 from each of the losers. They all accept and begin blogging to win the hundred dollars. In "Something Popping", Erik mentions that someone on his blog claimed that "corn in the microwave is a no-no idea". In "Something Lost in Time", Mat attempts to convince Erik that he has over 50,000 views on his blog, while in actuality it had received less than 3,500 on the episode's release. Neil's girlfriend Lisa had begun posting replies on Neil's blog, interacting with Mat and other posters. These interactive blogs are accessible through Something Remotes official website. Unregistered users can view videos and posts but must create an account to make comments, which are currently moderated.
Something Remote ran again on EarthsMightiest.com with new content oraganized and produced by Rick Desilets. Along with the original webisodes, interviews with Laferriere, Allain, DiTullio, Haley, Selig, Duranti, and Neslusan were released, as well as a short titled "Mantequilla Magica" and the theatrical trailer for Command & Conquer 3: The Forgotten. A sneak peek at the feature-length film was released the week after series finale.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written and directed by Alex Laferriere, and produced by Nick Allain and Steve DiTullio. Starring C/J Haley, Rick Desilets, and John Selig, it follows three overeducated, TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
-addicted roommates trying to stay together as an ex-girlfriend tries to tear them apart. Something Remote was the first feature-length film by Broken Wall Films
Broken Wall Films
Broken Wall Films, LLC is an American independent film company based in Worcester, Massachusetts.-Background:...
.
Something Remote was filmed for only $150, in director Alex Laferriere's actual apartment. It was awarded "Best Feature" and "Funniest Flick" at the Silk City Flick Fest in 2009. Something Remote was also shown at Gen Con Indy 2010
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
and the 2010 Wanderings Film Festival.
Cast
- C/J Haley as Neil Trembley: An office drone who just wants to get home and hang out with his roommates. He spends his days working a mindless, dead-end job he is unsatisfied with, and is just coming out of a long-term, apparently one-sided relationship. He has difficulty making decisions for himself, and relies on his best friends and roommates Mat and Erik. George Aldrich was originally cast as Neil, but after he left the production Haley was cast on the first day of filming.
- Rick Desilets as Matthias "Mat" Highland: Neil's opinionated, misogynistic, couch-potato roommate. Often causing trouble and getting into pop culture debates just for kicks, his love of television can only be matched by his love of "MDMountain DewMountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
". While he puts up with Erik, Mat has no patience for Neil's ex-girlfriend Lisa, constantly berating her while Neil is present and trying to prevent Neil from talking to her. Desilets is the only actor retained from the original Sofa King Kilroy sketch comedy show, and is the nephew of comedian Dane CookDane CookDane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
. - John Selig as Erik Goulding: Neil's other, internet-addicted roommate. Arguably more obsessed with the internet than with television, Erik only tends to watch TV so that he can spend time hanging out with Neil and Mat. He is very non-confrontational, and does what he can to keep everyone together and happy. Unlike Mat, Erik actually likes Lisa, and tries to help Neil reconcile with her.
- Rebecca Davis as Lisa: Neil's psycho ex-girlfriend. Going out of her way to make Neil's life miserable, she refuses to leave his apartment. She is fed up with dealing with the three guys, and is back for something Neil took from her.
- Sarah Neslusan as Shannon: One of Neil's friends, and girlfriend of Skott. Arriving at the apartment to go on a double-date with Neil and Lisa, she quickly finds herself at odds with Mat. She is fairly amicable, however, with Neil and Erik. Neslusan was the first actor to audition at the casting call, and the role of Shannon (and a substantial portion of the full script) was written into the film specifically for her after her audition for the part of Lisa.
- Matt Heron Duranti as Skott: A friend of Neil's, dating Shannon. One of the few real friends the three roommates have, he does what he can to defuse arguments before they get worse, usually to no avail. He is whipped by Shannon, and tends to wind up standing between her and Mat.
The cast also includes Sammi Lappin as "Abby", a random passerby hired to pretend to be Neil's new girlfriend (whose actual name remains a mystery), Hunter Giles as Homeless Al, a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
hired to do the same thing for Lisa, and Jeffrey Desautels as Bruce, one of Lisa's coworkers. Director Alex Laferriere and producer Nick Allain have a brief cameo as Neil's boss and boss's underling, respectively. Assistant producer Steve DiTullio also appears in the film as Nelsin, a passerby with the ability to turn his surroundings into a kung fu movie.
Production
In December 2007, Worcester Polytechnic Institute's sketch comedy troupe Kilroy Sketch Comedy put on a show called Sofa King Kilroy. The show's "omniscript", written by Kilroy member Caleb Wrobel with edits and continuity added by Alex Laferriere, focused on roommates Neil, Mat, and Erik as they dealt with Neil's ex-girlfriend Lisa trying to break into the apartment. The show became a 17-minute stageplay broken up by television sketches, in a similar manner to that of the film. Several Kilroy members would eventually work on Something Remote.Auditions were held on June 3, 2008, bringing in several dozen local actors trying out for the film. At the first readthrough, the original cast saw George Aldrich as Neil, Rick Desilets reprising the role of Mat, John Selig as Erik, Rebecca Davis as Lisa, Sarah Neslusan as Shannon, Matt Heron Duranti as Skott, Sean Cusick as Homeless Al, and Jeffrey Desautels as Bruce. At the time, no one had been cast as "Abby". Due to unknown conflict, Aldrich dropped out of the project, and was replaced on the first day of filming by Chris "C/J" Haley. Sean Cusick also dropped out, and was replaced by Hunter Giles, and "Abby" was soon given to Sammi Lappin.
Filming began on July 1, 2008 in director Alex Laferriere's actual apartment at 7 Goulding St. in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
. Alex and his roommates Neal Humphrey, Matt Lowe, and Eric Kolodziecjzak (the namesakes and inspirations for the characters of Neil, Mat, and Erik) had to live with a fully equipped set in their living room for 40 days while the movie was shot. The portion of the script involving Skott and Shannon (nearly one sixth of the full script) was filmed entirely on one day.
Because of Worcester's unpredictable weather (in fact, during the filming it rained nearly every day for six weeks), and to allow for late filmings, posters were used to cover the windows. This was later said to be a nod to the movie Clerks
Clerks
Clerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances...
, which was a major inspiration for Something Remote. Additionally, to maintain continuity on-set, all of the on-table props were fixed in place with strips of Velcro
Velcro
Velcro is the brand name of the first commercially marketed fabric hook-and-loop fastener, invented in 1948 by the Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral...
. While much of the apartment's geography is used accurately in the film, it should be noted that the door used to leave the apartment in the film actually leads to the side of the apartment building, whereas the front door to the building leads to a door near the television.
Filming on-set wrapped on August 10, 2008, ending with the "pie shot" used as a stinger after the film's credits. External shots and sketch filming continued as late as October 26, 2008, the day before several film festival submission deadlines. The final film length came to 92 minutes. While the film failed to be accepted into thirteen film festivals, Broken Wall Films held a premiere screening event at the Elm Draught House Cinema on January 9, 2009, primarily to friends and family of the cast and crew.
Laferriere and Selig have recently re-edited the film, fixing color and audio issues, as well as trimming the fat on the film itself. This "Plus Edit" clocked in at 86 minutes.
Cultural references
Due to the pop culture nature of Something Remote, the film is littered with cultural references, both veiled and explicit.Reception
Initial reactions to the film were mixed. While local newspapers had positive reviews, over a dozen film festivals rejected Something Remote. In the summer of 2009, Broken Wall Films began "touring" Something Remote to various colleges, gaining momentum and favorable responses. After entering into the Silk City Flick Fest and competing against films with budgets over 1000 times as large, Something Remote was awarded "Best Feature" and "Funniest Flick".Something Remote: Plus Edit is currently being prepared to make a second run through various film festivals, including being shown at Gen Con Indy 2010
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
.
DVD release
The Something Remote film DVD was officially released on September 14, 2009, and is available from the SomethingRemote.com store. It also became available via IndieFlix on February 10, 2010.Webseries
In an effort to advertise the film's DVD release, Broken Wall Films produced Something Remote, a weekly web televisionWeb television
Web television, also commonly referred to as web TV, not to be confused with WebTV, Internet television or catch up TV, is an emerging genre of digital entertainment that is distinct from traditional broadcast television...
series of the same name as the feature-length film. The first episode was webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
on June 28, 2009 on Something Remotes official site via Viddler
Viddler
Viddler is an interactive online video platform for uploading, sharing, enhancing, tagging, commenting on, and forming groups around videos. Viddler no longer provides a free service for non-commercial users and now requires all users to choose one of the three paid plan options...
, as well as the following day on a dozen online video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
websites, with new webisodes scheduled every Sunday. The show followed roommates Neil Trembley, Mat Highland, and Erik Goulding as they struggled to live together in peace after their television ― the one thing they had in common ― was stuck on the Spanish Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
.
The series was written and directed by Alex Laferriere and produced by Nick Allain and Steve DiTullio through Broken Wall Films. The Something Remote website also featured an RSS feed for video podcasting purposes. Something Remote: The Complete First Season was released on September 21, 2009.
The web series served as a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to the feature-length film, following Neil, Mat, and Erik as their remote
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
is broken, leaving them stuck on the Spanish Home Shopping Network. While all this is going on, Neil encounters friction, both with his friends Mat and Erik, and with his girlfriend Lisa. The conflict inevitably leads to Neil and Lisa breaking up (on ambiguous terms) and Neil stealing her oversized remote, leading into the plot of the film.
The series featured C/J Haley, Rick Desilets, John Selig, Matt Heron Duranti, and Sarah Neslusan continuing in their roles as Neil, Mat, Erik, Skott, and Shannon. It also featured Broken Wall Films veteran Dustin Deren as the oafish Officer Red, Steve Harwick as Steev (a caricature of himself), and Jim Perry (the owner and operator of the Elm Draught House Cinema) as himself.
In the pilot episode, "Something Broken", Erik challenges Mat and Neil to a blogging competition: the blog with the most views after one year receives $50 from each of the losers. They all accept and begin blogging to win the hundred dollars. In "Something Popping", Erik mentions that someone on his blog claimed that "corn in the microwave is a no-no idea". In "Something Lost in Time", Mat attempts to convince Erik that he has over 50,000 views on his blog, while in actuality it had received less than 3,500 on the episode's release. Neil's girlfriend Lisa had begun posting replies on Neil's blog, interacting with Mat and other posters. These interactive blogs are accessible through Something Remotes official website. Unregistered users can view videos and posts but must create an account to make comments, which are currently moderated.
Something Remote ran again on EarthsMightiest.com with new content oraganized and produced by Rick Desilets. Along with the original webisodes, interviews with Laferriere, Allain, DiTullio, Haley, Selig, Duranti, and Neslusan were released, as well as a short titled "Mantequilla Magica" and the theatrical trailer for Command & Conquer 3: The Forgotten. A sneak peek at the feature-length film was released the week after series finale.
Episodes
| Something Remote episodes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length | Featuring | Something Remote Website Release |
Earth's Mightiest Fansites Release |
Prod. Code |
| 1 | "Something Broken" | 5:13 | June 28, 2009 | May 16, 2010 | SR201 | |
| 2 | "Something Popping" | 2:31 | July 5, 2009 | May 23, 2010 | SR203 | |
| N/A | "Mantequilla Magica" | 1:13 | Brandon Vogel, Jon Zoll, Sarah Lofgren | May 26, 2010 | SR212 | |
| 3 | "Something Busted" | 3:43 | Dustin Deren | July 12, 2009 | May 30, 2010 | SR206 |
| 4 | "Something Lost in Time" | 4:52 | July 19, 2009 | June 6, 2010 | SR204 | |
| 5 | "Something in Aisle 3" | 3:44 | July 27, 2009 | June 13, 2010 | SR208 | |
| 6 | "Something Tastes Like Fungus" | 3:10 | Alex Laferriere | August 2, 2009 | June 20, 2010 | SR207 |
| 7 | "Something Naked" | 2:53 | August 9, 2009 | June 27, 2010 | SR205 | |
| 8 | "Something Between Friends" | 6:07 | Steve Harwick, Jim Perry | August 17, 2009 | July 4, 2010 | SR209 |
| 9 | "Something Not Safe For Work" | 3:51 | Matt Heron Duranti, Steve DiTullio, Jon Zoll | August 23, 2009 | July 11, 2010 | SR210 |
| 10 | "Boobs, Battles, and Violence" | 8:52 | Matt Heron Duranti, Sarah Neslusan, Dustin Deren | August 30, 2009 | July 18, 2010 | SR211 |
| 11 | "Something on the Couch" | 1:47 | September 6, 2009 | July 25, 2010 | SR202 |
External links
- Something Remotes official website
- Something Remote on Earth's Mightiest Fansites
- Something Remote at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Something Remote at IndieFlix
- Broken Wall Films' official website