The
Video Makers Webseries Review
Walter Gottlieb has an impressive resume as an independent
video producer. A 1983 graduate from NYU Film School, he eventually
started his own company, Final
Cut Productions, in the Washington DC area
in the mid-90s. Since then, Gottlieb and Final Cut have produced numerous
non-fiction programs for such luminaries as PBS, Smithsonian and National
Geographic, and was even nominated for two Emmy awards for its “Silver
Springs: Story of an American Suburb” special in 2002.
So when
Gottlieb decided to write and produce his first webseries, spoofing
the industry that he has been both part of and successful in over the
years seemed the logical place to start. The
Video Makers accomplishes that and much more—its
satirical take on not just documentary television but “reality”
shows as well is a very funny critique about how far the genre has digressed
in recent times, while its ensemble cast of offbeat characters is on
par with many classic comedies of the past.
Former
college sweethearts Kevin Sellers (Lee Ordeman) and Amanda Stuart (Ann
Marie Barbour) are the co-founders of Lowball Production, a video company
which produces both documentaries and reality shows for cable networks
like the Exculpatory Channel, Esophagus Network and Hysteria Channel.
Only in business for a mere six months, they are already struggling
to keep their company afloat as production snafus and budget overruns
are beginning to add up and take their toll.
Doug Van
Houten (Charlie Davidson), meanwhile, is the staff videographer who
is having an affair with junior producer Spark Bishop (Mundy Spears).
Joel Hummberger (Jake Koenig), another junior producer, is finding the
transition from his previous job—where he worked on documentaries
for PBS—to his current one at Lowball difficult at best. Then
there’s Shawn Coolidge (Brandon Dorsey), who used to edit music
videos in New York before making the move to non-fiction television.
While seemingly
normal on the outside, this collection of characters is anything but.
The majority of Doug and Spark’s sexual encounters, for instance,
tend to occur in the most unusual of environments, from inside a coffin
to locked in an actual jail cell. Despite have graduated college years
ago, as well as the fact that Amanda is now married and has children,
Kevin still believes there is a sexual attraction between the two of
them. Kevin is also on two forms of medication, both anti-depressants
and sleeping pills, which causes problems when he takes the wrong ones
at the wrong time. Then there’s the amusing aspect of seeing Joel,
who is Jewish, working on the documentary, Pets of the Third Reich.
While the
employees of Lowball Productions are entertaining enough, it is the
television reality shows and documentaries they are producing that elevates
The Video Makers into a truly funny spoof on both the business
and society in general. While in past years network television has had
its share of ludicrous reality concepts—including The Littlest
Groom, Amish in the City and Temptation Island—Lowball
takes the concept to even more ridiculous levels. In addition to Pets
of the Third Reich (“the fuehrer was especially fond of hamsters”),
there is Chefs Behind Bars and a prison makeover show.
One highlight
is Top Shots, a competition show where bikini-clad women shoot
each other with Airsoft rifles in order to be named the best markswomen
in America. The elimination sequence features the participant who has
been the victim of the most “hits” being handed a bouquet
of funeral flowers and then escorted into a casket. The losers do not
go quietly, however—one eliminated girl vows, “I’m
going to come back in the afterlife and I’m going to haunt your
fucking asses.” Another contestant uses an actual taser and declares
afterwards, “That’s for wearing my bikini bottoms, bitch.”
To supplement
their income, Lowball Productions also creates corporate videos for
outside clients. But even here the subject matter tends to veer towards
the absurd—one client wants to open a customer service call-center
in the United States that assists users in India. “The Indian
middle-class is growing, the American middle-class is shrinking,”
he explains. “We’ve got folks here desperate for work, and
upperly-mobile people in India who need customer service.” Lowball
Productions is brought in to produce the training video, which includes
a segment on how all the workers need to be fluent in Hindi.
The Video Makers is both a fun and funny take on the non-fiction
television business, a behind the scenes spoof of the industry and a
clever statement in regards to the current state of pop culture in general.
Walter Gottlieb has proven that not only is he able to create genuine
documentaries for the worlds of PBS and National Geographic, but has
a solid sense of humor in regards to the medium as well.
Anthony
Letizia (March 1, 2010)
