Courtesy of Paramount PicturesAndy Samberg doesn’t really look like a movie star, which is fair because he isn’t one yet. His shaggy hair and wide grin may be more recognizable than his name especially since the Digital Shorts he stars in for Saturday Night Live became breakaway hits on the internet. Most know him as the guy who liked Google Maps in the ridiculous rap video “Lazy Sunday” or the one who put his “Dick in a Box” that wasn’t Justin Timberlake, but Samberg is no stranger to the power of the Web. It’s actually what got him on SNL in the first place.
“I feel comfortable on the stage and I’m glad I’m doing more of that on the show this year but I’m not surprised that the shorts became sort of our calling card,” said Samberg about the sketches he makes with his friends since junior high, Jorma Taconne and Akiva Schaffer, who are both writers on SNL. They are one of the first generation of comedians to go from posting material online to mainstream success.
The three decided to get into comedy by creating a series of sketches that they posted on the internet under the title of The Lonely Island. Over several years they made shorts that met with varying levels of success. They even got so far as producing a pilot called “Awesometown” for Fox that was never picked up. But when SNL finally called it was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
Samberg got an audition that was followed quickly by a request for a call back which also led to auditions for Taconne and Schaffer. “It was something I wanted to do for so long the idea of getting it was actually terrifying,” explained Andy. “We were all a little worried. We weren’t sure if they wanted to hire the both of them as well. We all agreed that if only I got it I would have to go. We also agreed that if two of us got it and the other didn’t that wasn’t cool. We are a team. We’re not going to leave anybody hanging out to dry.”
Schaffer, who does all the directing, has been splitting time between the show and editing their new feature film “Hot Rod” which stars Samberg as Rod Kimble, a self-professed stuntman who wants to pay for his step father’s heart transplant so he can have a chance to beat the old man in a fight. The transition from shorts to features was an odd one for the guys.
“We shot ‘Lazy Sunday’ for literally zero dollars,” explained Schaffer. “We borrowed a camera from a friend in film school and Jorma made the music on his laptop and we just shot it around New York in free time.”
But the very fact that he sat in the director’s chair of a movie whose director of photography shot both “Gosford Park” and “Hitch” is a testament to the power of entertainment on the internet.
YouTube is not the only source for user-produced videos online but it has certainly become the face of a revolution in how people entertain themselves. For comedians hoping to become professionals the resource is invaluable.
Where once people like Trey Parker and Matt Stone had to rely on George Clooney passing videos of their first “South Park” short around Hollywood as his Christmas card, now they could have posted online and gotten millions of views in a matter of days.
Other online groups, for example Human Giant and The Whitest Kids You Know, have pulled down cable comedy shows stemming from their internet success. And seeing as the only buzz-worthy material on SNL anymore tends to come from these Digital Shorts, the internet seems to be taking over a significant portion of the audience who only got sketch comedy late on Saturday nights. The ability to watch whenever you want and, more importantly, however many times you want has pushed the internet forward as a venue for rising stars. The material that doesn’t hit is simply ignored instead of taking up valuable airtime and those creating the videos can know exactly how popular something is almost immediately after release.
Instead of Nielsen ratings there are hit counts and message boards and there are no network heads to cancel any program that pushes the line a little two far. Entertainers still have a lot of competition and must claw their way to the top, but now they have the ability to reach millions with no restrictions on the content of their material once they do. And most of all it offers the ability to get out from in front of the computer and onto a movie set as the guys from “Hot Rod” can attest to.
“The third day on set we shot the big riot scene,” explained Taconne. “At that point everybody seemed to get it. There were four camera’s going and a car was on fire.”
All three guys still seem somewhat in awe that they were actually allowed to make a movie.
“We got lucky that Lorne (Michaels) believed in us,” said Schaffer. “I wouldn’t even know how to spend that kind of money. They just hand you like 20 million dollars. Of course the producers know exactly how to spend that money.”
Whether a movie made by people who got their start online can be a hit will remain a question until the movie opens in August, but the meteoric rise of these three guys has proven the power of the internet. It was Dane Cook’s Web site that garnered him the success he now enjoys and many other comedians are benefiting from the exposure and freedom they find online. While many comedians benefit, few dramatic artists have found any success online. Perhaps this is due to the marginalization and infantilizing of online entertainment, problems that have plagued comedy for years. Maybe we just can’t take anyone on the internet seriously.
Yet, as more people, especially those who got through college on a steady diet of YouTube , get their news and perform more “serious” tasks online, the internet will open up opportunities for anyone with a video camera, DSL and a dream. For the three guys of The Lonely Island their dream has come true.
“The word has gotten out on us that if you keep the three of us together you get the best out of us,” explained Samberg.
The word has also gotten out that an entire world of opportunity for thousands of would be stars has opened and everybody has a shot at making it.