Hi folks — Laser again because apparently Izzy has two entire children. But here we go…

THE PROJECT IS LAUNCHED. You can go support the film right now! (And watch the little videos we made).

And to celebrate, here is a Q&A with my hero Izzy Roland talking about the film in her own words.

There are a lot of links to the same thing in this and I’m gonna see which one you click the most because I’m a freak. Enjoy!

What do you want to get out of making this movie?

I selfishly want Hollywood to invest in making good comedies and to invest in making anything good at all. I know all of the most talented people on earth, so it's imperative they make things. 

How do you want people to feel afterward, if they get to see the movie? 

I want audiences to feel like "Izzy and Siobhan single handedly brought comedy back." And I want people to go, "Oh, I can make something funnier than that," so that even more funny movies get made. 

Why do you think your fans will like it? 

Not to toot my own horn but it feels like saying, "I'm gonna make a dessert with the greatest pastry chef that's ever lived and it's gonna have chocolate, cookie dough, and peanut butter from the best places in the world that make those ingredients."

Where did this idea come from?

Siobhan watched a very random Netflix documentary, because she watches a lot of random shit and thankfully she decided to text me about it.

Why is this movie exciting for you?

Improv comedy is the best art form there's ever been and it's my favorite thing to do and involving dumb characters acting dumb makes for perfect art.

How was the process inspired by D&D / games? 

We were inspired by Brennan's process at Dimension 20 of using character creation: working with a player to form their character with them by asking them what person they're drawn to playing, what stories are interesting to them and that they want to tell, etc. And then we used the proof of concept shoot as a sort of Session 0, which is also a part of every Dimension 20 season, except at D20, session 0 isn't filmed. It's a way of getting into your character's voice and physicality and to see how you genuinely react to the other players at the table. 

How is this different from other movies you’ve worked on (other than having the biggest cast)?

It's inspired by Christopher Guest films, so it's completely improvised and set up as a mockumentary. Also, Alex Fernie is here.

Why did you pick the director you picked?

I want so badly to say a joke at Alex's expense here but the truth is he has been someone I've looked up to since I was a teenager going to Convoy shows during high school. He's simply one of the all-time improv greats: as a performer, a teacher, a director and somehow didn't use all of that talent to be a creepy older improviser you feel weird being around. He's genuinely caring and kind and passionate about what he does, the piece of shit. 

Why did you pick the cast you picked?

Siobhan and I sat down and literally made a list of the funniest improvisers we know.

Why are you running a Seed & Spark crowdfunding campaign for this instead of getting hollywood to make it?

We tried a couple of times to get our managers to set something up to hopefully get it made and they didn't really care/it took too long. We also didn't want a generative AI CEO giving us notes on why we should cut all of the jokes out of the movie.

Why did you shoot the proof of concept last year? 

The idea of the movie as a whole felt very daunting since, even though Alex has directed a lot of great filmed improvised TV, none of us had ever done it as a feature. So we shot a short version of what we wanted to do really as a test to see what we would fuck up and what would go right. Then that material was perfect for advertising what we eventually intend to do with the project.

What did you learn from the proof of concept? 

There were a lot of technical things to learn like how many cameras we need and what coverage will be necessary, etc., but more so we realized that even though the situation and the characters are extremely goofy, the story and the comedy will not work without impactful, emotional motivations for each of the characters. 

How did making the proof of concept make you feel?

So happy.

What is your dream with this film?

This film really is my wildest dream.

How will making this movie help you make more things?

Hopefully all the millionaire execs will stop trying to become a monopolistic mega-conglomerate and will give Alex Fernie and Laser Webber the keys to Hollywood and say, "We fucked up. Please make fun socialist Hollywood so people can work and afford to live and things get made. We really beefed it. And we're sorry about the last season of Game of Thrones." and then they're never heard from again. This didn't really answer the question but

Why do you want to make things even though it feels really bad all the time? 

I have very good medication