Technology is rapidly changing, and as a result so is the way we communicate. From computers to phones, no one can deny that our society has come a long way from the days of rotary dial phones and heavy duty desktop computers. Yet, not many people are as adept with that new technology, which can sometimes be as frustrating to use as it is to learn. For the protagonist of the new comedy web series MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE, technology may change, but how he chooses to use it, and just how high-tech he prefers it to be, clearly doesn’t – and that’s just the way he likes it, much to the amazement and utter confusion of his family, friends and co-workers.
With its first 3 episodes now streaming via its official Youtube page (see link below), plus a fourth set to air soon, MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE stars Jeff Williams (who also co-wrote and co-created the series with its director, John Schade) as Jeff Andrews, an opinionated radio talk show host who experiences some hilarious and awkward moments as someone who’s completely baffled by how the way people communicate has not only changed through smart phones, apps and social media, but also how it’s also impacted the lives of everyone he knows. “It’s about a man in the 21st century dealing with life. Essentially, he feels that people, they Facebook, they Twitter all this stuff but they’re having less and less verbal conversations. He thinks it’s separating people rather than bringing them together,” Williams says.
The cast includes Nancy Harding as Jeff’s wife, Joanna Andrews, who’s equally perplexed that Jeff chooses to remain stuck in the 20th century when it comes to electronic communications. Daryl Meyer plays Williams’ boss and multi-tasker extraordinaire, Rich Richards, whose mastery of the smart phone and its myriad apps constantly throws Jeff for a loop, and who tries desperately to get Jeff to ‘upgrade’ his technology.
Also featured in the ensemble cast is Theresa Pratt-Stunkard as Jeff’s on-air sidekick and co-host, who’s never afraid to speak her mind about any topic Jeff brings up, plus Albert Stroth as the station’s brash, outspoken and “legendary” (at least in his own mind) sportscaster Terry Topperman, and Christian Vincent as Terry’s fresh faced new intern, Tucker, who soon finds himself in way over his head thanks to Topperman’s larger than life persona and demands.
There’s also Sarah (Jamie Lynn Gaul), Jeff’s 20-ish co-worker who finds herself equally bemused by Jeff’s pop culture knowledge which doesn’t seem to go past the mid 1980’s, given his fandom of shows like the popular ‘60s sitcom GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, among others. Even more baffling to Jeff is the fact that she practically lives by her smart phone. As Schade explains, it’s an aspect of her character that provides its own unique fodder for the show’s comedy. “One of the running gags is that we instructed that actress to never look up. She has to always be looking at the phone, no matter what episode or what scene,” Schade says.
Rounding out the cast is Daniel Jimenez as the station’s I.T. guy (and Jeff’s nemesis), Peter (pronounced Puh-tar, as only he can explain), plus Williams’ real life daughter Annelise Williams as Olivia (his on-screen daughter), and Matthew E. Funke as son Lucas, both of whom are just as tech savvy as the adults he encounters. In addition to the three episodes that have already aired, there’s also supplemental featurettes, featuring individual characters like Tupperman and Richards depicted in some of their own wacky, awkward situations involving cell phones.
The series was primarily based on Williams’ experience as a radio talk show host, specifically a series of features where he occasionally ranted on-air about some of life’s most annoying inconveniences, and especially his frustrations with them. “Part of the whole concept is that the character works at a radio station, where unlike the average man, he has a platform to talk about this kind of stuff on his radio show. It essentially evolved out of a radio show I do here, where I used to do as a regular feature a rant where I would talk about anything that’s non-controversial, like bad service in a coffee shop, standing in line at a post office, etc. Technology was something I often talked about in these rants, and so I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there was a character that expressed his feelings about all this; the feelings that the average person can’t get out there. He expresses them and surrounds himself with some characters that maybe are complete opposite when it comes to all of this stuff,” he says.
Trying to make sense of complicated technology is a situation that Williams can easily identify with in real life, and even though his character is slightly exaggerated, both he and his on-screen persona experience the same ups and downs with the constantly changing world of personal communications. “The main character and I have a lot in common. While I have frustrations with technology, the character I play is an over the top, exaggerated version of me. We (Williams and Schade) felt exaggerations were funny, so my character is an exaggerated version of a man frustrated with technology.”
From there, Williams began to develop the concept for the series, and of his character. “I wrote a little summary about a man with a family, who works in radio, and he feels very passionate about his ideas. As I began to write a little more about him, and as I met John, it made more sense to us to have the character (Jeff Andrews) as the voice of reason surrounded by crazy people. A lot of what he says is rational, but the people around him kind of think he’s the crazy one, and vice versa. That seemed to be a nice perspective on how to go about this. About 8 months after I began writing this, I met John, and he was using his smart phone. I just walked over to him and struck up a conversation about his phone, and it turned out that he had a huge interest in writing. We got together, and we began to hash out the idea of where to take it,” he recalls.
Much of the humor of MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE comes from the on-screen interplay and conflict between Jeff and the show’s other characters, further adding to the show’s comedic effectiveness. “You need characters that play well off your central character. There were other characters that we (Williams and Schade) may have considered, but we needed people that would give us a lot of bang for the buck: the people he immediately works with, a wife who’s supportive but at the same time (is) considering getting a phone herself, the kids into technology. We made them be characters that could give a lot of potential conflict, because I think great comedy comes from great conflict,” Williams says.
Some of the funniest moments in the show were drawn from real life occurrences that Williams witnessed, many of which were exaggerated for extra comic effect. “I was with my daughter at her gymnastics class. I was sitting there in the stands with other parents. I looked around, and six of the nine parents were all on their smart phones, not talking to each other, not interacting. They were all on their smart phones. I thought, this is too good, this is too rich, this has to be in the show, and it’s in an episode of the show (the second episode), but it’s at a baseball park, instead of a gymnastics place,” he says.
“Another example is (when) I was in a restaurant. I see this nice looking family, with their heads bowed, appearing that they’re all praying. I thought, what a beautiful family! Isn’t there anything nicer than spending time together, even praying. I look a little closer, and they all have their heads down because they’re using their phones, not talking to each other. It was crazy, and that’s in an upcoming episode. So, we’ve had a lot of fun taking numerous real life experiences and new ones that we’ve created as well, and putting them into the show,” Williams adds.
For Williams and Schade, the process of creating each episode is a collaborative one. “We go from going back and forth on ideas, which is really fun. Then we start writing, and that’s a lot of fun. Then I start thinking, how do we get locations? That’s tricky. Once we get that, we rehearse, and we go film. That’s a lot of fun. These are good people, (and they’re) fun to work with. Then we take that footage, sit down with my editor and photographer, and we piece it together,” Schade says. The series’ episodes were filmed on Sundays, which was the best time that many of the actors and crew could get together and work.
Despite the streamlined production, there were several rough patches that both had to work around. “The two difficulties were people’s schedules, because we are on no budget, so people are donating their time. For me to work with 20 cast and crew was like a puzzle that only fits one or two ways as far as when can people meet, and when can people film. The way to get around that was, in some ways, writing it a certain way. Not every actor can make it on a certain Sunday, so they’d have to wait for another one,” he says. Finding locations to shoot was just as big of a challenge. “I just thought that everybody would want to be in a show, and some businesses were reserved and some were great about it,” Schade recalls.
Williams feels that no other comedy web series – or possibly any episodic comedy, for that matter, has ever featured a character so set in his ways and beliefs, yet so hilariously portrayed. “To me, this is a character the likes of which has never appeared in a show before; someone who has such strong opinions, yet they’re presented in a hopefully funny way which is what we endeavor to do. On this particular issue, no character has ever put themselves out there in quite this manner to be so outspoken about his personal beliefs, which again I hope people will see as funny. Maybe they see him as a Don Quixote type chasing the windmill, which is okay, but he’s very passionate about what he believes is true. I think that’s what sets this show apart: this central character, with the other people around him having a very strong oppositional view.”
MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE also stands out from other comedies in that it reflects an inescapable fact of life that we can all relate to – the way we communicate. As Schade explains, “What I think sets it apart is that everybody has a phone. You’re either a smart phone or you’re not, but you use phones. Everyone can either laugh at Jeff’s character, trying to hold on to old fashioned times, or you can laugh at the new guys that are too into it. I think (with) other shows, maybe you always can’t relate to something, but I think everybody can relate to being a phone user.”
With hilarious characters and situations that virtually anyone who uses technology (no matter how current or how ancient) can appreciate, MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE is a comedy which proves that no matter how much our world has changed, some people are just fine with the old standbys (flip phones, VCRs, VHS tapes, etc.) in all their forms.
Says Williams: “The flip phone is very symbolic of the way this guy lives his life. Essentially I think the character is stuck in about 1985, and he’s very happy. Everyone else tries to convince him that he shouldn’t be happy, because he chooses not to go in that direction. So we thought we’d make his opinions (and) his reactions extreme. We felt extremes were funny. He’s extremely passionate about his points of view. If you want to be a smart phone user, that’s fine, but I’m (Jeff’s character) choosing not to take that step. We (Williams and Schade) thought there could be a lot of comedic moments in a series where there’s so much antagonism, in hopefully a comedic way.”
Even though technology will always be complicated, there’ll always be moments of frustration and utter hilarity that come with it in MAN WITH A FLIP PHONE. Unlike the increasingly hard to understand technology that its protagonist encounters in each episode, Schade and Williams’ goal for the success of their series is simple: “Our goal is to present a tongue in cheek, exaggerated look at the funny moments that often come through a life filled with ‘infallible’ technology in the 21st century. I think we’d have a lot of fun with that. Think about it. There’s no facet of life that we don’t confront technology or computers on some level, even filling out a job application or filling up a gas tank. We think that the comedic possibilities and plot ideas for scripts for a show like this with the characters that we have are endless,” they say.
Note: Schade says that although the series is not closed-captioned, he hopes to utilize that feature in the near future.
ON THE WEB: www.manwithaflipphone.com
No Comment