The Doomed Planet
With a title like that, this blog post could be about (A) global warming, (B) the Iranian A-bomb threat, (C) the Bush Administration approach to just about everything, or (D) a really funny and promising new comedy website.
The correct answer is (D), at least for today. I can't promise what it will be tomorrow.
The Doomed Planet made me laugh, and I think you will, too, even if you're outside the 14-35 target demographic. Here is one of their short films that has gotten a lot of attention, including from Salon.com. It's called "Snakes on a Plane: How Hollywood Really Works.
Trevor Ryan, who I met years ago through his family, and David Guy Levy incorporated The Doomed Planet a few months ago. They were classmates at the Ithaca College film school and both ended up in Los Angeles trying to get into the film business. Ryan is the primary write. Levy is the producer, and both appear as actors in their own films along with various people they know from school and around town. Sometimes one directs and sometimes the other, and one of their films, "i, Witness," was directed by Thora Birch. She was the young actress who played the daughter of Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening in "American Beauty." Her brother, Bolt Birch, appears in a couple of the Doomed Planet films. Thora came into their circle through a onetime plan by Levy to produce a small film for her.
"We've stayed in touch, and now that she wants to move on to directing, she's gotten very excited about working with The Doomed Planet," Ryan said.
What makes the films work is a combination of Trevor Ryan's sharp comedic writing, decent acting by all involved, and good production values, including a very catchy theme song. These films may be short--they average about three minute each--but they cram a lot into their running time. Levy is working toward being an indie film producer, and clearly knows what he is doing.
"I see this as an ongoing venture," Ryan said, "though we're more in it for the fun and exposure than any sort of financial goals. I always need to be writing something, or it gets hard to write anything."
Click here to go to The Doomed Planet website. You can watch the movies there or download them free to your video iPod through the Apple iTunes Music Store. They actually look quite good on the iPod screen.