Interview with Ben Schwartz

by Marc Ostrick

1. I like to start these by having people introduce themselves. Can you tell us a little about your background and how you became interested in creating your own original online videos?

My name is Ben Schwartz, I'm a NYC grown actor/writer/comedian. I've been performing sketch and improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since 2003. I used to freelance/fax jokes to The Late Show with David Letterman's monologue and SNL's Weekend Update. For every joke I got on there were pages of jokes that were rejected, so I started filming myself performing the rejected jokes for my website RejectedJokes.com.

2. Was there a specific moment when you decided to start making your own content? If so, can you tell us about it?

It was the desire not to waste the jokes I had already written. I had a binder of unused jokes just staring me down everyday so I wanted to find a way to get them out there. I performed them in front of an audience of zero so they felt rejected. I also made a short film called Cheating to try to lure people to the site that may be afraid of watching a guy tell jokes. The short ended up getting over ten million views.

Cheating from Ben Schwartz on Vimeo.

2.5 Can you tell us about how Cheating spread like wildfire... Was there any press or a specific media influencer that helped it become a viral hit? And finally, did the success of Cheating lead to any other specific opportunities? If so, what were they?

I posted it everywhere I could. It did pretty well on YouTube, CollegeHumor, etc. but then someone illegally stole it, edited my name and credits off and put it up on break.com,  and it got millions of views there...then another person did the same thing; took it, edited out my info and put it on metacafe and it got millions of views there. So for a lot of the hits, my website got zero hits, which was terrible. It didn't immediately lead to any opportunities but down the road it was in my body of work that helped me get hired for other things. It's funny because it's the short that cost the least amount of money and it will probably be my most popular short.

3. Your short film, Job Interview, is pretty damn snarky. Was this film based on any incident in your life? Or a fantasy you may have had on previous interviews? Give us the low down on how you came up with the short?

It isn't based on anything in particular, I just thought it would be funny to do a short about an over-confident idiot going on a job interview. The dialogue back and forth is the most fun and what I think makes it a little unique from the thousand other job interview sketches. I try to keep the dialogue relatively loose so when we start filming you have more freedom to improvise.

Job Interview from Ben Schwartz on Vimeo.

4. Can you please share some of your creative influences and how they have helped shape your films?

After graduating college I started taking classes and performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. That was an enormous influence. There are so many talented and brilliant performers there, when I first started I would go to every show I could fit in a night just to learn and laugh. Growing up I read every Calvin and Hobbes collection at least thirty times. I think Bill Watterson is a genius. Love the British and American Office, Larry Sanders Show, etc. Everything influences you and helps you shape your own voice.

5. How long did it take to make Job Interview? Can you discuss some of the work that went into making this project? I'm sure readers are very interested in your process.

Outside of all the pre-production stuff, it took six hours on the actual shoot day. I lucked out and got an amazing DP, Vincent Peone, so together we were able to make it run smoothly. When I shoot, I like to surround myself with friends in all aspects (acting, DP, editing, production) so there is less pressure and everyone feels like they can take chances and have fun. I make sure to hit all of the beats of the script but at the same time we do takes that go way off the page just for fun. If something works in there, I'll try to develop it more, if something isn't working, I'll film a different way of presenting it just in case we want to change it in editing.

6. You wore a lot of hats on this short. Did you find acting/writing/co-directing difficult? What were some of the rewards and challenges of taking on these various positions?

One of the biggest rewards is that while we are shooting something if it doesn't feel right to me, I can just change it. I can try different lines, different attitudes. I cast mostly improvisers so if we find something fun we can follow it in any particular take. Having Vince Peone or Bill Buckendorf (another great DP I've used) DP makes it easier for me so while I'm acting on camera, if they have any suggestions on the other side of the lens they can throw it out there. They also have great eyes for angles and lighting so I can relax for most of that stuff.

7. When making web-centric films, is there anything specific in your creative process that is taken into account for working in the medium? What appeals to you about showing your work online?

When writing for the web I think you need to hit your joke and get out as quick as possible. The attention span isn't very long, so cut the fat of your sketch. That's something you learn while writing jokes for TV too, you want to set it up and quickly punch it down.

You can hit such a wide audience with the internet. When you do live shows, the people in the audience can enjoy it for that show and then it's gone, with internet shorts, people can send them to an unlimited amount of friends and they can be watched whenever.

Also, it is instant gratification. You can think of an idea in the morning, shoot it an hour later and put it up on the internet that afternoon.

Valentine's Break Up from Ben Schwartz on Vimeo.

8. What advice would you give to someone who was interested in making comedy? Either on the writing or acting side of things…

If you are a performer, get on stage as much as you can, perform, make mistakes, learn and find your voice. Same with writing - write as much as you can, be open to other people's notes.

9. What are some of your favorite original online videos at the moment? It could be animation, docs, comedy, etc.

A lot of people are making great online content. I like stuff on CollegeHumor and FunnyorDie. I like the Wainy Days series, I watch it all.

10. What are you working on at the moment? What other shorts of yours should we see?

I'm working more on TV and Film projects right now but should have a few new shorts coming out soon. I would tell people to check out my series called Bronx World Travelers. It's about the team that loses every game to the Harlem Globetrotters. It's the first real series I was a part of on the internet. If you go on RejectedJokes.com all of it is up there.

11. Finally, is there any final idea you can leave us with to help us foster greater creativity online?

Unsure of what to say because you can spend a bunch of time and get a great quality funny video out there that people will love or you could have a stuffed cat eating spaghetti and I may laugh just as hard.

 

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