Rent-A-Slap

This comedy short was inspired by the absurdity of the "gig economy." What if there was a "Rent-A-Slap" service for when you need to be "slapped back to reality"? I wanted to tell a complete hero's journey in the form of a ridiculous spoof.

What it does

This is a 90-second (1:29) comedy short film. It tells a complete 3-act story of a man who fails at every gig-economy job (dog walker, teacher, clown) until he finds his true calling as a "freelance attitude adjuster."

How we built it

I used AI to create a full narrative: the setup (a montage of failures), the "inciting incident" (seeing the "Rent-A-Slap" commercial), and the resolution (his new career). The "commercial-within-the-film" was a key storytelling device.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was the runtime. Fitting that entire story into the 90-second "Micro-Drama" category limit required ruthless editing. My first cut was over 2 minutes.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud of the pacing. We establish a character, his problem, and his "solution" in under 90 seconds. The "Day 1 - Mauled" and "Day 4 - Organic Disaster" gags are personal favorites.

What we learned

A "day in the life" montage is a powerful and fast way to establish a character's backstory, which is essential for micro-filmmaking. I also learned that you can't be precious; I had to cut good jokes to make the 1:29 runtime.

What's next for Rent-A-Slap This is a "proof-of-concept" for a full-length comedy series. The "Rent-A-Slap" world has endless story potential.

Built With

• freepik
• veo3