Alan Resnick

Last updated
Alan Resnick
Born (1986-07-16) July 16, 1986 (age 38)
Alma mater SUNY Purchase
Years active2011–present
SpouseDina Kelberman
Comedy career
Medium
  • Television
  • film
  • internet
Genres

Alan Resnick (born July 16, 1986) is an American comedian, visual artist, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wham City arts collective and founding member of Wham City Comedy. [1]

Contents

Work

Before working on Adult Swim, Resnick first gained recognition for creating the popular YouTube web series, alantutorial, in 2011. [2] The surrealist series initially began as a tutorial channel from a man attempting to instruct the viewer on nonsensical tasks. Over the course of three years, the series gained strong horror elements as the videos depicted Alan locked out of his house, left homeless, and kidnapped. In the final "tutorial" video, uploaded December 12, 2014, Alan breaks through a wall and escapes the building where he was being held. Gizmodo called Resnick's video "ARM tutorial" one of the "weirdest videos on the internet". [3]

In 2012, Resnick self-published the book $8.95, a series of online customer service chats between Resnick and Bank of America in which Resnick pleads to recover his eponymous bank fee. [4] Also that year, Resnick directed the music video for Dan Deacon's "Guilford Avenue Bridge" and Lower Dens' "Candy".

In 2013, Resnick and fellow Wham City member Ben O'Brien created & directed the TV special Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick , pitched to Adult Swim. The short starred Resnick as himself, in a surreal parody of self-help infomercials, selling digital immortality. This was the duo's first collaboration with Adult Swim and premiered on the network's Infomercials block - premiering at 4:00 A.M., without a title card or common identifier. Despite this, it received positive acclaim and recognition for Wham City, being called "hilarious" and "a good representation of their bizarre comedic stylings." [5] Principal photography for the infomercial was conducted in the Copycat Building during the summer of 2013. [6]

In 2014, Resnick and O'Brien continued to work with Adult Swim's Infomercials, creating the horror short Unedited Footage of a Bear , [7] a parody of allergy medication advertisements, and a veiled cautionary tale about antidepressant abuse, which slowly descends into chaos. [8] The short gained the duo more popularity, and was called "the scariest TV show of 2014". [9] Since launching that year, Resnick has been a contributing writer for The Onion's sister publication, ClickHole . [10] Resnick also premiered a set of new media art pieces in collaboration with artist Lesser Gonzalez, at the Springsteen Gallery in Baltimore, MD. [11] [12]

In 2016, Adult Swim aired Resnick's third short film, This House Has People in It . [13] The short film aired at 4:00 A.M. between March 14–19. [14] The short itself consists of surveillance camera footage of a mundane suburban family that descends into surreal horror as the eldest daughter begins phasing through the kitchen floor, based on the found footage genre. Clues hidden throughout This House then direct viewers towards a fake security company website with additional surveillance material of the family and the paranormal events surrounding them, as well as a bootleg episode of a fictional TV show titled the Scultor's Clayground[ sic ] and its associated website run by the eponymous host (played by Resnick himself). The resulting alternate reality game explores many of the events leading up to and following This House with a total of over two hours' worth of video and audio files alongside numerous logs, images, and text documents. [15] [16]

Later in 2016, Resnick starred in IFC's webseries "The Mirror" as Wesley. In 2017, Resnick made an animated film for Super Deluxe called "Johnny Bubble", featuring the titular character in a series of odd events until he dies.

In 2018, his short film, May I Please Enter, was released. In 2020, his short What Codec Should I Use? was released. In 2021, he collaborated with Meow Wolf Denver to create the short film Mac and Cheese. In 2022, his latest short film Cool Blue Car was released as part of Adult Swim's smalls.

In 2022, he created a music video for I Didn't Know I Was Dead. by Negativland [17] That same year, he co-directed (with Patti Harrison) the music video for Bicstan by Hudson Mohawke. [18]

All his work on Adult Swim has been made in collaboration with Baltimore-based production company AB Video Solutions, LLC, (referenced within This House Has People In It as AB Surveillance Solutions) an offshoot of the Wham City arts collective. AB Video Solutions LLC is made up of Resnick, Ben O'Brien, Robby Rackleff, Cricket Arrison, and Dina Kelberman.

Personal life

Resnick lived in Baltimore for 10 years and is currently residing in Los Angeles. He is married to fellow artist Dina Kelberman. [19]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013 Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick HimselfAlso creator and writer
2014 Unedited Footage of a Bear Bear narratorAlso director, writer and executive producer
2016 This House Has People in It/Sculptor's ClaygroundThe SculptorAlso director, writer and executive producer
2018May I Please EnterLone Cowboy/HimselfWriter and director
2020What Codec Should I Use?HimselfWriter and director
2022Cool Blue CarWriter and director

Web

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011–2014 alantutorial AlanAlso creator and writer
2015 Visitor Information Sick person/garageAlso director and writer
2016 Children of the Mirror WesleyAlso editor, photography director and executive producer
2017 The Cry of Mann: A Trool Day Holiday Spectacular in Eight Parts Jack MannAlso writer
2018 Electronic Game Information HimselfAlso additional writer
2019 Everything Borrowed Dancing Jerry PaperAlso director
2021 Mac and Cheese n/aCreator

Audiobook

YearTitleRoleNotes
2021Reverse TransmissionCar

Related Research Articles

An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program-length commercials, and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming. This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight and early morning, outside peak prime time hours for commercial broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime hours, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurred outside of the traditional overnight hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams Street</span> Atlanta-based animation production studio

Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the in-house production arm of Adult Swim. Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford oversaw operations for the building for most of its existence.

PFFR is a Brooklyn-based production company and art collective consisting of Vernon Chatman, John Lee, Alyson Levy and formerly Jim Tozzi until 2009. The group has been active since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copycat Building</span> Building in Maryland, United States

The Copycat Building is a former manufacturing warehouse at 1501 Guilford Ave, Baltimore, Maryland, today used as an artists' studio and living space. Built in 1897, it is home to the city's creative class and a landmark of the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Deacon</span> American musician

Daniel Deacon is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying Lotus</span> American record producer from California (born 1983)

Steven D. Bingley-Ellison, known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick Beckles</span> Canadian television host

Derrick Beckles is a Canadian writer, director, actor, and comedian from Scarborough, Ontario. He is the creator and host of the Adult Swim television show Hot Package, creator of the "TV Carnage" compilations, and helped found Vice TV. He also hosted the Adult Swim show Mostly 4 Millennials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everything Is Terrible!</span>

Everything Is Terrible! is an artist collective based in Los Angeles that finds and edits dated, campy clips from VHS tapes. The collective was founded in 2007 by a group of friends who met while attending Ohio University.

Off the Air is an American psychedelic anthology television series created by Dave Hughes for Adult Swim. The series is presented without explanation or narration as a showcase of surreal footage arranged around a single loose theme and blended without pause into a single continuous presentation. The series premiered on Adult Swim on January 1, 2011, 4:00 am New Year's Day.

<i>Oculus</i> (film) 2013 film by Mike Flanagan

Oculus is a 2013 American supernatural psychological horror film co-written, edited, and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on his short film Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan, and stars Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites as two young adult siblings who are convinced that an antique mirror is responsible for the death and misfortune that their family had suffered.

<i>Youre Whole</i> American satirical television series created by Michael Ian Black

You're Whole is an American satirical television series created by Michael Ian Black for Adult Swim. The show parodies self-help infomercials and stars Black as the host, Randall Tyree Mandersohn. In it, Mandersohn advertises his systems of objects and actions designed to help people with their issues. It was the production of Abominable Pictures, with which Black originally consulted with the premise of the show in mind. Meanwhile, Michael Showalter, longtime collaborator of Black, served as the director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Deacon: U.S.A.</span> Episode of Off the Air

"Dan Deacon: U.S.A." is the first animated television special of the American anthology series Off the Air. The special was edited and directed by creator and executive producer Dave Hughes. The episode incorporates surreal footage of landscapes in the United States, with music by Dan Deacon from the album America. The special was commissioned by Williams Street Records as part of the Adult Swim 2013 Singles Program. The episode coincided with the release of another track by Deacon entitled "Why Am I on This Cloud?", featuring samples from other Adult Swim programming.

<i>Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick</i> Television special by Ben OBrien and Alan Resnick

Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick is a television special written, created and directed by Alan Resnick and Ben O'Brien for Adult Swim, as part of the Infomercials series. The special is presented as a parody of self-help infomercials, advertising a four-step program for creating a digital avatar that acts as a backup of its host. The special is hosted by Alan Resnick as himself, and is presented by Dan Deacon. Both, along with O'Brien, are members of the Baltimore-based art collective Wham City, who co-produced the episode under their video production division, AB Video Solutions.

<i>For-Profit Online University</i> 2013 American TV series or program

For-Profit Online University is a television special written and directed by Sam West for Adult Swim. The special is presented as an infomercial parodying for-profit universities. The special is created by Wild, Aggressive Dog, a conglomerate of former Onion writers, consisting of Geoff Haggerty, Dan E. Klein, Matthew Klinman, Michael Pielocik, Chris Sartinsky and Sam West.

Ben O'Brien is an American comedian and filmmaker from Baltimore, Maryland. They are a member of the Wham City arts collective and founding member of Wham City Comedy. They have directed videos for Adult Swim and Merge Records. They are the co-creator of the web series Showbeast (2006–2013) and they manage and perform with Wham City Comedy (2010–present). The website Brightest Young Things posted this about Wham City Comedy "...you should make a point to see them, as they’re super funny and doing DIY comedy like few others."

Dave Hughes is an American television producer and editor, currently employed at Williams Street as well the founder of his production studio, Million Monkeys Inc. Hughes previously worked as a video editor while at MTV Animation, working on series such as Beavis and Butt-head, Celebrity Deathmatch and Cartoon Sushi, before meeting with coworker Matt Harrigan to work on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in Los Angeles. He has worked on several Adult Swim series, and is the creator of his own show for the network, Off the Air.

Wham City is an art and performance collective based in Baltimore, Maryland. Members of Wham City include musicians Dan Deacon and Ed Schrader, visual artists Jimmy Joe Roche, Peter Ryan O'Connell, Mason Ross, Adam Endres, Dina Kelberman, April Camlin, Connor M. Kizer, Robby Rackleff, Cricket Arrison, Alan Resnick and Ben O'Brien.

Ed Schrader's Music Beat is an American two piece rock duo of Ed Schrader and Devlin Rice from Baltimore, Maryland. According to The Boston Hassle, the duo has "a gas pedal/brake pedal sonic narrative, careening without warning between cross-eyed tantrums and sultry, eyebrow-cocked croons." They have released albums on Infinity Cat Recordings, Load Records, Upset The Rhythm, and Famous Class Records. Touring with bands such as Future Islands, Ceremony, and Wye Oak, the duo has been described as "one of contemporary punk’s best examples of testing the possibilities" and has performed across the U.S. and Europe.

<i>Too Many Cooks</i> (short) 2014 short film directed by Casper Kelly

Too Many Cooks is a surreal comedy horror short that originally aired as a special during Adult Swim's "infomercials" block on October 28, 2014, at 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time. It was created, written, and directed by Casper Kelly, and produced by Williams Street. After its original airing, the piece became a viral video online and was repeated each night at midnight Eastern Time during the week of November 11, 2014.

Infomercials is an umbrella title for independent, quarter-hour television comedy specials airing on Adult Swim. Unlike actual paid programming, all of the programs are fictitious, and for the most part maintain no continuity with each other.

References

  1. ↑ Case, Wesley."More focused Wham City Comedy Tour gets seriously funny" , "The Baltimore Sun", Baltimore 19 April 2013, Retrieved on 22 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Elphick, Jody. "Like and Subscribe: a Q&A with alantutoiral" Archived 2019-09-24 at the Wayback Machine London, 3 June 2013, Retrieved on 22 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Feinberg, Ashley. "11 of the Weirdest Videos on YouTube", New York, 30 May 2014, Retrieved on 22 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Deacon, Dan. "From The Desk of Dan Deacon", Philadelphia, Retrieved on 22 July 2014
  5. ↑ McLellan, Lea (May 6, 2014). "Smart Bets: Wham City". Mountain Xpress. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ Woods, Baynard."Wham City makes an infomercial", "The Baltimore City Paper", Baltimore 1 January 2014, Retrieved on 22 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Adult Swim Creeps Again With New 'Infomercial', "UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF A BEAR"". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Adult Swim's Descent Into Madness - Bloody Disgusting!". 18 December 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "This Year's Scariest Show Aired on the Cartoon Network". Observer. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Contact ClickHole". 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Livingston, Jack. "Scene Seen: BASE PERIOD – Alan Resnick & Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez @ Springsteen Gallery", Baltimore, 19 July 2014, Retrieved on 22 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Woods, Baynard. "This Modern World: Two artists turn cultural detritus into high art", Baltimore, 4 August 2014, Retrieved on 1 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Adult Swim (15 March 2016). "This House Has People in It" . Retrieved 31 July 2016– via YouTube.
  14. ↑ "This House Has People In It airs on March 14–19 [Discussion] • /r/adultswim". 13 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "AB Surveillance Solutions" . Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "The Sculptor's Clayground" . Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  17. ↑ "I Didn't Know I Was Dead". negativland. 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  18. ↑ Hudson Mohawke - Bicstan (Official Video) , retrieved 2023-05-12
  19. ↑ "Film Director/Performer Alan Resnick Talks AlanTutorial, Producing for Adult Swim, & More". YouTube . Retrieved 23 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.