Prego (film)

Last updated

Prego
Prego poster.jpg
Poster
Directed by Usher Morgan
Written byUsher Morgan
Story byUsher Morgan
Produced byUsher Morgan
Starring Katie Vincent
Taso Mikroulis
CinematographyLouis Obioha
Edited byUsher Morgan
Production
company
Digital Magic Entertainment
Distributed byDigital Magic Entertainment
Release dates
  • May 1, 2015 (2015-05-01)(New York City)
  • December 21, 2015 (2015-12-21)(United States)
Running time
13 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Prego is a 2015 American independent short comedy film directed, written and produced by Usher Morgan, with the help of Seinfeld writer Andy Cowan - the film was released to the internet on December 21, 2015 after a 9 months festival run. The film stars Katie Vincent, Taso Mikroulis, Rachel Jayne, J.W. Harvey and Marah Vanbeekom.

Contents

Plot

Prego offers a humorous take on unplanned pregnancies, it follows the story of Emily (played by Katie Vincent), a young woman confronting a one-night stand (played by Taso Mikroulis) with the revelation that she's pregnant. Things go from bad to worse as she comes to grips with the realization that the man may not be a suited father figure to her unborn child. [1]

Translations

Prego was translated and dubbed into numerous languages, including Italian, Czech, Russian, Greek and Mandarin. [2] [3] [4]

Critical reception and reviews

The film gained national recognition and received positive reviews. It won the Best Comedy Short Award at the 2015 Manhattan Film Festival, Best Comedy Short Award at the 2015 Chain NYC Film Festival, [5] 2 awards from the 2015 Indie Fest Film Festival, [6] and the Best Comedy award at the 2015 Trinity International Film Festival. In total the film received 6 wins and 12 nominations. Carl Burgess with ScreenCritix gave the film a positive review: "Prego may only be a two-hander in one location (except for a brief flashback), but the short never becomes boring. This is in thanks to the sharp, funny script and the two great performances from Katie Vincent and Taso Mikroulis. Vincent plays the role of Katie superbly, and Mikroulis’ portrays Mark great as bumbling idiot." Nicholas La Salla with Forest city short film review gave the short a 3.4/5 and mentioned: "Though the storyline has a "been there, done that" feel (most notably in the big budget Knocked Up), the aforementioned fork in the plot toward the end made up for a lot. The jokes are by and large funny and the characters play off each other in humorous ways." [7]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Prego
YearAssociationCountryAward CategoryStatus
2015 Manhattan Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy Short FilmWon
2015 Chain NYC Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy ShortWon
2015 Black Cat Picture Show United StatesBest Short FilmNominated
2015 New Filmmaker NYC Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy ShortNominated
2015 Trinity International Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy ShortWon
2015Trinity International Film FestivalUnited StatesBest Actress in Comedy Film - Katie VincentWon
2015 Big Apple Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy ShortNominated
2015IndieFest USAUnited StatesAward of MeritWon
2015IndieFest USAUnited StatesBest Actress in Comedy Short - Katie VincentWon
2015 The Dam Short Film Festival United StatesBest Comedy ShortNominated
2015 North Hollywood Cinefest United StatesBest Comedy ShortNominated
2016Revolution Me Film FestivalUnited StatesBest ComedyNominated
2016Boardwalk Film FestivalUnited StatesOfficial SelectionNominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Brooks</span> American actor (born 1947)

Albert Brooks is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film Broadcast News and was widely praised for his performance in the 2011 action drama film Drive. Brooks has also acted in films such as Taxi Driver (1976), Private Benjamin (1980), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), Out of Sight (1998) and My First Mister (2001). He has written, directed, and starred in several comedy films, such as Modern Romance (1981), Lost in America (1985), and Defending Your Life (1991). He is also the author of 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Allen</span> American filmmaker, actor, and comedian (born 1935)

Heywood Allen is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many accolades, including the most nominations (16) for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has won four Academy Awards, ten BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Allen was awarded an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2014. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Martin</span> American comedian, actor, musician and writer (born 1945)

Stephen Glenn Martin is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for his work in comedy films, television, and recording, he has received many accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and an Honorary Academy Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards. He also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2015. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Giamatti</span> American actor (born 1967)

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Lane</span> American actor (born 1956)

Nathan Lane is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. His awards include three Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as being "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Moran</span> Irish actor and comedian (born 1971)

Dylan William Moran is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.

Laura Kightlinger is an American actress, writer and comedian. She was a writer and consulting producer on Will & Grace, while also occasionally appearing on the show as the character Nurse Sheila. She was also a writer on the CBS series 2 Broke Girls. Kightlinger also played the title role in the TV show The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman, which she created, wrote, and executive produced. Since 2019, she has appeared in critically acclaimed television series, including PEN15, and Curb Your Enthusiasm appearing alongside Larry David, Albert Brooks, and Lucy Liu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Gaffigan</span> American comedian and actor (born 1966)

James Christopher Gaffigan is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using little profanity in his routines, although he does use it from time to time. He has released several successful comedy specials, including Mr. Universe, Obsessed, Cinco, and Quality Time, all of which have received Grammy nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judd Apatow</span> American filmmaker (born 1967)

Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian known for his work in comedy films. Apatow is the founder of his namesake production company, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Lederer</span> British comedian (born 1954)

Helen Margaret Lederer is a British comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Dore</span> Canadian comedian and actor

Jonathan David Dore is a Canadian comedian and actor currently based in Juneau, Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Whitehall</span> English comedian, actor, presenter and writer (born 1988)

Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is known for his roles as JP in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Fresh Meat (2011–2016) and as Alfie Wickers in the BBC Three sitcom Bad Education also co-writing the latter and its film adaptation, The Bad Education Movie (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Acaster</span> English comedian (born 1985)

James William Acaster is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor. As well as the stand-up specials Repertoire and Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, he is known for co-hosting the food podcast Off Menu and the panel show Hypothetical. Acaster makes use of fictional characters within his stand-up comedy, which is characterised by frequent callback jokes, offbeat observational comedy and overarching stories. He has won five Chortle Awards, a Just for Laughs Award and International Comedy Festival Awards at Melbourne and New Zealand.

Usher Morgan is an Israeli screenwriter, film director, producer, author and entrepreneur based in New York City. He is best known as the writer, director, and producer of films such as Prego and Pickings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazeem Hussain</span> Australian comedian

Nazeem Hussain is an Australian comedian, actor, television and radio presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilana Glazer</span> American comedian

Ilana Glazer is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, and activist. They co-created the Comedy Central series Broad City with Abbi Jacobson, in which Glazer also co-starred with Jacobson. The series was based on the web series of the same name. They were twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for the series. Glazer also starred in the 2017 film Rough Night and released their debut stand-up comedy special, The Planet Is Burning, in January 2020. In 2022, they won the Tony Award for Best Musical for serving as a producer for the Broadway show A Strange Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Panthaki</span> British actor

Ray Panthaki is a British actor, producer, screenwriter and director best known for the roles he played in Marcella (2016-2020), Away (2020), and the movie Boiling Point (2021), for which he was nominated for the 2021 BIFA for Best Supporting Actor.

<i>Marguerite</i> (2015 film) 2015 film

Marguerite is a 2015 French-language comedy-drama film directed by Xavier Giannoli and written by Giannoli and Marcia Romano, loosely inspired by the life of Florence Foster Jenkins. The film is an international co-production among France, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. Marguerite received eleven nominations at the 41st César Awards, winning for Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Production Design.

<i>Pickings</i> (film) 2018 American film

Pickings is a 2018 independent dark comedy film written, produced, and directed by Usher Morgan. The film stars Elyse Price, Joel Bernard, Katie Vincent, Joe Trombino, Emil Ferzola, Yaron Urbas and Taso Mikroulis. Price plays Jo Lee-Haywood, a mysterious bar owner defending her family and business from the wrath of a short-tempered mobster and his protection racket. The film was released to theaters in the United States on March 2, 2018.

<i>Casual</i> (TV series) 2010s American TV series

Casual is an American television comedy drama television series that premiered on October 7, 2015, on Hulu. Created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman, it centers on Valerie, a newly divorced single mother living with her brother Alex and her daughter Laura. The cast also includes Frances Conroy and Nyasha Hatendi.

References

  1. "Prego (2015)". IMDb. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. "Italian Version of the film"
  3. "Czech Version of Prego"
  4. "Russian Version of Prego"
  5. "Chain Film Festival 2016" . Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  6. "Award of Merit May 2015" . Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  7. ""Prego" Laughs At One Night Stands & The Awkwardness of Impending Parenthood - Forest City Short Film Review" . Retrieved 27 March 2016.