Chad, Matt & Rob
Encyclopedia
Chad, Matt & Rob is a group of filmmaker
s based in Los Angeles
. The group has created numerous shorts
that often blend comedy with horror, adventure and fantasy. They coined the term "Interactive Adventure" to describe their 2008 film The Time Machine: An Interactive Adventure; the project was the first interactive movie on YouTube
. The group is consistently among YouTube's Top 100 Most Viewed Comedians and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on G4's "Attack of the Show."
According to the LA Times, Rob Polonsky left the group and they are now known as Radio Silence
. The group is currently working on the upcoming feature film V/H/S.
.
Many of their early projects were filmed by Jonah Goldstein who currently runs the "Chattin' w/ Joni" blog on the Lonely Island website.
As of March 2011, Chad, Matt & Rob have produced five Interactive Adventures:
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
s based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The group has created numerous shorts
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
that often blend comedy with horror, adventure and fantasy. They coined the term "Interactive Adventure" to describe their 2008 film The Time Machine: An Interactive Adventure; the project was the first interactive movie on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The group is consistently among YouTube's Top 100 Most Viewed Comedians and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on G4's "Attack of the Show."
According to the LA Times, Rob Polonsky left the group and they are now known as Radio Silence
Radio Silence
Radio Silence is an album by Boris Grebenshchikov, leader of the Russian group Aquarium. The album was recorded in 1989 in studios in the U.S., UK, and Canada, mostly with Western musicians, and produced by David A. Stewart...
. The group is currently working on the upcoming feature film V/H/S.
Members
The group formed in early 2007. The members write everything together and use their friends to fill out the cast, including Tyler Tuione, Chester Tam and Kal PennKal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
.
- Chad Villella is originally from Punxsutawney, PA and a graduate of Mercyhurst CollegeMercyhurst CollegeMercyhurst College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA.-History:On September 20, 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy of the Erie Diocese, who were led by Mother M. Borgia...
, where he was active in the Research and Intelligence Analysis Program and an original member of the Center for Information Research Analysis And Training (CIRAT).
- Tyler Gillett is originally from Flagstaff, AZ and is the cinematographer and co-director.
- Matt Bettinelli-OlpinMatt Bettinelli-OlpinMatt Bettinelli-Olpin is an American actor, writer and musician.-Biography:Raised in Oakland, California, Bettinelli-Olpin later attended the University of California, Santa Cruz.-Music:...
is originally from Oakland, CA and is a founding member of the punk band Link 80Link 80-Band history:Link 80 started in late 1993 in the East Bay of California. In the beginning, original members played around town as Drano, The Rag-Tags, and Mr...
. A graduate of the University of California, Santa CruzUniversity of California, Santa CruzThe University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, he appeared in many early The Lonely IslandThe Lonely IslandThe Lonely Island is an American comedy troupe composed of Akiva "Kiv" Schaffer, Jorma "Jorm" Taccone, and David Andrew "Andy" Samberg, best known for their comedic music. Originally from Berkeley, California, the group is currently based in New York City. The group broke out due to their...
shorts and directed Alkaline TrioAlkaline TrioAlkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band's line-up consists of Matt Skiba , Dan Andriano , and Derek Grant...
's first video.
- Justin Martinez is originally from Tucson, AZ and a graduate of the University of ArizonaUniversity of ArizonaThe University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. He is the camera operator and visual effects artist.
- Rob Polonsky is originally from Buffalo Grove, IL. He is a graduate of Columbia College ChicagoColumbia College ChicagoColumbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
and The Second CityThe Second CityThe Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
Conservatory.
Many of their early projects were filmed by Jonah Goldstein who currently runs the "Chattin' w/ Joni" blog on the Lonely Island website.
Interactive Adventures
Chad, Matt & Rob coined the term "Interactive Adventure" to describe their 2008 film The Time Machine: An Interactive Adventure; the project was the first interactive movie of it's kind.As of March 2011, Chad, Matt & Rob have produced five Interactive Adventures:
- The Time Machine (November 11, 2008) is the first narrative Choose Your Own AdventureChoose Your Own AdventureChoose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
-style film on the internet. When deciding on a title for the finished film, they coined the term "Interactive Adventure". The series contains nine segments and follows the boys as they travel through the centuries in a time machine disguised as a trash can, all while running from government agents seeking to get the time machine back. At the end of each segment, the viewer is able to choose which video to go to next using YouTube's "annotation" feature. The series received over 1,000,000 views during its first week, was featured on Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
's The Must List and won the Best Multimedia Fiction Award at the 2009 Cinéma Tout EcranCinéma Tout EcranCinéma Tous Ecrans , is an international film festival held annually in the city of Geneva, Switzerland since 1995. The current Artistic and General Director is Claudia Durgnat....
International Film Festival in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
- The Murder (March 14, 2009) is the group's second Interactive Adventure. In The Murder, Chad, Matt & Rob witness a murder while they are filming a short and must decide how to proceed. The narrative expands on the single-story thread used for "The Time Machine" and allows the viewer to follow three unique story-lines. In all, the project contains over 30 separate segments.
- The Birthday Party (January 15, 2010) is the group's third Interactive Adventure. In The Birthday Party, the trio must run from a gang, battle zombies in a haunted hospital and save a kidnapped heiress from an urban militia, all while attempting to reach their boss's birthday party alive. The group shot the project around Los Angeles in four days, including the Linda Vista Community Hospital.
- The Teleporter (November 22, 2010) is the group's fourth Interactive Adventure. The project, in which Chad, Matt & Rob are on the run from an angry UFO that wants it's teleporter back, represents the groups first foray into branded contentBranded contentBranded content is a relatively new form of advertising medium that blurs conventional distinctions between what constitutes advertising and what constitutes entertainment. Branded content is essentially a fusion of the two into one product intended to be distributed as entertainment content,...
; it was made in conjunction with UnileverUnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
to promote a line of AXEAxe (grooming product)Lynx is a brand of male grooming products, owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever and marketed towards young males.-History:Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever...
shampoo products. According to a TubefilterTubefilterTubefilter, Inc. is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California that operates media properties focusing on the online entertainment industry. Tubefilter is best known for Tubefilter News, a blog targeted at the producers and distributors of web television content where the best in...
interview, the group was wary of selling out their audience; “We’ve always been really wary on doing any sort of brand integration,” said [Rob] Polonsky. “Viewers are always super sensitive when there’s any sort of product placement involved. The last thing we wanted to do was to insult our audience. So we wrote something that we would want to make." As of March 2011, the film's 10 segments have a combined 1,000,000 views.
- The Treasure Hunt (January 26, 2011) is the group's fifth Interactive Adventure. The story follows the trio as they battle an menacing treasure hunter searching for a long lost treasure and co-stars Alfonso ArauAlfonso Arau-Biography:Arau was born in Mexico City, the son of a doctor. He directed the films Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, Like Water for Chocolate , A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame production A Painted House, adapted from the John Grisham novel of the...
(known for The Wild BunchThe Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
, Three Amigos and as the director of Like Water For ChocolateLike Water for Chocolate (film)Like Water for Chocolate is a 1992 film based on the popular novel, published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel. It earned all 11 Ariel awards of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel Award for Best Picture, and became the highest grossing Spanish-language...
). A rough cut of the film screened at the 2010 Anaheim International Film Festival and the finish product premiered at the Prescott Film Festival in February 2011, where audience applause was used to choose which path the narrative would take.
Notable Productions
- Chad Hates Aliens (also known as Roommate Alien Prank Goes Bad) was the group's first viral videoViral videoA viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
. It features Matt and Rob playing alien pranks, on Chad, but on the third night they try, a real alien crashes into Chad's bedroom. As of March 2011, it has been viewed over 20,000,000 times, was featured on Attack of the Show and was accepted into the 2008 Comic-Con InternationalComic-Con InternationalSan Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
Film Festival.
- The Alibuys is their first web seriesWeb seriesA web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...
. The story follows three childhood friends who run a business that creates alibis for their clients. They have released the first three episodes.
Filmography
- The Treasure Hunt: An Interactive Adventure - released January 26, 2011. (9 segments & 2 Easter Eggs)
- The Teleporter: An Interactive Adventure - released November 22, 2010. (10 segments total)
- The Teleporter: An Interactive Adventure (Trailer) - released November 12, 2010.
- The Treasure Hunt: An Interactive Adventure (Trailer) - released August 5, 2010.
- Mountain Devil Prank Fails Horribly - released April 22, 2010.
- How To Make An Interactive Adventure - released February 17, 2010.
- The Birthday Party: An Interactive Adventure - released January 15, 2010. (10 segments & 3 Easter Eggs)
- The Birthday Party: Trailer #2 - released December 11, 2009.
- The Birthday Party: Trailer #1 - released December 9, 2009.
- Magic! - released August 20, 2009.
- The Murder: An Interactive Adventure - released March 14, 2009. (26 segments total)
- The Time Machine: An Interactive Adventure - released November 11, 2008. (9 segments total)
- Let's Go Meet Some Animals! - released September 9, 2008.
- The Alibuys: The Cheater - released August 9, 2008.
- The Alibuys: The Kidnapping - released August 1, 2008.
- The Alibuys: Drug Dealers Have Parents, Too - released August 1, 2008.
- "We're The Alibuys!" (public-access televisionPublic-access televisionPublic-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV Commercial) - released July 9, 2008. - The Alibuys: Trailer #1 - released May 19, 2008.
- No Spoofs For Old Men - released May 9, 2008.
- Happy Birthday - released April 15, 2008.
- Chad Hates Aliens (also known as Roommate Alien Prank Goes Bad) - released February 25, 2008.
- The Danger Zone - released February 18, 2008.
- Prison Break - released January 10, 2008.
- Happy Halloween - released October 23, 2007.
- Cops & Robbers! - released September 22, 2007.
- Smoke Break - released September 3, 2007.
- Television Man - released September 3, 2007.
- I Believe I Can Fly - released July 21, 2007.
- Good Roommates - released July 16, 2007.
- A Terrible Place - released July 2007 (Subsequently removed).