1-800-GET-FAME
An egotistical low life mediocre magician, becomes obsessed with an app that simulates him going viral. Convinced he has hundreds of thousands of fans and is on the way to becoming the next David Blaine or Harry Houdini, he hosts a magic show.
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Torin CroninDirector
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Torin CroninWriter
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MaryKate CaddenProducer
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Bram WallachKey Cast"Aaron"
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Riley ConradKey Cast"Beth"
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Nick PendolinoKey Cast"Eugene"
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Kristen NodellKey Cast"Casey"
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Owen ChaseKey Cast"Daryl"
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Michael SwitzerDirector of Photography
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John ZiolaScore/Foley Design
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:Comedy, Dark Comedy, Student Short Film
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Runtime:13 minutes 40 seconds
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Completion Date:May 7, 2021
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Production Budget:100 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes - Penn State
Director and screenwriter Torin Cronin grew up in a small town near Austin, Texas and currently bounces back between the Texan Hill-country and State College, Pennsylvania where she attends university at Penn State. Originally attending Penn State for their criminology program, Torin switched to a major of film during her sophomore year after she became heavily involved in the comedy scene on campus during her first year. Currently wrapping up her junior year, she has released her directorial debut, '1-800-GET-FAME,' a short narrative originally based on a character bit that she performed at multiple comedy shows that she decided to flesh out by pairing it with her fears of social media fame simulators.
1-800-GET-FAME is a light-hearted comedy that critiques the rapid growth of celebrity internet culture and overnight stars by highlighting the potential delusions created by social media platforms. The idea for the film came to me when I downloaded an app that simulated going viral. While short, the experience was extremly uncanny as I felt flustered by the autogenerated notifications and found myself hilariously overwhelmed by my newfound "fame." Though I deleted the app after five minutes, I realized someone could truly get addicted to the dopamine rush from this fake experience that the lines of reality could potentially blur for them.