Canned

The idea for Canned started during an overnight shift at my first job out of college. I was sleep deprived and Good Times was on at the TV station. My job was mainly, to make sure the advertisements ran smoothly during the on-air programming. It was not the most exciting occupation. Somewhere between my fading consciousness, the sweet slumber of sleep and a Cindy Crawford infomercial, I had the thought of canned laughter being an art form. That seed was planted back in 2015.

As the script and its characters were developed, the story took on a meaning that many film friends and myself were accessing. Obsolescence. There was a stark difference in the confidence many of us had when we were in college compared to 2021, when much of the script was being ripped apart and heavily discussed. As hungry filmmakers wanting a chance, we were expressing different ideas circling around this harrowing thought. “Does anyone care about movies anymore?”

Regardless of our concerns, we were all going to keep following our passions, but there was that little voice in the back of our heads. It could be literature, music, or any creative outlet being challenged as our world continues to change at rapid pace.

I want to get across this feeling that many artists and craftsmen/women sense in our current moment. A desire to stay relevant. The way things were done for so long have changed, and continue to change. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but these changes come to individuals through commerce. Through businesses, governments and gate keepers.

What Canned discusses is ultimately related to labor, and a concern people feel when the craft they have spent a lifetime perfecting is being eliminated before their very eyes. Or, at the very least, de-valued. Whether you’re a writer, a painter or a graphic designer, you have put in significant time to learn your skill. What lengths will you go to, to protect what you’ve built?