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Early To Rise

Early to Rise opens with three low-ranking astronauts aboard the DreamBlaster space ship, accidentally woken up from hibernation - with 90 years left on their journey.

After the panic of being trapped in their hibernation pods wears off, they commit themselves to finding an escape.

Through endless weeks of bickering, boredom and a little bonding, the three accidental prisoners manage to get drunk, get laid, get a video chat, get on a game show, get briefly out of their pod, get permanently trapped back in their pod, get a random lady killed, get an order placed on Amazon and get a rescue ship eaten by a giant alien whale.

They do not, however, manage to get free.

  • Alec Cohen
    Creators
    Comedy Central, Adult Swim, Above Average, VICELAND
  • Mike Cabellon
    Creators
    Comedy Central, Adult Swim, Crashing, Orange Is The New Black, High Maintenance
  • Adrien Pellerin
    Creators
    Comedy Central, Adult Swim, Funny Or Die, Kids These Days
  • Katie Sicking
    Creators
    Comedy Central, Adult Swim, CollegeHumor, Funny or Die
  • Project Type:
    Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Sci-Fi
  • Runtime:
    23 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 15, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • SeriesFest
    Denver, CO
    United States
    June 19, 2020
    World Premiere
    Audience Award
  • Slamdance
    Virtual
    United States
    February 12, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Lighthouse International Film Festival
    Long Beach Island, NJ
    United States
    June 4, 2021
    New Jersey Premiere
    Special Jury Award Episodic
  • Frameline45
    San Francisco, CA
    United States
    June 26, 2021
    California Premiere
Director Biography

Alec Cohen is a comedy director and writer. His work has been featured by Comedy Central, Adult Swim, UCB, Above Average, The New Yorker, SeriesFest, NYTVF, The New York Times, Funny or Die, Mashable, Comedy Hack Day, Chicago Sketchfest, Hell Yes Fest, Portland Comedy Film Festival and The American Association of Immunologists.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Early to Rise is about being trapped by technology.

The amount of time I spend lying down, motionless, with the glow of a screen beaming down on my face... let’s just say we may already be closer to the characters in this series than we imagine.

Plus, space travel seems to be in the air lately, as billionaires try to figure out ways to escape the seemingly endless problems here on Earth (climate change, war, poor people, etc.)

However, it will still take about 300 days to travel to Mars. To get to Pluto - almost 10 years. If we want to go anywhere cooler than our own boring solar system, we’re definitely looking at a future involving hibernation pods - which makes it a perfect time to start telling stories about how regular (dumb) people might handle the galactic adventures on humanity's horizon.