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Heron And The Hen

In this short comedic series, Dalton and Venus are Heron and the Hen, a traveling folk duo now looking to make it big online as Vanlife Influencers. And though they spend 11 and a half months a year in a van together, they are not a couple. In fact, they’re both in separate, committed relationships. The series is a satire of modern influencer culture with a real heart at its center.

  • Matt Johnson
    Director
    Beerfest: Thirst For Victory (CW Seed), Lessons with Martha (Short FIlm)
  • Ryan Harrison
    Writer
    Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack, Live From Here With Chris Thile, McSweeny's, Lost Moon Radio
  • Jamie Hultgren
    Writer
    Cirque Du Soleil's Empire, Four Clowns, The Innocents
  • Dave Kneebone
    Executive Producer
    Moonbase 8, Comedy Bang Bang, Nathan For You
  • Aaron Kogan
    Executive Producer
    TV: SUCKHOLE (FX) - Executive Producer; CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL (Anonymous Content) - Executive Producer; PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE HISTORY (truTV) - Executive Producer: FEATURE FILM: THE LINE (Revelations Entertainment) - Producer; 5 DOCTORS (Gravitas Ventures) - Producer
  • Ali Hart
    Producer
    American Haze, Spotlight California, Hot Spot
  • Rebecca Rufer
    Producer
    The Comedy Show Show, Lost Moon Radio, Float
  • Ryan Harrison
    Key Cast
    "Dalton"
    Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack, Lost Moon Radio
  • Jamie Hultgren
    Key Cast
    "Venus"
    Cirque Du Soleil's Empire, Four Clowns, The Innocents
  • Abso Lutely
    Production Company
    Moonbase 8, Comedy Bang Bang, Nathan For You
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 21, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Matt Johnson

Matthew C. Johnson’s short “Lessons with Martha” just finished its festival run, winning Best Short at Yucca Valley Film Festival. Directing highlights: feature film "Beerfest: Thirst for Victory" for Warner Digital and CW Seed, sketch series "The Gaggle" for ABC Digital, and YouTube versions of "Family Feud" and "Password" for Fremantle.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Heron & the Hen is one of those dream projects where the material is funny and poignant and real and absurd all at the same time. As a director, I came to the project after Ryan and Jamie had developed the characters of Dalton and Venus as a stage act, so I got to collaborate on the process of taking these wonderful clown characters from a small stage venue out into the great big world. We discovered their voices as a couple (non-sexual, of course) and as influencers, and since the premise is that they are their own camera crew, we also discovered their voices as filmmakers. Somewhere between the high-gloss travelogues of YouTube’s most popular van life accounts and the rough and ready road life depicted in “Nomadland” there is a reality of people who live in their vehicles as part of their job, and that’s where Dalton and Venus exist. That they also happen to be ridiculous naïfs adrift in the American Dream just makes them that much more fun to watch.