Private Project

Viral Vignettes

"It took a lockdown... for us to open up."

Viral Vignettes is a new comedic feature film, filmed during Covid, starring popular character actors from classic TV shows,and movies.

Originally created as a web-series fund-raiser for the Actors Fund, the feature is composed of twelve short vignettes, fully scripted and set in the early days of the Covid Pandemic. Stars play characters talking to each other over Zoom, Skype or FaceTime, dealing with the ups and downs of life, during that very strange and unprecedented time.

Viral Vignettes was the brainchild of producer David Levin, early in the period of sheltering in place. “It occurred to me that musicians were creating concerts in their living rooms. Comedians were doing stand-up in their bathrooms. Talk shows in basements and garages,” Levin said. “But scripted content had come to a dead stop.”

Participating celebrities in the Viral Vignettes series include Robert Wuhl, Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Spin City”), Gail O’Grady (“NYPD Blue”, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, She's Having a Baby), John Schneider (“The Dukes of Hazzard”, “Smallville”), Don Most (Happy Days), Renee Taylor ("The Nanny”), Audrey Landers (“Dallas”, A Chorus Line) The writers range from veteran network comedy show runners and award-winning playwrights to newcomers, adding their own unique voices to the mix.  

Twelve episodes were produced and have now been combined into one feature film.

  • David Levin
    Director
    Tooth Fairies in Quarantine
  • Anson Williams
    Director
    Harvest Time
  • Jenny Leona
    Director
    Bed Buds
  • Don Most
    Director
    Scrambled
  • David Levin
    Writer
  • Frederick Stroppel
    Writer
    Harvest Time
  • William S Bickley
    Writer
    Happy Days
  • Steven Van Patten
    Writer
  • Jenny Leona
    Writer
    Bed Buds
  • David Levin
    Producer
  • Barry Bostwick
    Key Cast
    "Jack"
    Rocky Horror Picture Show, Spin City
  • Fred Melamed
    Key Cast
    "Neil"
    Impeachment, Barry, WandaVision, A Serious Man, Curb Your Enthusiasm
  • Don Most
    Key Cast
    "Marshall"
    Happy Days, Glee, Harvest Time
  • Robert Wuhl
    Key Cast
    "Todd"
    Arliss, Batman, Bull Durham
  • Gail O'Grady
    Key Cast
    "Dr. Brandstein"
    Boston Legal, NYPD Blue, Deuce Bigalow
  • Linda Purl
    Key Cast
    "Judy"
    The Office, Happy Days
  • Lydia Cornell
    Key Cast
    "Valerie"
    Too Close for Comfort
  • Audrey Landers
    Key Cast
    "Rita"
    Dallas, A Chorus Line
  • John Schneider
    Key Cast
    "Stan"
    Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville
  • Maxwell Gail Jr
    Key Cast
    "Rick"
    Barney Miller, General Hospital
  • Jim Meskimen
    Key Cast
    "Jubal"
    Jimpressions, Impress Me
  • Marion Ross
    Key Cast
    "Mom"
    Happy Days
  • Renee Taylor
    Key Cast
    "Mitzie"
    The Nanny
  • Michele Greene
    Key Cast
    "Andrea"
    LA Law
  • Adam Langdon
    Key Cast
    "Milo"
    Prodigal Son, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • Emma Pfitzer Price
    Key Cast
    "Shannon"
  • Susan Ruttan
    Key Cast
    "Patricia"
    LA Law, Mom, Shameless
  • Yvonne Jung
    Key Cast
    "Candace"
    Third Watch
  • Jenny Leona
    Key Cast
    "Jess"
    Unforgettable, Blues Clues
  • Mary Chieffo
    Key Cast
    "Trish"
    Star Trek Discovery
  • Jane Kaczmarek
    Key Cast
    Malcolm in the Middle, Mixed-ish
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, covid
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 53 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 5, 2022
  • 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
  • David Levin
Distribution Information
  • David Levin
    Country: United States
Director Biography - David Levin, Anson Williams, Jenny Leona, Don Most

David Levin is an Emmy award-winning Executive Producer, writer and director whose credits include documentaries, children’s programming, comedy, music, commercials and marketing campaigns. Levin has created content for Warner Bros., Fox, Bio, Comedy Central, USA Network, DC Comics and Marvel. His work has aired on CBS, MTV, TV Land, Nick at Nite, AMC, Bravo, Lifetime, and A&E.

Levin was the co-creator and showrunner of the hit series, MTV UNCENSORED, setting ratings records for over five years, earned four Emmy nominations, spun off two CBS specials, DVDs, and a coffee-table book he co-wrote.

Levin also created and executive produced TV LAND CONFIDENTIAL, where stars revealed untold stories of classic TV shows. The series ranks as the network's highest-rated, unscripted original. Levin also created and executive produced series for Animal Planet and Discovery.

Levin has worked with major talent over the years, and won an Emmy for directing a kid’s show that starred a gifted 12 year old - Jordan Peele - in his first TV appearance.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

During my career, I've been lucky enough to work in television, working with icons and creating unscripted content. But during Covid, I pivoted back to my first aspiration, scripted narratives.

It occurred to me that musicians were creating concerts in their living rooms.  Comedians were doing stand-up in their bathrooms. Talk shows coming from basements and garages. But production of scripted content had come to a virtual standstill.

I owned equipment that allowed me to record (this was before zoom) video calls from Skype or FaceTime - and isolate the audio and video feeds - and I thought - this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do what I originally aspired to - and maybe even do some good.

So on the first Saturday of the stay home orders way back in March of 2020, I called a few friends and colleagues, writers, actors and directors basically said ‘I have an iphone. Let’s put on a show.’ Some of the actors were people I hardly knew - but I was stunned and thrilled when so many said yes!

We saw it as a grass-roots operation. With studios and networks shut down, we thought ”We’re stuck at home. Let’s have some fun. Be creative. Donate our proceeds to The Actors Fund. And hopefully put a smile on people’s faces.”

By that Tuesday, we had shot our first episode with Barry Bostwick and Yvonne Jung, TOOTH-FAIRIES IN QUARANTINE, by Kurt Fried - his very first produced script.
In the weeks that followed, with no budget, five writers and twenty actors, we produced ten original one-act plays - which ran weekly on YouTube. Each episode is fully scripted, spotlighting two characters conversing about their lives during that unprecedented situation, communicating over Facetime, Skype and a new thing called Zoom.