ordinary things
This slice-of-life documentary chronicles the 2021 Office Super Fan Festival, weaving together compelling stories of how a beloved sitcom helped people get through difficult times in their lives with topics beyond the festival such as the city of Scranton and the benefits of online communities.
Spend four days in the city that started it all at the first ever fan-run Office festival with a few hundred super fans and even cast and crew from the show. A joyous time celebrating the beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?
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Matthew Cowling GrammerDirector
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Matthew Cowling GrammerWriter
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Matthew Cowling GrammerProducer
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Project Type:Documentary
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Genres:documentary, slice of life
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Runtime:1 hour 24 minutes 58 seconds
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Completion Date:May 1, 2022
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Production Budget:95,000 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:No
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Student Project:No
Matthew C. Grammer is an independent filmmaker from Dallas, Texas who grew up being obsessed with film production. After graduating from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Technology, he has gone on to work as an independent filmmaker with major brands to expand their reach and spread their story. He has also worked as an executive and led the success of creative productions at million dollar content agencies.
Matthew has been a super fan of The Office for over 15 years, first catching the show in college in the fall of 2007. After engaging with fellow Office fans online, he heard about the Office Super Fan Festival and knew he had to attend. While there he filmed a feature length documentary about the incredible fandom that surrounds The Office.
He's now incredibly excited to present the film to the community and forever encapsulate this magical thing that is The Office fandom.
The scope of this project definitely grew over time, in a rather interesting way. Prior to coming to the festival, I knew I wanted to film some footage and cut together a short little highlight video of the event. You see, I run my own video production business and can crank out event highlight films in my sleep. Plan A was to create a roughly 7 minute mini-doc that I could share online with the community. This light recap of the event could be used to even promote the next festival. So, like a 6 foot 2 inch fly on the wall, I started documenting.
I soon pulled some people aside for interviews about their involvement in the fandom. I asked everyone one open-ended question: “What does The Office mean to you?” I wanted to let their minds naturally wander and answer with whatever came to mind. As a professional video producer for all my life, I knew what I might expect. Yadda yadda yadda, The Office is funny, etcetera. However, what they told me was surprising.
Even more than the comedy, a large majority of people used the show as sort of a tool for helping them get through their everyday life. After I interviewed a couple dozen people and found most of it remarkably interesting, Plan A has turned into Plan B which looked like it would easily be a 30 minute documentary. I wanted to find out why they came to the festival, dig deep into why they like the show, and to share some laughs while we were all together.
By the end of the weekend I had interviewed 46 people. Plan B has now turned into Plan C which was now a feature length documentary. I started to realize that if I managed to capture the magic that was unfurling in front of me, others would find it compelling. I knew The Office fandom was a compelling story and there truly is beauty in ordinary things. It’s funny what it’s come to - a documentary about a mockumentary. Sounds about right though, we all know ‘the best ideas are simple.’ This weekend in Scranton was truly a pilgrimage for the most dedicated Office fans in the country and I’m excited and honored to tell their story.