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So what is Show&Tell, hmm?
“Show&Tell (Screening Spectacular) started in 2014 when Kyle (Helf and I) were discussing this concept of showing people his art and his films, but not having a place that we felt was open to us to exhibit everything. At the time, there were a few screenings in LA that were incredibly popular with independent filmmakers and creatives. We make comedy shorts, so that’s a very specific type of filmmaker.
As comedy filmmakers, we do sketches, short films, commercials – we do every kind of video. Sometimes we show specs, things that never get picked up. It’s a very broad range of media, but also very small because the genre is all comedy.
It was difficult to find a place to show pure comedy. There was Channel 101, but it was very specifically geared toward pilots. I didn’t always want to do a five-minute pilot. There were other screenings (that always asked), “What’s a sketch?” There wasn’t really a good place to show sketches. Film festivals don’t want you to upload your internet videos. There was no place where we felt like we could bring people together and show (comedy videos) in this community and community – what are you up to? What are we up to? Kyle and I missed that in college.
We basically took over a show that was on the school-run TV channel called TV 32. It was kind of like a cable TV show. We picked a show called The Randumb Show and played with that concept. When we finished an episode that we really liked, there was no feedback. There was no congratulations, no constructive criticism. There was nothing.
So we started doing these release parties at school and trying to get as many people together as possible. Our senior year, the auditorium was packed and we showed all our sketches. It was a huge thing and so much fun, and we asked ourselves: how do we do this in the real world? There’s not much at stake because it’s just your friends, your crew. We want to have these little premiere parties for your smaller projects. And some of them are bigger projects that you’ve been working on for years but you have nowhere to release.
So we started Show&Tell and it felt like there was a bigger community of people. There’s something to celebrate when we finish a project and share it. We’ve been coming together for 10 years now. You finished the project you said was going to be so hard to finish and you did it. I can’t believe you did it. It’s incredible. And I love it. It’s one of my favorite things every month.”
How to submit to Show&Tell
Lively audience at the Show&Tell (including Santa Claus)
Courtesy of Sethward
“Literally anyone can submit something. We have a form on our website that’s just a simple Google Doc where you submit an unlisted link. We had to set up a parameter for Show&Tell, which was: What are you up to now? What have you recently completed? And it’s comedy. So our three rules are you have to be there to present your video.
So we don’t show anything where the creators live in another country or another city, and it has to be a comedy that’s not ready to be released yet. In that environment, I just finished this and I’m about to release it into the world. What do you think? What do you think? And it gives you the opportunity to maybe analyze the audience’s reaction, change a few things, leave it as it is, or add a few things. It’s a great place for people to get input after the fact. We hang out and talk about each other’s stuff, what we’ve done.
The curation process has become much harder over the years because more and more people are finding out about it. And friends, I mean, when we were in the backyard at the beginning, it was: I’m begging people, please don’t put it online yet. Put it on Show&Tell first.
At this point we have to be a little more selective about what we put in.”
Show&Tell logo
Courtesy of Sethward
“I’m very strict with deadlines. So if I don’t have a firm deadline, I don’t do anything – I don’t finish it. With Show&Tell, I had a firm deadline, I had to be able to show people in my backyard something in a couple of days. That forced me to make at least one video every month. With some of those Show&Tells – when it was so new and we were so excited – I was uploading three to four videos every month.
It’s gotten to the point where I haven’t done any bigger projects. I’ve never done a feature film and I blame Show&Tell a little bit for that because by the time I finish a project for Show&Tell I have to start a new project for the next month because that happens every month. I haven’t completed that bigger arc.
But I realize that. We play a lot of different things. So theoretically I could break every scene of this film down into parts of an episodic journey and play them once a month.”
The art of collaboration on absurd costumes
Sethward as Pumpkin Man at Show&Tell
Courtesy of Sethward
“A lot of the work I do where I get in trouble is when I’m covered in slime or wearing a costume that’s trying to kill me, and then I’m in the middle of filming and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I need to stage this to turn out the way I want it, or I need to make sure the DP gets the right shots, but I can’t move.
I shot a video yesterday that we’re going to do a show and tell video for, but I’m covered in snot, right? I’m a snot ghost and I couldn’t move because it was so slippery. If I went to Nate who’s shooting the film, I would have covered his camera in slime. Second, I would have put him in danger by smearing slime all over everything. So I couldn’t see the monitor properly. I have to trust.
I call it the editor brain when I’m editing for days or I’m stuck at the computer, writing emails and stuff, and then I go out and have to perform. And you really have to reset. You have to focus, because otherwise you get too technical. And that’s why I trust the people I work with. I try to bring people to work that I trust to help me co-direct.
So every project I’ve ever done is a collaborative effort. There’s never been a moment in my life where someone on set makes a comment to me and I say, “Excuse me. Stay in your lane. I’m the director here.” I would never do that in a million years. I understand the concept of too many cooks in the kitchen, but I need it. I need more cooks for what I’m doing and cooking. Sometimes I literally just need body parts. I wear a worm costume or something. I literally can’t touch stuff.
I’ve also had incredible help from real costume designers over the years. Every now and then I get blessed by real costume angels and people come in and help me. But for the most part, anything you see falling off my body because it was poorly done is because I did it. And usually it was because I did it right before the camera rolled.”
Sethward’s advice for comedy filmmakers
Courtesy of Sethward
“Especially filmmakers who make comedies can’t commit to anything. And by the way, I’m not the type to give advice. I don’t have any status as a professional comedy filmmaker. But the most important lesson I’ve learned in my years of making comedy is that the comedy has to come first.
When I say comedy, I mean the fun and the silliness. And if you can’t have fun, at least force the silliness, because then you’ll have fun. And because that’s the only thing that matters in comedy, especially comedy, your movie can look amazing. It can sound amazing. You can have a great set or a nice costume, whatever it is to support the joke, that’s fine. But it really doesn’t matter if it’s not obvious to the viewer that you’re having the most fun making the movie, but the silliest moment with your friends.
In my opinion, that’s the only thing that matters when you’re making a comedy video. But you still want to make sure that’s the first priority. I’ve failed at that a lot because I’ve been like, “I want it to look like that, I want the aesthetic, and it has to cross genre lines, blah, blah, blah.”
The whole point is to do something and create something with your friends and your community, and I think Show&Tell is a great way to demonstrate that because it’s free to join. And there’s no cost to join.
There’s not much at stake. We’re in a backyard. It’s an outdoor screening. We’re gathering to laugh at the moment of remembering how much fun you had, and to relive that through other people, and to relive that by watching the video in a community. That’s the point of what we’re doing – to share this silly moment that we’re having together.
Anyway, I am a huge proponent of being silly. If you are not silly or don’t have time to be silly, I honestly don’t have time for you (laughs).”
