Joe Bonacci and Michael Canfield are a Brooklyn comedy duo that recently created a comedic, interactive Choose Your Own on Youtube that allows the viewer to botch a corporate job interview over and over again. The series is getting some great buzz -- both MTV Comedy and Lisa Kudrow have recently mentioned it on twitter. I recently met up with Michael and Joe to pick their brains about this quirky ideas.
Ed: How did you guys come together to work on this project?
Joe: We met studying improv at UCB and stayed in touch after the class. We have been trying to figure out funny projects to do together ever since.
Michael: Our shared interest of poking fun at the blissfully ignorant people of the world lead us to talking about a variety of different idiots going on job interviews.
Ed: Why did you guys choose to make The Job Interview interactive?
Joe: This seemed liked the most logical and coincidentally, funniest way of telling these stories.
Michael: It was also important for us, at least once, to give the audience the option to break a vase over their respective head during the job interview.
Ed: I can't imagine how that would ever better your chances at getting a job, but it's funny to see how the character genuinely thinks that would help their chances.
Michael: Yeah, Zach was hilarious as that crazed character under the "Enter Powerfully" option.
Ed: How many potential ways to finish the interview are there?
Michael: There are 75 total videos, 38 different endings, with a total run time of... I really have no idea, but i'd imagine it's around the length of a feature film.
Ed: I really liked the music throughout. How did you work to create the soundtrack?
Joe : We had a great time working with Spencer Snyder to give each character's path it's own unique feel. I think we both learned a great deal from him and we can't imagine this project working without his brilliant music.
Ed: Were any of the scenes completely improvised that day?
Michael: The dialogue was written out. We knew the endings, but often times we'd improvise past those.
Joe: Sometimes we would re-shoot a bit because after acting it out, we thought something else would be funnier. We shot so many hilarious cat lady intros, under "Enter With a Cat," but kept the one where it crawls on Alex's back. We didn't plan that and Alex rolled with it so casually, which was great.
Ed: If you had to choose, what path would you suggest for yielding the funniest result?
Joe: I think "Discuss" under "Enter Professionally" is one of my favorites. It's the one where I beg Michael to tell me why he doesn't want give me the job, after I've been a complete train wreck the whole interview. He's forced to explain everything I did wrong and I still can't understand why I didn't get the job.
Ed: I like that one.
Michael: For me, it's probably the rooftop restaurant scene, which is "I'm Looking Forward to Working Here" under "Enter Professionally." That was all improvised; the hitting... Ten seconds after Joe's character showed up, I really didn't know where the scene was gonna go. And it turned out funny, so we used all of it.
Ed: What is it like Directing and Acting in the same project?
Michael: It's nice to basically have complete creative freedom to do whatever you want.
Joe: It allowed us to do as much improvising as we wanted which continues to be very important to us.
Ed: What's next on the pipeline for you guys?
Michael: We have more choose your owns written which we're seeking funding for. But we don't want to feel limited to just that format.
Ed: Do you think you'll use Kickstarter?
Joe: Yes, most likely. It would also be great to meet other directors and performers to collaborate with.
Check out some hilarious highlights in the trailer for the Job Interview here. Then play the game here.
Edmond Hawkins does graphics for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He is also a writer and director. Check out his Vimeo page here: http://vimeo.com/hawkins