Comedy Pilot TUBELORDS to Have World Premiere at Dances With Films

"TubeLords," a comedy pilot from Shrieking Tree Productions, will make its world premiere at this year's DANCES WITH FILMS Festival on Saturday, June 11 at 2:30 PM as part of the Pilots-TV Group screenings at the legendary TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, DWF celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year, June 9-19, 2022.

"TubeLords" was written and produced by Justin Norman and Jacob Withers and directed by Justin Norman. The talented and inter-generational cast features actors Justin Norman, Eli Gross, Sam Hirchak, Monica de Melo Dreasher, Phillip Harder, Jillian Traskos, Arlen Daleske, Eric Allan, Arnie DeWitt III, and Madeline Krantz.

The pilot premise revolves around once-famous YouTubers Tim, Laura, Otis, and Ronnie, who are struggling to come up with new ideas to save their dwindling subscriber count. Realizing that "pranks are hot right now", the group sets out to make a buffoon of Charles, a local 70-year-old prank-enthusiast. But their plans are foiled by their former stuntman, Jared, who recently launched his own highly successful competing channel. Energized by this renewed rivalry, Tim and the TubeLords struggle to balance salvaging their dying channel with their desire for petty revenge.

Shrieking Tree was originally founded in Las Vegas in 2004 as a web design and development company. However, it has evolved into something much more; principals Justin Norman, Eric Allan and Jacob Withers now combine their varied skills to create award-winning content in multiple mediums.

Creator Norman recalls how "TubeLords" came to be. "We live in Iowa, and in Iowa the state sometimes gives people grants to set men in gorilla costumes on fire and film them and call it a pilot," he says. "But in all seriousness, it was very nice to win funding and we think we've made something very worth watching, even past the part with the gorilla guy. Tons of movies have been made about life behind the scenes in Hollywood, but virtually none have examined the lives of low-tier social media fillmmakers surviving on peasant wages, desperately bickering with one another over the size of their dwindling viewcounts."

Described as "a fast-paced comedy in which two grown men become mortal enemies because one wanted to put a hat on a dog", "TubeLords" is confident that its audience will become hooked on the show. "It's like if SILICON VALLEY had pettier rivalries and half the main characters believed they were gods," Norman explains. "It's a comedy dressed up like a drama, filmed from the perspective of the characters, who take every ridiculous thing that happens on screen very, very seriously."

"TubeLords" will screen Saturday, June 11 at 2:30 PM at the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Tickets can be purchased in advance from the DWF website at https://danceswithfilms.com and clicking the Buy Tickets icon. All tickets are $18 if purchased prior to June 9; thereafter tickets are $20. Parking is readily available at the Hollywood & Highland complex, $3 for the first 4 hours (validated at the theater) or $18 maximum for the day.

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