‘Indy’ Feature Film

Here at the Independent, our staff is made up of many creative people who help make our paper great each week. Our staff often work on other projects too, and this week we are highlighting one from our production designer, Jill Critelli: a film called Typecast or (The Rise and Fall of Boingman).

In this outrageously dark indie comedy, Clyde Cuddley is a small-town movie-theater employee with big dreams: to move to Hollywood and become an actor. However, his first few weeks in Los Angeles are anything but glamorous. Working sporadically as a bottom-feeding background actor and suffering one humiliation after another, Clyde is pressured to join a mysterious new acting school that guarantees its students fame and fortune. In the end, as he loses his morals and gains the world, Clyde discovers that his incredible rise is destined for an equally dramatic fall. This film is available to stream through the Austin Lift-Off Film Festival (Liftoff Global Network); it’s part of the Features category, available through May 6.

Critelli, a producer of the film along with her husband, Mike, explained how the idea came to life: “Last summer, 60,000-plus TV and film actors went on strike against major studios, and we felt like it was a perfect moment to make something totally rogue and independent. That’s how Typecast or (The Rise and Fall of Boingman) came to be. Mike and his best buddy Clem Darling, who stars as Clyde Cuddley, came up with the idea and wrote the script in under two months. Before we knew it, we were already in production. Mike was especially inspired by a tweet from Mark Ruffalo in July to his fellow actors: ‘How about we all jump into indies now?’

“It’s a full 96-minute film on a microbudget with a micro cast and crew. A satirical ‘rags to riches’ L.A. fable. We shot 50 percent of the film in Santa Barbara venues like Rascal’s Vegan and Second Level Studio (plus a lot of friends’ apartments, houses, and yards), with an assortment of local rising talent: comedians Chris Williams and Samantha Bearman; actors Ben Thomas and Rachel Brown; and 2023’s ‘Saint Barbara’ herself, Lisa Osborn. We shot all summer, edited all fall, and now it’s running the festival circuit!

“Typecast … has been awarded ‘Best Actor,’ ‘Best Cinematography,’ and ‘Best Indie Feature’ at various regional festivals. It’s currently an ‘Official Selection’ among Features at The Austin Lift-Off Film Festival, now available to stream online to audiences worldwide through May 6. More info @typecastboingman on IG.

“Film is extremely challenging, and it truly takes a village like Santa Barbara. Our main message is to encourage other filmmakers to follow their artistic instincts, and for friends, family, and businesses to support local filmmaking.”

You can click here to see the trailer for Typecast or (The Rise and Fall of Boingman). Please note that this film is rated R for content and language.