PUSHY RIOT
PUSHY RIOT chronicles the misadventures of besties Jasmine and Katey after the two are forced to move back home with Jasmine's conservative Persian parents in Beverly Hills.
Interview with Directors/Producers Jasmine Elist, Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez, Katey Zouck
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We created Pushy Riot because we were tired of waiting for the chance to play the parts we wanted to play, tired of waiting for the opportunities to come to us, for someone to tell us we’re “ready,” and tired of not seeing our point of view in media. So we decided to create the type of role we want to play, and tell the type of story we want to tell. Also the three of us are real-life best friends so we jumped at the chance to work and create together.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
To laugh! If you want to laugh - then watch it! Our characters go through some pretty messed up, absurdist ish, and we hope you can relate, and laugh about moments that may have at one point been awkward or even traumatic in your life. And then, at the end of season 1, have that moment where you think to yourself “wow, I would literally be miserable - and maybe even dead - if it weren’t for my best friend.” We definitely intended to touch on some larger societal issues, like racism and profiling and gentrification, but at the end of the day, we hope you’ll watch it and feel the way about life that we do: that as long as we have one another, we’ll have a better chance of making it through…Is that too corny? OK, then just watch it to laugh!
Jasmine and Katey after a night on the town.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
We’re besties both onscreen and offscreen. We’ve also had a period in time when we weren’t. And it was miserable. The worst. It’s something very personal and dear to us, our friendship, but we hope that speaks to the universal truth about having one another, our connections and friendships and relationships, is what makes life worth living. Also, we shot episodes in Jasmine's parents' actual house in Beverly Hills, so we had the chance to play with the dichotomy that exists between trying to establish yourself as a real adult while living under your parents' roof and their rules.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We improvised a lot. Jasmine and Katey both study at the Groundlings and at UCB, and are members of the all-female improv team The Pippa Middletons. We had a huge pool of talented improvisers and actors to pull from for episodes, and we always strived to create a show culture where you can feel free to improvise, to take risks, and really make the role and stories your own. As a result, each episode has turned out far more magical than we could’ve imagined when we conceived of the project over two years ago.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Mostly positive. I mean, we did write a TV pilot (based on the webisode pilot) that got us into the Fox Writers Intensive last year. So yeay for that!
Jasmine and Katey during a night in, not on the town.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We get compared to Broad City a lot - which is probably the biggest compliment and honor people like us can have - but sometimes execs and acquaintances and people-whose-names-we-can-never-remember say things like “Pushy Riot is like Broad City. There’s already a Broad City! We already have a female buddy comedy on TV…” They say it like there can only be ONE successful female duo at a time. It’s insane. Abbi and Ilana are comedy geniuses. They made their opportunity. And they are funny and brilliant as fuck. And it inspired us to do the same - to celebrate our friendship, our absurdities, our taste and our passion for creating.
It’s just so weird how open people seem to be about their subtle discrimination of female-driven content, especially in comedy. In a world where there’s Taken, Bourne, Mission Impossible, Fast & Furious, Star Wars, etc., we think it’s OK to have more female-driven comedy duos…or maybe we can’t and the three of us are so out of line. And in that case, we are really sorry.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want more people binge watching episodes of Pushy Riot. We would love for season one of Pushy Riot to have enough of a following and traction behind it so that we can develop a season two.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All of the above!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We hope to inspire more female comedians and filmmakers to create their own content. We want them to know that we have agency. If you have a story a character or a world you want to show, you can write about it, round together your talented friends and film it.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are women really funny? And when the hell are people going to stop asking the question "are women really funny?”?
Pushy Riot co-creators Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez, Katey Zouck, and Jasmine Elist.
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you so much for the interview!
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
JE: Currently developing the TV Pilot "Farrah" about the ex-wife of a terrorist who runs away to LA to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a stand-up comedian. Also developing another digital series "Hiatus" about an aspiring writer and an aspiring cinematographer who go through an identity crisis while on creative-hiatus. Continuing to write, film and direct comedy sketches with fellow Groundlings.
KZ: Developing a comedy series about the life of Hansel and Gretel after escaping "dat awvful vitch."
BSR: Digital series MARIconBEN, that stars my 92-year-old abuelita, and came out last year and has several new episodes dropping next month, and a new digital series, Strictly Vers, coming out January 2018, with sneak peek screenings happening around LA. I’m also writing various TV pilots, and filming original sketches as a sort of comedy writing and directing gym.
Interview: May 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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PUSHY RIOT
PUSHY RIOT chronicles the misadventures of besties Jasmine and Katey after the two are forced to move back home with Jasmine's conservative Persian parents in Beverly Hills.
Length: Each episode is 3-5 minutes
Director: Jasmine Elist, Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez, Katey Zouck
Producer: Jasmine Elist, Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez, Katey Zouck
Key cast: Jasmine Elist, Katey Zouck
Looking for: Buyers, Distributors, Producers, Film Fest Directors, Journalists, Sales Agents
Social media: INSTAGRAM: @pushy_riot
TWITTER: @pushyriot
FACEBOOK: @pushyriot
Funders: First season self-funded
Where can I see it in the next month:
Facebook: facebook.com/pushyriot