THE NOTION SHOW
17:35 BLOCK 11 GRINDHOUSE 1
Dark Comedy, Mockumentary (USA) 2018
Director / Producer: Joachim Gautier
Writer / Lead Actor: Stephen Ohl
East Coast Premiere
SYNOPSIS: A mockumentary about a dark web reality show in which a psychotic host makes unknowing contestants play games for their lives.
DIRECTOR - JOACHIM GAUTIER: I still remember first getting internet. The idea was incomprehensible to me. All I knew was that I could type in a word plus .com and I might go to a website. Then, we began chatting on AOL instant messenger. Then, music sharing and apps like "Kazaa" invaded our home office computer. My older brothers and myself began to see videos and images that might not have been the healthiest. "Faces of death" and pornographic images all with the click of a mouse. Now, the world is run by the internet.The idea of fame. The idea of success. It has always driven many, but now it is on high display. This and Reality Television have spoken to a very base desire in all humans. It is a desire to see others either humiliated or elevated for our own sick enjoyment.For many years I've noticed a growing trend in our mind numbing entertainment. That being a trend to humiliate and belittle others on television for amusement. "Naked and Afraid," "Dating Naked," "Fear Factor," to name a few modern reality shows.A few years ago, I had an experience while being a production assistant on an "unscripted" TV show. This particular reality show featured three couples. Each couple was there because the man had something to tell his girlfriend. One was asking his girlfriend to marry him. The other was telling his girlfriend he was married to another woman already. And the third was breaking up with his girlfriend on television... I had to keep the contestants on "ice." AKA, talk to them, feed them liquor, and make sure they don't run... The girl who was getting broken up with began to tell me her life sob story. Her mom beat cancer, she herself beat cancer, and her boyfriend was all she had... I looked at this poor girl and wanted nothing more than to tell her to run away! But I didn't... I did my job. And this young woman was traumatized, trying to hide in the bathroom while the cameras kept rolling, and the producers screamed for a therapist to come to set so that they could keep shooting...The Notion Show was born from the things I was seeing. I wanted to create a satirical and scary depiction of our current media obsessions with humiliation and other hot button topics. This is a reflection of the current country we live in... love for guns and all. I've wanted to make this project for many years, and it has never felt more topical and pertinent.Ratings
​​WRITER / LEAD ACTOR - STEPHEN OHL: Before studying directing at the American Film Institute, Stephen Ohl graduated from Boston University in 2011 with a Bachelors Degree in Film and Television and has since directed many short films that have screened in festivals around the country. But long before that, at a very young age he became obsessed with movies. He often imitated the characters he saw on the screen, which first led him to an interest in acting. Stephen studied the Meisner Technique and has been in a number of film and TV projects. He has also worked in just about every position on set, and interned for Hollywood elites like director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, Now You See Me) and producer Richard Gladstein (Pulp Fiction, Finding Neverland). Most of his work can be seen at his website, www.stephenohl.com
