Hammersmith Collection
Everything I Learned When My House Burned Down
Hammersmith
Everything I Learned When My House Burned Down: Directed by Joe Pickett
Comedian Jacy Catlin was living the simple life in his remote log cabin in rural Wisconsin, eking out a living as a comedy writer and self-producing numerous comedy shorts. One fateful February, on the coldest day of the year, a fire in his wood stove spread out of control, and the house and all of his family’s belongings were destroyed. After the smoke had cleared, he returned to his former home to shoot one last comedy film.
From Joe Pickett (Chop and Steele, The Found Footage Festival) and Jacy Catlin (Clickhole, The Onion) comes a short film about the absurdity of great loss and finding laughter in life’s darkest moments. Shot entirely against a backdrop of the remains of Catlin’s actual burned-down home, Everything I Learning When My House Burned Down is filled with absurd dark humor and disturbingly fascinating imagery from start to finish.
Joe Pickett is a writer/director/comedian. He's a 12-year contributor to The Onion and directed the award-winning documentary, “Dirty Country." In 2010, he engineered the Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser yo-yo pranks that hit morning TV news shows across the Midwest where he racked up millions of views, was sued in federal court and became the subject of the Tribeca hit documentary "Chop & Steele." For the last 15 years, he and his childhood friend have toured 100+ shows a year with their live comedy show, The Found Footage Festival, a guided tour of their collection of strange and outrageous VHS tapes. He and the Found Footage Fest have been featured on Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Vulture, NPR, Tosh.0, and named a critic’s pick in dozens of publications.
Jacy Catlin is a comedian and writer based in Ashland, Wisconsin. He is a staff writer for Clickhole, and has numerous additional writing credits including The Onion, Comedy Central, NBC, and Playboy. He is known by underground comedy fans worldwide for his singular and absurd comedic voice which has taken many forms including comic books, Tweets, digital shorts, and live performances everywhere from dive bars to large festivals. His previous short films include Dad’s Funeral and The Negotiating.
00:9:00
WI, USA
Hammersmith: Directed By Kyle Leland Cullerton
Bayou Straights (aka Hammersmith) is the sad hero nobody needs, but everyone can enjoy. He is the boundless, foolhardy dreamer. A narcissistic filmmaker who dreams of stardumb during the production of his breakout action movie, while his cast & crew try to stay alive on a film set falling into chaos.
Kyle Leland Cullerton’s first film was an experimental documentary about shrooms - It didn't go over well with the priest in charge of the film program at his Catholic high school. Kyle studied at Second City and iO in Chicago at a young age while working as a PA on major studio productions for over 10 years. Between film school and the years after, he made nearly 50 short films and music videos, while also working as a shooter and editor for several big brands and sports teams. He directed a short that screened at Festival de Cannes 2018, wrote a pilot that won SeriesFest's Pitch-A-Thon 2022 and is releasing two independently produced pilots in 2023.
00:45:19
Chicago, USA