Pizza Party
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Comedy, Thriller
Lynn, an unfulfilled pizza delivery driver, assumes she’ll have a normal day at work filled with annoying customers and an overly excitable boss. But after an encounter with who appears to be her clone, her day becomes much stranger and more dangerous than she could have ever expected.
Pizza Party
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Comedy, Thriller
3 Campaigns | Pennsylvania, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $2,255 for pre-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
18 supporters | followers
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Lynn, an unfulfilled pizza delivery driver, assumes she’ll have a normal day at work filled with annoying customers and an overly excitable boss. But after an encounter with who appears to be her clone, her day becomes much stranger and more dangerous than she could have ever expected.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Pizza Party follows what starts off as a typical work day for our main character, Lynn. She must deal with her boss who is obsessively passionate about his pizza shop as well as cheap customers with unreasonable requests. This is all normal for Lynn, until she has a brief encounter with a young woman who looks exactly like her. From there, her day spirals into an afternoon filled with mystery, paranoia, and existential danger. Is it possible that the fate of the entire universe is in the hands of three pizza shop workers?
Lynn’s story is largely inspired by our writer/director, Erin Schuessler’s, experience as a Domino’s delivery driver over the summer of 2020. While she never actually saw her clone, she did encounter many a strange or demanding customer in her time on the job. Pizza Party was also inspired and influenced by the 2013 sci-fi thriller Coherence. Erin was fortunate enough to partake in a Q&A session with the writer/director of the film, James Ward Byrkit. In this interview, James explained the basis of Coherence originated with asking the question “What if you saw yourself outside your house?” So Erin, with pizza delivery on the brain, asked “What if you saw yourself while out on a delivery?” and Pizza Party grew from there.
The past year unfolded in a way obviously nobody was expecting. When your plans are thrown out the window like that, it really makes you reevaluate what your goals are in life. In Pizza Party, Lynn has big ideas for what she wants to do with her life, but passively works her boring job in fear of taking any steps toward accomplishing these goals. However, the events that unfold over the course of this particular day at work force her to reevaluate if it's worth letting her life become consumed by her lackluster job.
We are so lucky to have so many cast and crew members willing to volunteer their time working on this project, but we still need help bringing this film to life. A large portion of our budget is going toward the art department (production design, costumes, etc.), but we also have location fees, festival submission fees, and of course we have to keep our cast and crew fed!
COVID-19
While we are fortunate enough to be filming at a time when a significant portion of our crew will be fully vaccinated, we will still be taking all necessary precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 on set. This includes required testing by all cast and crew prior to shoot days, providing masks to everyone on set, social distancing when not actively working, and frequent sanitization of hands and equipment. As a result, the cost of the supplies to take these precautions is factored into our budget in order to ensure the safety of our cast and crew is at the highest priority.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Share this update!
About This Team
The Pizza Party crew is mostly Philadelphia-based and met through working on Temple University's sketch comedy show, Temple SMASH. It's been a hot minute since a lot of us have been able to work together, especially since the pandemic, so this film is also an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate again.
Our Team
Erin Schuessler | Writer/Director
Erin Schuessler (she/her) graduated Temple University in May 2020, double-majoring in Film and Media Arts and Media Studies and Production. At Temple, she spent much of her time working on Temple SMASH as a writer and director, and eventually co-head writer. Graduating during a pandemic threw off her post-grad plans, but without her brief stint working as a pizza delivery driver, we probably wouldn't have the inspiration for this film.
Alex Nicoletti | Producer
Alex Nicoletti (he/him) is a writer/director/producer triple threat from Philadelphia, PA. He was a director, director of photography, and photographer for the comedy organization Temple SMASH for two years before graduating as well as creating his own short films. One short film, My First Shot, has won numerous awards at festivals including 'Best Short' at the Canadian Diveristy Festival and the Hollywood BLVD Film Festival! It will be released online Summer 2021.
More at alexnicoletti.com
Daph Bonner and Jaclyn Silvestri | Production Designers
Daph Bonner (they/them) is a recent Temple film school grad and aspiring screenwriter, director, and production designer. While at Temple, they were co-head writer for Temple’s sketch comedy TV show as well as the production designer of several award-winning short films. Their first feature film, a sci-fi comedy entitled “Chuck Lawson and the Night of the Invaders,” is currently available to stream on Prime Video.
Jaclyn Silvestri (she/her) is a freelance production assistant/marketing consultant currently based in Delaware County. She has worked with Daph Bonner before on their feature film Chuck Lawson as a producer/locations manager, as well as many comedy sketches for the show Temple Smash during her time as a Media Studies and Production student. After Jaclyn graduated Temple University (‘19), she worked briefly serving at a hip pizza restaurant in Center City, so her career has officially come full circle.
Xhenet Capani | Casting Director
Xhenet Capani (she/her) is an actor, casting director, and producer based out of NYC. She also is one of the Directors of Business Development at Greek House, an INC 5000 company. She is a proud graduate of Temple University (BFA MT ‘20) - where she met the lovely cast and crew of Pizza Party!
More at xhenet.com
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Pizza Party follows what starts off as a typical work day for our main character, Lynn. She must deal with her boss who is obsessively passionate about his pizza shop as well as cheap customers with unreasonable requests. This is all normal for Lynn, until she has a brief encounter with a young woman who looks exactly like her. From there, her day spirals into an afternoon filled with mystery, paranoia, and existential danger. Is it possible that the fate of the entire universe is in the hands of three pizza shop workers?
Lynn’s story is largely inspired by our writer/director, Erin Schuessler’s, experience as a Domino’s delivery driver over the summer of 2020. While she never actually saw her clone, she did encounter many a strange or demanding customer in her time on the job. Pizza Party was also inspired and influenced by the 2013 sci-fi thriller Coherence. Erin was fortunate enough to partake in a Q&A session with the writer/director of the film, James Ward Byrkit. In this interview, James explained the basis of Coherence originated with asking the question “What if you saw yourself outside your house?” So Erin, with pizza delivery on the brain, asked “What if you saw yourself while out on a delivery?” and Pizza Party grew from there.
The past year unfolded in a way obviously nobody was expecting. When your plans are thrown out the window like that, it really makes you reevaluate what your goals are in life. In Pizza Party, Lynn has big ideas for what she wants to do with her life, but passively works her boring job in fear of taking any steps toward accomplishing these goals. However, the events that unfold over the course of this particular day at work force her to reevaluate if it's worth letting her life become consumed by her lackluster job.
We are so lucky to have so many cast and crew members willing to volunteer their time working on this project, but we still need help bringing this film to life. A large portion of our budget is going toward the art department (production design, costumes, etc.), but we also have location fees, festival submission fees, and of course we have to keep our cast and crew fed!
COVID-19
While we are fortunate enough to be filming at a time when a significant portion of our crew will be fully vaccinated, we will still be taking all necessary precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 on set. This includes required testing by all cast and crew prior to shoot days, providing masks to everyone on set, social distancing when not actively working, and frequent sanitization of hands and equipment. As a result, the cost of the supplies to take these precautions is factored into our budget in order to ensure the safety of our cast and crew is at the highest priority.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Share this update!
About This Team
The Pizza Party crew is mostly Philadelphia-based and met through working on Temple University's sketch comedy show, Temple SMASH. It's been a hot minute since a lot of us have been able to work together, especially since the pandemic, so this film is also an exciting opportunity for us to collaborate again.
Our Team
Erin Schuessler | Writer/Director
Erin Schuessler (she/her) graduated Temple University in May 2020, double-majoring in Film and Media Arts and Media Studies and Production. At Temple, she spent much of her time working on Temple SMASH as a writer and director, and eventually co-head writer. Graduating during a pandemic threw off her post-grad plans, but without her brief stint working as a pizza delivery driver, we probably wouldn't have the inspiration for this film.
Alex Nicoletti | Producer
Alex Nicoletti (he/him) is a writer/director/producer triple threat from Philadelphia, PA. He was a director, director of photography, and photographer for the comedy organization Temple SMASH for two years before graduating as well as creating his own short films. One short film, My First Shot, has won numerous awards at festivals including 'Best Short' at the Canadian Diveristy Festival and the Hollywood BLVD Film Festival! It will be released online Summer 2021.
More at alexnicoletti.com
Daph Bonner and Jaclyn Silvestri | Production Designers
Daph Bonner (they/them) is a recent Temple film school grad and aspiring screenwriter, director, and production designer. While at Temple, they were co-head writer for Temple’s sketch comedy TV show as well as the production designer of several award-winning short films. Their first feature film, a sci-fi comedy entitled “Chuck Lawson and the Night of the Invaders,” is currently available to stream on Prime Video.
Jaclyn Silvestri (she/her) is a freelance production assistant/marketing consultant currently based in Delaware County. She has worked with Daph Bonner before on their feature film Chuck Lawson as a producer/locations manager, as well as many comedy sketches for the show Temple Smash during her time as a Media Studies and Production student. After Jaclyn graduated Temple University (‘19), she worked briefly serving at a hip pizza restaurant in Center City, so her career has officially come full circle.
Xhenet Capani | Casting Director
Xhenet Capani (she/her) is an actor, casting director, and producer based out of NYC. She also is one of the Directors of Business Development at Greek House, an INC 5000 company. She is a proud graduate of Temple University (BFA MT ‘20) - where she met the lovely cast and crew of Pizza Party!
More at xhenet.com