It’s Getting Late With Owen Reed, an episodic pilot which had its world premiere at this year’s Dances With Film Festival, is a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary about a failing show that streams on YouTube.
Owen Reed (Jeremiah Watkins) is the presenter – the latest in a revolving door of hosts – who is ignored, belittled, or straight-up disliked by those who work with or around him.
The rest of the cast of characters are full of jobsworths, neurotics, the over-ambitious, and the lethargic. The situations in which they find themselves may be a little predictable, but are certainly funny.
This genre and style of film hit the heights with Spinal Tap and The Office, so there are huge shows to fill. As this uses the idea of social media so intensely, I wondered whether it would make more sense to slant it towards a particular audience who consumes long-form content in this way.
It’s Getting Late With Owen Reed takes aim at algorithms, social media, TV production, popularity, advertising, and a lot more – teasing a variety of storylines and tropes that could easily be expanded in a full series.
Would I watch this? Possibly, to see what happens next and to revel in Owen’s discomfort at not being recognised and his lack of awareness of being an indifferent presenter on his show.
It all fits around Alex (Marissa Pistone), an overwhelmed shortener trying to keep the show running smoothly. She is the only one who seems to care about the fate of It’s Getting Late.
Lance Kinsey’s dithering sleaze is one of the strongest supporting characters, one whose appearance disturbs like nails on a blackboard. He’s inappropriate, annoying, and icky.
Real music artists BONAVEGA and Northbound, and comic Jared Nathan, take part in It’s Getting Late as versions of themselves in this very funny – and presumably ‘unscripted’ – show within a show.
Writer-director Ryan McDougall looks beneath the typical mechanics of a mockumentary to find the reality beneath. This is a comedy, but I wonder if it has the potential or the drive to be more than just the punchlines?
It’s Getting Late With Owen Reed was part of this year’s Dances With Films festival.