—ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT—

KING ED

King Ed - A short film by Nick Fascitelli
Starring Sufe Bradshaw (Veep) and Emmy-nominated Brendan Scannell (Heathers)

Format Specifications

Film Type: Short
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Subgenre: LGBT
Runtime: 22 minutes, 37 seconds
Completion Date: June 30, 2024

Production Budget: $65,000
Country of Origin: USA
Country of Filming: USA
Film Language: English
Shooting Format: Alexa mini, ProRes 4444XQ 3.2k

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Film Color: Color
Student Project: No
First-Time Filmmaker: Yes

—Teaser—

—Cast & Crew—

“ED FRIEDMAN” - Brendan Scannell

Brendan is an actor, writer, and comedian most known for his starring role in the Netflix dark comedy series Bonding, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. He previously co-starred in Heathers, Paramount Network’s TV adaptation of the cult classic film, and in BJ Novak’s FX anthology series The Premise, opposite Kaitlyn Dever and Lucas Hedges.

“THE KETAMINE ORACLE” - Sufe Bradshaw

Sufe is best known for her role as Sue, the secretary to Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO Comedy Veep and has since appeared in the HBO series Lovecraft Country. Her film credits include The Getback opposite Dermot Mulroney, Little Dixie with Frank Grillo, and Star Trek with Chris Pine.

“JOSEPH,” WRITER/DIRECTOR - Nick Fascitelli

Nick is a comedy television writer whose credits include B Positive, Fuller House, and Sullivan & Son. His work for LGBT media representation has been featured in The Advocate and Instinct Magazine, and his creation of the first LGBT character on Emmy-nominated family sitcom Fuller House earned the show a GLAAD award nomination. Nick was also the subject of an episode of This American Life for his work with Behavioral Theorist Dr. Will Felps, and more recently guest-starred on the long-running animated comedy The Simpsons.

“LEON" - Jack Plotnick

Jack is an award-winning actor who has performed in countless TV shows, commercials and feature films, including Grace and Frankie, Z Nation, The Mentalist, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Reno 911, Action, Ellen, and Drawn Together, Meet the Fockers, Down With Love, Rubber, Wrong, and Gods and Monsters. Jack co-wrote and directed Space Station 76, starring Patrick Wilson and Liv Tyler, co-wrote and directed the Broadway musical, Disaster!, and executive-produced and starred in the LGBT cult hit Girls Will Be Girls.

“LOUISE” - Nancy Cohen

Nancy Cohen is an Emmy and WGA nominated television writer whose credits include King of Queens, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Fuller House, Blind Date, Alexa & Katie, Baby Daddy, Surfside
Girls and Gravity Falls. She’s had pieces published in Harper Collins’ “More Mirth of a Nation” and Crown’s “Howl: A Collection of Contemporary Dog Wit”. Nancy has also voiced numerous characters for various television shows and commercials.

“THE CONDUCTOR” - Nathan Frizzell

Nathan Frizzell is an award-winning actor and writer whose on-screen credits include regular and recurring roles on Hot In Cleveland, the international digital series Bloomers, and Netflix's Alexa & Katie. He's also been directed by David Lynch in Twin Peaks: The Return and Oscar-winner William Friedkin. Among his writing credits are scripts for Netflix, Disney and the award-winning short film Endless Love.

“CHORUS” - Gay Men’s Chorus Los Angeles

For over forty years, the GMCLA has been a leader among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBTQ) and performing arts organizations; supporting LGBT youth, challenging homophobia, and exposing new communities to their message of equality.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brad Bradley

Brad Bradley's television credits include United States of Al, The Ranch, Fuller House, and The Thundermans. He is also a passionate independent filmmaker who has been producing his own for nearly two decades.

LINE PRODUCER - Marilyn Majich
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - TJ Williams Jr.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER - Justine Wu
EDITOR - Monique Batac
EDITOR - Giselle Murillo
COSTUME DESIGNER - Bailey Soudelier
UNIT PRODUCTION MANAGER - Marilyn Majich
1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Eric Schwartzmiller
DIALOGUE COACH - Gwenn Victor
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER - Brendan Levy
1st AC - Felipe Mieres
DIT - Emilio Pousa
BEST BOY GRIP - Dushene Foster
ADDITIONAL GRIP - Richard Brush
ELECTRIC - Valentine Salembier
SOUND - Bartek Swiatek
SOUND ENGINEER - Christian Amonson
HAIR - Anna Maria Orzano
ASSISTANT HAIR STYLIST - Robin Rodriguez
MAKEUP - Farah Bunch
ASSISTANT MAKEUP ARTIST - Heather Napolitano
SET DRESSER - Thomas “Noe” Welch
SPECIAL EFFECTS - Frank Balzer
CHROMA KEY - Waymon Boone
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR - Keiann Collins
CONDUCTING CONSULTANT - Jackson Janis
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER - Kaya Savas
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS - Marie Bland, Kenny Dantes, Billy Horn, Selina Gallegos, Jared Landis, Oscar Lopez, Rohit Malhotra, Mitch Metcalfe, Tommy Monks
COLORIST - Jenny Montgomery (Company 3)
COLOR PRODUCER - Nick Krasnic
RE-RECORDING MIXER - Andrew Rice
COMPOSER - Erick Del Aguila
CATERER - Susan Fascitelli and Ross Finke
TITLE DESIGN - Christoph Michaud
LEGAL CONSULTANT - Rohit Malhotra

—Director’s Statement—

I first heard the anecdote that inspired King Ed while working at the Seven Gables Theater in Seattle; my fellow ticket taker gave a terrible date a second chance after he played a mixtape so perfect for him that the author had to be his musical soulmate. When my friend found out the bad date didn’t actually make the playlist, he went sleuthing all over town for the mysterious author. I was an English major at UW at the time and became fixated on figuring out how turn the tale into something, anything— it was a short story, then a play, and then why not a novella? — Never quite understanding why my brain wouldn’t let go of the story.

It took me twenty years of writing television, personal gay misadventures, and expensive therapy to finally crack the script: What kind of character would find the guarantee of a soulmate most valuable? A codependent love addict. Like I was in my twenties—and, okay, early thirties—Ed is searching for an identity in other men. I then realized the film’s true mystery was less about finding who authored the playlist and more about finding what Ed actually needs.

After twenty years on a twenty page script, the rest of the movie seemed to come together much faster. I found my perfect Ed in Brendan Scannell, fresh off his starring role in the Netflix dark comedy
series Bonding, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. Sufe Bradshaw, best known for her role as Sue in HBO’s Veep, was my immediate choice for the Ketamine Oracle. And I’m still in shock we got to work with Jack Plotnick, my favorite character actor and the true identity of my favorite drag queen, Evie Harris. TJ Williams Jr., our award- winning cinematographer whose films have screened internationally at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca, SxSw, and SIFF, brought his rare talent with vintage Panavision lenses and enabled our practical transition effects. The Gay Men’s Chorus Los Angeles singing a hymn in the movie was icing on the cake.

—Logline & Synopsis—

Logline: A wounded romantic hunts for the author of a mysterious, “perfect” playlist he believes was made by his soulmate. But only because a medically-licensed witch told him so.

Brief Synopsis: Ed didn’t just get dumped, per se—but he did encounter a “relationship upheaval.” And that break-up didn’t leave him with crippling depression, necessarily—he’s just not “emotionally thriving.” His hunt for a cure leads him to the office of The Ketamine Oracle: an alternative therapist- slash-modern-day-myth who just might be addicted to some substances herself.

Her drug-fueled visions reveal two things: that a) Ed fell for his ex-boyfriend Joseph when he heard the “perfect playlist” Joseph played on their first date, and b) that said ex-boyfriend did not, in fact, make said playlist. Instantly reinvigorated, Ed launches a search for the true author of the playlist, and the soul mate that awaits him.

Full Synopsis: Ed Friedman needs help. He takes a seat in a sterile waiting room to get just that. But then his name is called, and he hands his forms off at the front desk, opens his doctor’s door, and steps into a floating void. The Ketamine Oracle waits for him there, reclining on her medical bed like Cleopatra. Ed confesses everything he’s tried to get over this latest boy—who he’s aware he hates—and how he recognizes he’s trapped in some kind of cycle. She lays him gently on the bed and then curses him in ancient Greek: “Time, which sees all things, will find you out.” Then she sniffs enough ketamine to “activate her powers,” and maybe a little more for luck. As he nervously tries to run, she grabs his hand, and they flashback six months to the source of his misery.

Ed’s about to leave a bad date with a horny scoundrel named Joseph when his favorite song starts to play. So he stays. And then the playlist continues with his next favorite song, and his next. Now he’s in love— which he impulsively confesses to Joseph’s delight. Joseph may seem like a douchebag, but for better or worse, that playlist means he’s his soulmate. But when the flashback ends, the Oracle happily reveals to Ed what the ketamine told her: Joseph didn’t make the playlist. “Good news, right?”

Ed storms over to Joseph’s to confront him, interrupted by Joseph’s new man Leon and a possibly real Ketamine Oracle. Joseph’s suddenly jealous when he realizes that Ed isn’t there to get him back, but Leon’s horror stories convinces him to tell Ed who actually made the playlist. So Ed ubers to a chapel in Pasadena, where the playlist’s supposed author leads a chorus of elderly gay men in a beautiful hymn. A dumbstruck Ed is in love before the angelic conductor even turns around. In bed with his new “soulmate” after a perfect date, Ed impulsively confesses his love. The conductor looks at him with pity.

Joseph drives a rejected Ed home in the middle of the night, graciously offering him a penis to cry on. The Ketamine Oracle appears again, who Ed angrily calls an addict. The oracle replies that he’s no better than her; the conductor was just him chasing his next hit. Their conversation is interrupted when Ed realizes the radio is broadcasting the same playlist he’s been chasing, and demands Joseph drive to the station to find his -new- new soulmate.

With some uncharacteristic help from Joseph, Ed breaks into the sketchy radio station through a gap in the gate. There he discovers DJ Louise, who reveals the playlist was a contest entry from fifteen years ago. Ed asks to see the CD, and its labelled in marker: ‘King Ed’s Summer Jams 2009.' He authored it himself. A disappointed and confused Ed tries to leave, but Louise offers Ed the contest’s unclaimed prize: to be DJ for a day. She walks a dazzled Ed through the switchboard controls. He confidently speaks into the mic as his broadcast travels over the city, introducing himself as King Ed and announcing a new song on his playlist.

Nick Fascitelli - Writer/Director - nfascitelli@gmail.com 425.941.7329

Marilyn Majich - Line Producer - marilynamajich@gmail.com - KingedProd@gmail.com

Brad Bradley - Executive Producer - bradmbradley@gmail.com

Instagram: @kingedthemovie