Chaotic Moon Studios takes laughter seriously, as evidenced by our sponsorship of the Moon Tower Comedy & Oddity Festival for the second year in a row. The fourth annual festival, which boasts such headliners as Patton Oswalt, Wanda Sykes, Maria Bamford and John Mulaney, and runs April 22-25, 2015.
While most companies were content to have their logos appear throughout the festival, we produced five, two-minute comedic videos of their own that ran before the fifty-plus shows across the festival's seven theatre venues.
"We have a good relationship with Ben Lamm, Chaotic Moon's CEO," said Jim Ritts, CEO and executive director of The Austin Theatre Alliance, "so we knew whatever they were planning was going to be hilarious and well-executed."
Turning the concept of sponsorship on it's head, our CEO decided it would be funnier if we portray ourselves as a company the festival instantly regrets partnering with. So we went with the theme: Chaotic Moon Studios, "The Sponsor From Hell."
"Most people think comedy and technology make strange bedfellows," said Lamm, "but not us. We pride ourselves on designing premium, user-centric digital experiences for the biggest brands in the world. Just like great comedy, when a digital product sucks, it's immediately obvious. Both require incredible focus, talent and creative innovation."
For Chaotic Moon, the festival is a great opportunity for us support local and international comedy talent. "It's also a great event for our clients and let's us reward our entire organization," said Lamm. "Our team works very hard, they deserve to kick back and have some fun at the show."
The videos feature a series of increasingly outrageous exchanges between Lamm, played by Chaotic Moon's EVP of Technology, C.K. Sample, and the actual Jim Ritts. Among other things, the sketches parody the involuntary tattooing of festival comedians, an attempted blackmailing of Jerry Seinfeld and a menacing taser drone employed to persuade Ritts into Lamm's way of thinking. The rest of the cast is made up of Chaotic Moon employees, including a cameo by Mike Erwin, Chaotic Moon's co-founder and CFO, as an annoyed elevator repairman.
Originally, Lamm was cast to play himself, but his heavy travel schedule, due to the company's rapid growth and new offices in Dallas and Houston, caused a last minute casting change. "I was bummed, but I knew C.K. and Jim would kill it, and they did."
