By Austin Lindner | Echo
Sophomore Doug Keeling has been performing in his sister's comedic short films since he was 8 years old. However, it was his recent portrayal of an 11-year-old as a freshman college student that earned him a spot at the New York Television Festival (NYTVF).
Keeling stars in the web series, "Danny's Choice," created by Doug and Alyssa Keeling ('12). The episodes parody educational PSAs from the '90s, complete with a forty-second theme song and narrated thought bubbles. Just like in a classic PSA, the hero of the series, a naïve elementary schoolboy, must deal with peer pressures relating to everything from fireworks to drugs. Unlike a classic PSA, however, Danny somehow always manages to make the worst possible decision, ending every episode behind bars.
Because Alyssa, a Taylor film and media production department graduate, now works as a videographer for the Salvation Army in New York, the two wrote most of the series over Skype during the summer and fall semester of Doug's freshman year. The Keelings filmed during breaks in the school year, and the first episode of "Danny's Choice" was published to Youtube in February of 2015.
While "Danny's Choice" is the first project to snag the Keelings a spot in the NYTVF, the two have been partners in comedy for as long as Doug can remember. When Doug was 17, he turned his passion for sketches and characters into a serious interest by deciding to pursue comedy from a writing and performing perspective, leading him to the film and media production program at Taylor.
After co-creating "Danny's Choice," Doug sent links to several comedians and festivals. In August the Keelings learned that their series was one of 50 selected for the New York Television Festival, out of a pool of 2,000 submissions.
The NYTVF is an organization that seeks to create a community of independent television creators, networks, studios, agencies and brands. Its annual festival highlights the best of its submissions in the areas of comedy and drama, including web series, TV pilots and pitches. During the week-long festival, workshops are provided and the selected entries are screened every evening. This allows independent writers and directors to talk about their projects, creating the conversations between new writers and established TV professionals that are almost impossible to achieve without an agent. This year the festival took place Oct. 19-24.
Upon arriving at the festival, the Keelings soon realized that they were among the youngest creators at the event.
"I would say I was the only person under the age of 26," Doug said. "People were constantly offering me beer."
Many of the other writers and directors also differed from the Keelings in terms of budget and production value. According to Doug, some of the pilots featured celebrity casts, including actors from "Pitch Perfect."
This didn't discourage Doug.
"I wasn't intimidated because of age or seniority or anything," he said. "Everyone was kind of on the same playing field, trying to get something out of it. The community was very receptive. Everybody wanted the best for each other."
The Keelings went into NYTVF with a simple idea in mind-to make valuable connections for future projects, a task they certainly accomplished. One of these connections was Funny or Die, a popular comedy website and production company founded by Will Ferrell. The brother-sister duo was able to meet with members from the group, who asked them to send their projects and expressed a desire to work with them in the future.
"Danny's Choice" was the final project to be screened, closing out the festival, followed by a Q&A session from the Keelings in front of a crowd of about 300 content creators and industry executives. According to Doug, the response was positive and they were able to receive a lot of helpful feedback from established members of the industry, including a contact from "The Eric Andre Show" on Adult Swim.
This week, Doug may have traded the bright lights of Manhattan for the cornstalks of Indiana, but he and Alyssa are continuing the conversations they began at the film festival. While they wait to hear feedback from some of the producers they met in New York, they are already planning new sketch ideas and thinking of ways to further develop "Danny's Choice." According to Doug, this year he and Alyssa will be focusing on creating new content to distribute and submit to festivals, with the eventual goal of achieving funding to create a web show and eventually a sketch television show.
Whether he is playing an 11-year-old kid under peer pressure or a 70-year-old farmer named Clovis, Doug will be pursuing comedy.
"It's the only thing I've ever cared about, really," he said.
