Special Entertainment (formerly Fortress Productions) is a
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
based media
production company
A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...
established in 2003 by
Bobby Ciraldo
Bobby Ciraldo (born 12 October 1974 in Skokie, Illinois, Skokie, Illinois) is a filmmaker and web-based artist whose works include ''Hamlet A.D.D.'', ''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'',Andrew Swant.
MKE Online, By Lilledeshan Bose (November 15, 2007), "The who who behind the ''What What''", accessed 02-10-2009
In 2014 Special Entertainment released ''
Hamlet A.D.D.
''Hamlet A.D.D.'' is a 2014 American independent film and web series directed by Bobby Ciraldo and Andrew Swant and produced by Special Entertainment. It re-imagines William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' as a bizarre and comical tour through the ag ...
'', a partially animated
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
based on
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's classic text. The film premiered at the
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...
after a sneak peek was featured on a ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000
''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...
'' box set.
In 2013 Special Entertainment released the ''On Cinema Film Guide'' app, based on the ''
On Cinema
''On Cinema'' (also called ''On Cinema at the Cinema'') is an American comedy web series and podcast starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington as amateur film critics. The duo appear as fictionalized versions of themselves. The show started ...
dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...
and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
. The comedic app features
Tim Heidecker
Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric.
As an actor, Heidecker's filmography includes roles in ' ...
and
Gregg Turkington
Gregg Turkington (born November 25, 1967) is an American comedian, entertainer, actor, musician and writer. He is known for his performances as Neil Hamburger, a stand up comedy, stand-up comedian persona he developed in the 1990s. Alongside Tim ...
reviewing over 17,000 films.
In February 2012 the duo projected iconic images from the '' What What (In the Butt)'' video onto well-known buildings in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the project. Documentation of the project was exhibited at Machine Project gallery in Los Angeles.
In September 2010 Special Entertainment premiered ''The Found Footage Show'' which aired on
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...
's
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
website. The series, hosted by Found Footage Festival creators Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher, showcased humorous found footage clips and ran for 36 episodes.
In 2009 they released ''
William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet
''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'' is a 2009 American documentary film about a ballet by Margo Sappington called "Common People", which was set to the music of William Shatner and Ben Folds from their album '' Has Been''.http://www.nashvillecit ...
'', an award-winning
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
starring and executive produced by
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
. The film played in multiple film festivals and was distributed by
Epix
MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary ...
(Paramount Pictures/Lionsgate/MGM). That year they also released Frankie Latina's ''
Modus Operandi
A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as .
Term
The term is often used in ...
'', an
arthouse
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
film distributed by Kino.Milwaukee Decider by DJ Hostettler (February 5, 2009), "Screening Room: Andrew Swant and Bobby Ciraldo", accessed 02-09-2009 The film played at the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
film festival in Los Angeles,
CineVegas
CineVegas was a film festival held annually at the Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada, that ran from 1999 to 2009, typically in early June. CineVegas was originally held at Bally's. The first Festival featured “The Best of the Fests”, sh ...
film festival, and the
IFC Center
IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is ...
in New York.
In March 2009 Special Entertainment released an
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
App called ''Shaky Advice from Samwell'' that functions much like a
Magic 8 Ball
The Magic 8 Ball is a plastic sphere, made to look like an oversized , that is used for fortune-telling or seeking advice. It was invented in 1946 by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman and is manufactured by Mattel. The user asks a yes–no questi ...
with 31 video clips of '' What What (In the Butt)s Samwell giving advice. In December 2010 a second iPhone App was released called ''Shaky Advice from Neil Hamburger'', which featured 30 video clips of
stand-up
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...
comic
Neil Hamburger
Neil Hamburger is a standup comedy, standup comedian and singer character created and portrayed by American entertainer Gregg Turkington. Distinguished for his misanthropic jokes and anti-comedy style, Turkington has released a number of albums ...
giving comical advice.
'' Something Theater'', a half-hour broadcast television series which ran during infomercial timeslots, was produced with artist David Robbins. The series began in 2008 and aired sporadically.
In February 2008 Special Entertainment released a
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the band Leslie and the Ly's called "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on guest vocals.
Past award-winning works include ''Studying the Lie'', ''Table Talk'', and work on David Robbins' ''The Ice Cream Social'' (winner of the
Sundance
A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony.
Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town
;United States
* Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...
TV Lab competition).
Brownmark Films was created by Special Entertainment productions in 2007.
Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...