Friendly Faces

A New Comedy Series

BrightDark Productions presents Friendly Faces starring Mic Evans landon sheetz written and created by keaton fuller directors of photography bruce james bales peder goodman music by jillian whitaker directed by bruce james bales keaton fuller joey loboda ron reynolds landon sheetz spencer michael smith matt tribble marissa vonn

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Friendly Faces

Running Time: 110 minutes (8 episodes)
Aspect Ratio: 2:31:1
Created By: Keaton Fuller
Produced By: Marc Bauer, Phillip Platz & Ricardo Rangel
Cinematography by:Bruce James Bales & Peder Goodman
Music By: Jillian Whitaker
Production Company: BrightDark Productions

Logline

A pair of unlikely friends set out to launch a rent-a-friend service that takes them on a series of oddball misadventures in which they help the lonely residents of an eccentric small town.

Synopsis

Ollie and Dean set out to launch Friendly Faces, a service in which they serve as rentable friends to provide companionship to the lonely residents of Harmony. Through wild nights out, a double date with a ghost, and comforting a homicidal clown with imposter syndrome, they help their clients through moments of crisis while trying to keep their own struggles with loneliness from coming to light.

Soundtrack

Available Now!
Find it everywhere you get your music. Literally everywhere.

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In the Spotlight

Official Selections

Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival (2024)
Oneota Film Festival (2024)
Houston Comedy Film Festival (2024)
Atlanta Comedy Film Festival (2023)
Des Moines Underground Film Festival (2023)
Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival (2022)


Accolades

Houston Comedy Film Festival Best Comedy Series Episode Award Finalist (2024)
Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival Golden Eddy: Pro-Am Short Form (2022)
Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival Audience Choice Award (2022)

Our Story

Friendly Faces is about the power and joy of community, both on-camera and off. Created, written, and funded by Keaton Fuller, the show was made with two goals: Telling a story about the power of building authentic connections, and serving as a means to build real-life connections in the Iowa arts community.

Each of the eight episodes are directed by eight unique, Iowa-based directors, and the show features dozens of Iowa performers who each contribute something special to bring this vibrant, colorful world to life.

After the COVID-19 pandemic created a nearly two-year halt in production, there was a period of time where it was unclear if the show would ever see the light of day. It was solely through the care and long-term dedication of our talented cast and crew that we are finally able to share the world of Friendly Faces.

Primary Cast

Mic Evans

as Ollie Hart

Mic Evans studied Theatre: Performance and Drama for Youth at the University of Northern Iowa. A mainstay of the Eastern Iowa Arts Corridor, Mic has been seen on several local stages, including Theatre Cedar Rapids, Mirrorbox Theatre, SPT Theatre, The Giving Tree Theatre and many more. Notable roles include: Quasimodo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Monty Navarro in “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” Jordan Berman in “Significant Other,” Renfield in “Dracula,” and SpongeBob SquarePants in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Musical.” This is Mic’s very first film experience, having taken acting for the film and voiceover workshops and classes with UCLA and the Acting Studio of Chicago. When he isn’t on a stage or in front of the camera, Mic serves as the Education Director at Theatre Cedar Rapids and is a freelance stage director.

Landon Sheetz

as Dean Overstreet

Landon Sheetz is an award-winning multi-hyphenate creative, his talent and prowess only overshadowed by his deep humility and frustratingly acute self-awareness. He has edited nearly 10 feature films which have appeared on Amazon Prime Video and whatever Tubi is, shot and directed many “online contents” professionally and incredibly unprofessionally, and has acted in hundreds of feature films, short films, Public Access TV episodes, and the aforementioned “online contents” – many of which were unceremoniously ripped from the internet (long story). Landon’s journey to radically reinvent and reconstruct media continues as evidenced by his involvement in a uniquely original and epically creative endeavor called a “podcast,” in which he and his other straight white male friend (Joey Loboda, Arrgh! A Pirate Story) talk about important issues, like movies and foods they like to eat. It is called “Call in Mockery” and can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts, and I–er, he would encourage you to check it out.

Episodes

Episode 1 — New Best Friend

Ollie takes on Dean to tackle their first client, which sends them on a trip to buy the perfect coffin!

Episode 2 — PuckerUp!

An influencer requests help rescueing herself from her online persona!

Episode 3 — Stabby the Clown

It’s time for the annual Halloween murder of Stabby the Clown, and it’s up to Ollie to save him from crippling imposter syndrome!

Episode 4 — Anne’s Night Out

A lonesome empty-nester asks the boys to take her for a wild night on the town!

Episode 5 — The Wishing Well

A client from Dean’s past forces him to confront his painful upbringing.

Episode 6 — Double Date

A double date with a man and his ghost girlfriend leads to an awkward moment for Ollie and Dean!

Episode 7 — A Dramatic Turn

The boys hash out their personal drama alongside a soap-opera obsessed client in a suitably melodramtic fashion!

Episode 8 — Farewell, My Friend

Ollie and Dean contemplate the value of Friendly Faces while taking a client’s corpse out for one final day of fun!

Principal Creatives

Keaton Fuller — Creator/Writer/Director
The founder of BrightDark Productions, Keaton Fuller is an Iowa-based filmmaker who enjoys tackling dark topics with bright colors and a smile. A graduate of the University of Iowa, he uses filmmaking as a means of community-building, with past credits including Depression! The Musical, Shitshow, and Pillow Talk. To ward off creeping existential dread, Keaton enjoys journaling in dive bars, periodically making Halloween his personality, and finding the dumbest outfit he can possibly wear.


Marc Bauer — Producer/Writer
Marc Bauer is a filmmaker based in Cedar Rapids and is a co-founder of Broken Slate Productions. He has worked on several short films including Dead Air, Skip Day, and Love is a Flame. Outside of Broken Slate, he wrote, produced, and directed a radio play parody, Detective Daly: Case Vulture and won BEST TELEVISION PILOT SCREENPLAY at the Austin Revolution Film Festival. Marc is a huge fan of comedy podcasts, red ales, and A24 films.


Bruce James Bales — Cinematographer/Director/Editor
Bruce James Bales was raised on rollerblades with a camera in his hand. This constant movement and exploration of spaces and faces led to a career in cinematography. Based in Des Moines, Bruce is the owner of DEFT Productions and a filmmaker well-versed in independent level production. As a Cinematographer his credits include SEXPERT FRANZEN (2017), UNDERTOW (2018), KNEE HIGH (2019), WELCOME TO A BETTER YOU (2020), DOMICILE (2020), ULTRA (2020), and NEXT OF KIN (2021). Bruce has also made various commercials and music videos for Extravision, Annalibera, MarKaus, Lily DeTaeye, EleanorGrace, and Field Division. Bruce also enjoys 35mm still photography, hockey, lacrosse, and double americanos.


Peder Goodman — Cinematographer
Peder is a Minneapolis-based filmmaker exploring the convergence of film, animation, and technology. His notable contribution to The 13th Doll involved integrating live-action footage into the game’s immersive environment. Currently he doesn’t shut up about rock climbing while he studies web development.


Jillian Whitaker — Music
Jillian Whitaker’s passion as a composer has always been grounded in the power of storytelling. Whether writing for film, television, or the concert hall, she brings a diverse musical understanding with story and emotion at the heart of everything she does. A native of Iowa, she moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and has since written and conducted original scores for a number of film projects by award-winning directors as well as written and orchestrated on countless film, television, animation, and trailer projects.

They're here to be your new best friends!

Credits

Ollie Hart Mic Evans
Dean Overstreet Landon Sheetz
Carla Abernathy Eva Andersen
PuckerUp! Shelby Louviere
Stabby the Clown Lewayne White
Anne Dawn Stephens
Alex Overstreet Katy Hahn
Gustopher Rob Merritt
Jillian Crane Tierra Plowden
Henry Horowitz Trenton Orris
Judy Cherryl Thomason
Writer/Creator Keaton Fuller
Directors Bruce James Bales
Keaton Fuller
Joey Loboda
Ron Reynolds
Landon Sheetz
Spencer Michael Smith
Matt Tribble
Marissa Vonn
Producers Marc Bauer
Phillip Platz
Ricardo Rangel
Directors of Photography Bruce James Bales
Peder Goodman
Music Jillian Whitaker