Marcus Tortorici wants everyone to know that television is not just made in New York and Los Angeles. His single-camera situation comedy called “Re-Committed” was made by students right here at UA, and has been selected for showing at The New York Television Festival on Sept. 21 and 23.
“I feel like this is another small step that shows the south has a lot to offer artistically,” said Tortorici, the creator of the show. “I hope this shows Alabama in a good light.”
Tortorici, who is already in New York City for the festival, says people are surprised when they hear that he and his show came from Alabama. After all, out of 48 submissions to the Independent Pilot Competition category, only three came from universities and two of those are schools in Los Angeles.
“Re-Committed” was made in Professor Adam Schwartz’s TCF 457 class, or advanced TV production, and was the sole assignment for the semester.
“Students did it all, starting with the initial idea and throughout production,” Schwartz said. “I was there to oversee and served as executive producer, but it was really student-led.”
The assignment dictated that students make a show that follows basic TV storytelling, involved everyone and had the ability to be brought through a 12-episode story arc.
“It stressed collaboration and teamwork,” Schwartz said. “Everyone really had to rely on one another.”
The production team received $300 from the University and paired it with the team’s own $300 to make a paltry $600 budget. Many of the other 47 shows in this category were produced for thousands, but the single-camera setup and willingness of Central High School to let them shoot there for no cost allowed the team to make the show on such a small budget.
Along the way, Schwartz and Tortorici said they knew they were onto something, but never dreamed it would be this much of a hit.
“There were moments throughout production when we could see we had something really special,” Schwartz said.
Festivals across the country seem to agree. The film has already been featured at the International Television Festival in Los Angeles and was shown at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham in August.
“I never even considered getting into festivals like this an option when we were doing it, but I am really happy and excited about it,” Tortorici said.
As for the future, the show was made with an emphasis on continuing past just the pilot, and Tortorici says the team has a meeting with an agency this week to discuss just that. He also hopes that its showing at more and more festivals will create buzz.
“I don’t have any specific expectations, but I think the show has lots of potential,” Tortorici said.
