Cringe Kid Kyle: The Musical
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Aloha! We are film students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Academy for Creative Media, and we are very exited to produce the first musical short film at ACM! Cringe Kid Kyle: The Musical is our capstone project. If you enjoy music with a little bit of funk, then be sure to check us out!
Logline:
The Humiliated face of a viral meme attempts to woo his crush with 360-no-scopes and a velvet voice.
Synopsis:
Cringe Kid Kyle: The Musical is a short musical comedy about Kyle, a lonely high school freshman, who wants to find friendship in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet hides behind a mask of anonymity online for fear of being rejected by others when they discover his true identity as the subject of a viral meme dubbed “Cringe Kid Kyle”. However, after a chance encounter with fellow freshman, Zoe Lee, during a match of Fortday, Kyle’s favorite video game, he’ll have to learn to come out of his shell and own his identity if he is to retain a relationship with this girl.
Budget:
In addition to funds we have collected from a screenwriting competition, these funds will cover expenses for recording studio time, equipment rental, craft services, props, costume, and film festival entrees.
Directors Note:
During the 2005 - 2006 academic year, a young man in high school took one of the most unflattering yearbook photos the world has ever known. Six years later, a friend of his uploaded the picture to Reddit and it quickly became the meme known today as “Bad Luck Brian”. Now, the original photograph was never actually published in the school’s yearbook and the student in the picture had intended for it to be a joke, but what if this wasn’t the case? What if one of the internet’s most iconic faces had come to be known at the expense of a teenager who was still only in high school?
This project is for those of us who have struggled to embrace our identity in the face of public humiliation. It is for those of us who would rather bury their heads in a video game than face the scrutiny of the real world. It is for anyone who has ever been too embarrassed or afraid to share a part of themselves with others, because I’ve been there and I know how hard it can be to open up to another person.
During the age of the internet and the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a time when it has been easier to protect ourselves from the world by hiding behind a mask of anonymity. As we collectively work to make sense of these confusing and difficult times, this project is meant to serve as a reminder to a generation robbed of a piece of its youth that the first step to overcoming the fear of rejection is having the courage to be honest about who you are with someone you trust. Hopefully, it will also help them laugh, sing, and dance along the journey :)
Here's a sneak peak at what our extremely talented composer has been working on!