SMC Student Premieres ‘Hit T.V Series’ Rob
TV Broadcast Production student Andrew Sanchez has brought his “hit T.V Series” “Rob” to Santa Monica College. On May 29, the co-creator and director hosted a screening of the project followed by a Q&A session that lasted nearly as long as the episodes themselves. According to Sanchez, “Rob” was originally conceptualized as a five-minute project for his Television Field Production Workshop class but developed into something greater when his longtime friend, co-creator and star of the show, Robert Lopez, joined the production.
“It was supposed to be a five minute clip for Media 48 as an assignment and you know we filmed in Portland, Oregon” Sanchez said. “Probably about three days before I drove up there, I called him, I was like ‘are you still doing this project with me?’ and he was like ‘yeah I’m interested’ and I said ‘OK.’ I have an idea.”
The pair initially became close by playing video games together on PlayStation around 2014 but it wasn’t until they attended high school together that their friendship was truly solidified.
“Andrew‘s always… just coming at me with some ideas and I’m just always ready to work with him and down to help out in any way I can so it’s kind of how I just jumped in and got into it,” Lopez said.
The mockumentary which loosely takes inspiration from Lopez’s real life is about a 20-something-year-old trying to navigate his way through life while dealing with mental health struggles. It uses humor to help balance its more nuanced revelations about the titular character.
“No one really talked to me about, like, confidence or, like, just being confident in yourself as like a man and and just growing up and I think it just goes back to, like, having the right people, mentors, like that could hold you accountable too, because I think accountability is very important. Being out in Portland, like, there was times like you said where it is really dark and cloudy and I just had so much going on and…I have a break, I find myself on my phone, scrolling, but it's like, that's not really the most productive to thing for you to do, especially when you're like in that high stress environment.” said Lopez.
Department Chair and Professor Redelia Shaw started off the Q and A with praise for the project. She was excited to discuss the creative and logistic aspects with Lopez and Sanchez. However, later on in the evening she took a moment to reflect on Sanchez’s hard work as a student.
“It feels great… I'm supposed to inspire students to greatness, and I hope that that's what's happening. I mean, this is a reflection of that, you know, he's moving it forward, he's doing amazing things with it.” said Shaw. “So, it makes me feel happy that I am doing my job… I hope most of my students feel that way. I know not all of them do, but I do have some that are doing amazing things, like Drewsky.”
Many attendees not only participated in the Q and A but they were also eager to praise “Rob.”
“They've got a lot of motivation and talent that's gonna bring them somewhere really interesting in the future and we're all excited about it. I like their use of music. They combine some, you know, electronic stuff with like The Beatles, which I thought was creative and uh yeah, they're editing is really tight,” student Jordan Pohlman said.
In an effort to get the word out, the duo who operate under Brunch Simulator Studios, have taken an active part in promoting “Rob” by holding other screenings such as the premiere they held at Whittier College earlier this year. The pair has also taken a more intimate approach by speaking with people individually.
"We've been doing flea markets and getting armed materials out in front of people, showing them a piece of the film, and then handing them a QR code that links them directly to our YouTube and our Instagram. And so, we've been getting a jump in views because of that,” Sanchez said.
Ultimately, the friends hope their project continues to make a positive impression on its viewers. If the initial episodes continue to find success, they may revisit the character Rob, for solo projects such as this one or include him in other work they create down the line.
“For me… I feel like it's a relatable character…I've had conversations where people like, I felt like that was me or…someone close to me was like, oh, I felt like he took that from me, but it's like… a lot of people are going through this and like that, it's okay. so, yeah, I think for me... that's like kind of the message and what I would like for people to get out of this just, um, you know, things could turn around, finding confidence in yourself for sure,” Lopez said.