I had a great chat with Morgan Evans and Patrick Noth who were the team behind the smart and hilarious comedy “Micro Budget” now out on VOD! We had a fun chat about independent filmmaking, improvisation, and stories from their early days at UCB.

THE STORY

When Terry (Patrick Noth) discovers he's about to be a father, he does what any other sane person would do. He moves himself and his nine-months-pregnant wife from Iowa to Los Angeles to shoot a low-budget indie movie and sell it to a streamer for a “fuck-ton of money.”

Documented by his cousin Devin’s behind-the-scenes camera crew, Terry suddenly finds that his beliefs about diversity, the #MeToo movement, and what technically qualifies as a properly financed film production put him at odds with, well, every single person who meets him.

Featuring a cast of comedy MVPs, the uproarious Micro Budget follows Terry’s disastrous attempts to make a disaster movie, and his inability to serve a decent lunch.

THE CAST

Brandon Micheal Hall (Poker Face), Patrick Noth (The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show), Emilea Wilson (Alternatino With Arturo Castro), Nichole Sakura (Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain), Jordan Rock (Bupkis), Jon Gabrus (101 Places to Party Before You Die), Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live), Hal Linden (Barney Miller), Neil Casey (Ghostbusters), Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite), Mike Mitchell (Twisted Metal), Don Fanelli (A League of Their Own), Nate Fernald (The Late Late Show with James Corden), Morgan Evans (Teen Wolf After Show), Kate Flannery (The Office), Matt McCoy (Seinfeld), with Chris Parnell (30 Rock) and Carla Jimenez (Nacho Libre).

THE DIRECTOR

Morgan Evans is WGA-award nominated writer and director known for writing the animated Batman feature film Merry Little Batman for Warner Bros. Micro Budget is his first feature film as a writer/director. In addition to feature film writing, he has also written for Teen Titans Go! (Cartoon Network), Liza on Demand (YouTube Premium), The Onion, and various Netflix late night comedy programs. As a director, his work can be seen on shows like Earth To Ned (Jim Henson/Disney+), The Legendary Dudas (Nickelodeon), The Fix (Netflix), and The Teen Wolf After Show (MTV).

THE PRODUCERS

Patrick Noth is an Emmy-nominated comedian who plays Terry in Micro Budget and wrote the film’s script with director Morgan Evans. He began his career studying at the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and his credits include writing for and appearances on IFC, TV Land, NBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, Netflix's The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, and digital platforms like College Humor and Above Average. Patrick has also worked as a director for Comedy Central, and made many independent projects like his comedy rap song and music video "My Posse" and the award-winning festival short Babysitting.

Emilea Wilson is an award-winning actor and producer who plays Terry’s wife Erica in Micro Budget and is married to Patrick Noth (Terry) in real life. Her film acting credits include Time Freak (Academy Award Nominee for Best Live Action Short Film) and What I See When I Look (Sun Valley Film Festival, SV Shorty Award Winner). Other acting credits include The Blacklist, Alternatino, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Happyish, Sneaky Pete, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Orange is the New Black. Her voiceover work includes Rockstar Games' Red Dead Online, and Hamster & Gretel for The Disney Channel.

Rob Hatch-Miller and Puloma Basu directed the documentary feature Other Music (Tribeca Film Festival), about the final days of a beloved independent record store. They've also been the producers of numerous music videos and other projects for artists including MGMT, the Postal Service, Kurt Vile, Aimee Mann, Real Estate, and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, as well as Funny Or Die videos, independent short films, and the Adult Swim infomercial The Newbridge Tourism Board Presents "We're Newbridge: We're Comin' To Get Ya!" with The Best Show's Tom Scharpling & Jon Wurster.

Ep. 202: “Micro Budget” Film w/ Morgan Evans and Patrick Noth