'Internet Famous' mockumentary skewers YouTube stars and their big egos

LOS ANGELES -- Five fictional Internet personalities -- the prankster, the comedian, the parody artist, the one hit wonder and the filmmaker -- are all competing in one talent competition.

The only problem? They have no talent.

That's the satirical premise behind Maker Studios' and Off The Dock (Lakeshore Entertainment’s digital studio)'s new film Internet Famous, which rolled out on iTunes Tuesday. Mashable got an exclusive clip (above).

The digital feature-length mockumentary, Maker Studios' first film, was directed by Michael Gallagher, and co-written by Gallagher and comedian Steve Greene (The Wedding Ringer). 

The duo both got their starts on YouTube doing sketch comedy and came up with the idea about four years ago.

"Their ego didn't quite match the content they were making. We thought that disconnect was so funny and so real."

"We were spending a lot of time at YouTube conventions and collaborating with online personalities," Gallagher told Mashable. "Over that time, we met a lot of people that would see themselves in a different way than how I think the rest of the world saw them. Their ego didn't quite match the content they were making. We thought that disconnect was so funny and so real and wanted to make something funny that explored that."

But it took a while to pursue the project as both the creators were working on the script between jobs. 

Finally, Maker Studios and Lakeshore got on board and the script became a movie reality.

But then they needed the right mix of people, including digital influencers willing to make fun of themselves.

Enter lead Shane Dawson, who Gallagher said was a perfect fit for one of the lead roles.

He was joined by a mix of fellow digital stars -- including Steve Greene, Wendy McColm, Amanda Cerny (Comedy Central’s Adam Devine’s House Party), Richard Ryan and Christian DelGrosso (in the Maker Studios network) --  as well as traditional actors, such as Roger Bart (Revenge), John Michael Higgins (Pitch Perfect), Missi Pyle (Gone Girl), Adam Busch (Empire) and Tony Cavalero (School of Rock).

For Dawson, the project was a way to parody the world he is so immersed in. The YouTuber is considered one of the OGs of the platform, gaining more than 7 million subscribers to his channel since launching it in 2005.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"I think for me it’s always important to be self aware and not take myself seriously at all," Dawson told Mashable. "Online, you get a lot of hate comments but you also get ‘you're amazing’ comments. Some people believe it and let it go to their heads. I think we’re [the cast and crew of the movie] here to say that’s not true. Don’t believe all the hype."

It took 18 days to film the entire project, including some scenes from the actual VidCon conference (which in the movie is called "WebCon"). 

Gallagher noted even since the film wrapped production, the digital space has changed. If he could make the film now, he joked he would include "Chewbacca Mom" Candace Payne, who became a viral star after posting a Facebook Live video of her wearing a Chewbacca mask. 

"The rise and fall of the internet star is so quick now," Gallagher said. "I’ve never seen anything like it...but there are certain things that don’t change like the egos and personalities."

Both Gallagher and Dawson said they are not nervous about how the "Team Internet" community will react.

"We didn’t really write about a a specific person," Gallagher said. "The characters we created are sort of a mosh posh of a lot of different egos and types of people online."

"If you get offended, we are doing a service and you should realize you need an ego check," Dawson added.

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