The Cavalry Productions, headed by exec producers Ross Grogan and Chris Wedding, has signed internet sensation Woodhead for both commercial and digital production work. Filmmaking ensemble Woodhead is probably best known for its comedic video short titled,Favre: Rise which parodied a Nike ad and thus far has garnered over 4 million views on YouTube.
Woodhead consists of director/writer Tony Yacenda, writer/comedian/actor Dan Perrault and comedian/actor/producer Sean Carrigan. The trio started two years ago when Perrault called Yacenda, telling him he just saw a hilarious comic that looked like NFL quarterback Brett Favre. "We got together and decided we want to make some really funny content, and Woodhead was born," said Yacenda.
The aforementioned Favre spoof is not Woodhead's only short garnering huge numbers. Their video to promote the Matthew Hussey book "Get The Guy" (titled "Kids Talk Dating Problems") has garnered over 2 million views, was featured on the Today Show and helped place the book on the New York Times bestseller list. Woodhead's movie parody titled, Average Party has so far received over 1.2 million views on YouTube, plus was featured on the Huffington Post, CollegeHumor and dozens of other news blogs. Other original shorts from Woodhead include Shark Pool, Extremely Dark Knight, Last Words and Vote For Tom Corrigan.
Key to Woodhead's social media following is the ability to apply offbeat humor with professional production values. The result is original branded media that gets noticed. "We find the absurdity in a situation, then use great writing and acting to focus on it," said Yacenda.
Carrigan added, "The laughs shouldn't come from all over the place. We describe our approach as intelligently juvenile, with an academic approach and cinematic attention to detail."
Even though Woodhead hails from the East (Yacenda and Perrault are graduates of Emerson College in Boston while Carrigan also comes from the East Coast), they have no problem tapping into L.A.'s pool of acting and production talent, leveraging dynamics such as comic Carrigan's connections to people in the entertainment business. Case in point is Woodhead's homage to filmmakers titled, The Search for The Shadoweyes Bandit starring Owen Teague, Cuba Gooding Jr (Jerry Maguire) and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead).
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More