- He was funny on Twitter and it changed his life. Follow a cashier manager whose Funny Tweets help him connect with Andy Richter and the writers of Family Guy & The Simpsons. Through interviews, they share how powerful a Funny Tweet can be.
- Funny Tweets describes the journey of Dan Duvall, a pharmacy tech in Victoria BC, who joined Twitter and discovered he had an ability to make people laugh. He connected through Twitter with established writers and producers in Hollywood, and Dan now works as a stand up comic and writer. Featured are interviews with Andy Richter(Conan), Alec Sulkin(Family Guy) , Matt Selman (The Simpsons), Danny Zuker (Modern Family), Elijah Daniel, Amber Tozer, and Dan Duvall. The interviews are discussions about Twitter and how social media has bridged the gap between the writer, an audience, and the television industry.
McGuinness compiled hundreds of funny tweets about a wide variety of topics, demonstrating how social media, and Twitter in particular, was the perfect format for a one liner. Some were written by professionals, but most were not, often just one off's by unknowns who managed to create genuinely funny jokes for no other reason than to make others laugh.
The film started as a single interview with Duvall. The interview formed the narrative spine of the documentary, and from there, McGuinness, accompanied by Duvall, travelled to Los Angeles to interview the Twitter connections.
Interviews were intercut with footage from The Simpsons and Family Guy which dealt with Twitter, set up in the interviews by those that wrote and produced them. There is also historical context provided, with footage of comics who performed jokes in the Twitter format, and even going back so far as Dorothy Parker and Winston Churchill, and how their witticisms would do well on social media. The film also explores the downside to social media, and how a misstep can cause career damage. Examples such as Gilbert Gottfried, Justine Sacco, and others are examined.
The positive effects of twitter are also discussed, most notably with influencer Elijah Daniel, also known as rapper Lil Phag, who uses his reach on social media to support gay kids coming out, often with emotional and heart warming results. Funny Tweets illustrates how social media allows writers to access a global audience, armed only with a phone.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content