VIDiGREET: the first online greeting card that's a living, breathing, laugh-till-ya-puke movie. They're funny, outrageous, stupid, irreverent, gross little comedies that say “Happy Birthday”, "Lets Hook Up", "You Blow", "I'm Sorry", "Call Me" in a way that's more yuk than yucky, more happenin’ than hapless. Browse around, sign up for a day or a year and start sending VIDiGREETs to everybody you know, don't know, want to know. Because now, everyday deserves a greeting.
Why Did We Launch This Thing?
We at VIDiGREET wanted to give people a better way to stay connected, to send online greetings that were more relevant to who they were. We wanted to give you, the under-served "crass mass," something funny, irreverent, gross and ironic. Look, there is so much about this world that is F*&#ed up, why shouldn't you be able to send a VIDiGREET and make someone smile, or laugh till they puke? Make sure whoever you send a VIDiGREET to has a change of clean underwear.
Cast List
Founder: Jeff Gorman is best known as the writer and creative director for Nike's first ad campaign to consumers and the creator of Nike's first TV commercial for the 1984 Olympics. Starting out as a copywriter in advertising, he went on to become a Director, helming countless TV commercials. From Lexus autos to Little Caesars Pizza, Staples and Bud Light, you have most likely seen his spots. He is the recipient of just about every advertising award that someone could win including the Clio and the Cannes Lion awards. Right now Jeff is directing most of the VIDiGREETs. Trivia: he is the inventor of "Thumb Suckers" by Wrigley, the somewhat disturbing thumb-shaped lollipop with a bubble gum plug at the end. Unfortunately, it is no longer being made so you will have to suck something else.
Editors: David Fickas wrote and edited some of the first VIDiGREETs. He is one of the founders of the comedy/writing/acting troop: Drama ¾. Hats off to David because he is now writing, directing and starring in "I Hate My 30's" on VH1.
Nikita Kleverov has edited most of the VIDiGREETs. He is also our on-set assistant director, sound designer, and a rap/hip hop artist with a new CD. Check it out at IvanIves.com. Nikita has a company called Pallium/Cortex, which makes him sound really smart.
V.P. of Production: As the producer of VIDiGREET, Ann Melby does, well, everything. That goes from 11th-hour casting to feeding everyone breakfast to making sure the crew shows up on time (breakfast comes in handy here), to getting the equipment and the animals all lined up. You can even see her acting in some of the clips, she's that good at multi-tasking. Hers is also one of the voices you hear on the VIDiGREETS. Not the male voice, idiot.
Cinematographers: Yes, believe it or not we are into high production value. There's enough stuff out there that looks like it was shot by your kid 12-year old sister. We want VIDiGREETs to look good. In other words-professional. And to that end, we have two great pros who have done our lighting and camera work. The ever-laid-back yet still black hearted enough to work on these, Curtis Wehr, and his fine crew. And Brian Boehner, a film school graduate of Cal State Northridge (CSUN) who in his quiet way has brought an outstanding sensibility to the look of VIDiGREETs. We'd also like to thank his ass-busting crew, Mike Norquest and David Neptune, who, when not racing around with lights and grip equipment, are eating plenty of BBQ and Fried Chicken.
Chief Engineers: Ilia Startsev, Bryan Devereaux and Matthew Leslie. So don't blame us, blame them. Thanks for taking the heat, guys.
Advisor Board: Coming Soon
Web Design Team: Effie Samios & Ilia Startsev of Istros Media Corporation and Jessie Resnick of Special Ops Media. Click on their sites if you want to see an outstanding client list and a body of work that leaves no doubt why these two great companies were chosen to design, program and promo VIDiGREET. Although they all get props for what we hope you'll agree is a stellar site, Effie is really the mastermind. She's put up with, er, worked with, er... known Jeff for over 20 years. In fact, we're not sure if she bosses Jeff or if he bosses her. Maybe they're even the same person.
Casting: We would like to thank Kari Peyton for providing most of our fabulous cast of twisted actors. Or desperate thespians, however you want to look at it...all our actors were total gamers and we appreciate them suspending their dignity. And what can you say about Kari? She has been Jeff's casting director for 10 years and continues to find the most memorable faces in the business. It's no secret that many of the people Kari has found and Jeff has used in their first gigs go on to get great exposure in other commercials and films.
Last But Not Least: We would also especially like to thank the amazing Craig Osler, Prop Master and Art Director extraordinaire, for his inspired mind which has solved every special effect problem that we have thrown at him, from blasting the smithereens out of a birthday cake to putting a guy in a full body cast, all for little to no money and a clock that was constantly ticking. We thank Bruce Boehner for his dedication to scouting the trashiest hotels and getting up at the crack of dawn to see if we could sneak locations (you didn't hear it from us). And thanks to our friend Paul Calabria for providing the animals and trainers who were unwitting participants in fart jokes and lewd gestures. But they always performed without a complaint and with a smile on their faces...but what the hell, they're animals. The trainers complained plenty. And of course we could never thank enough everyone else who dedicated their time and energy to the cause: friends with houses, multi-tasking crew members, gift horses. We promise to continue to look you in the mouth.
About Our Logo
At our first meeting, Brice Beckham from Drama ¾ asked what we were calling this new adventure. When we said "VIDiGREET" he said "it sounds like 'very great' but with an accent". So we had Brice (who is also a graphic designer in addition to a comic writer/actor) design a logo. We asked him to have the "VIDiMAN" (as we began to refer to him), come out of the "d" of "VIDiGREET" and make it look like he was coming out of a TV monitor with snowy reception. Jeff Gorman, our founder, doodled the drawing of the man and gave him the toothy, grinning, insane look. Go ahead, say it out loud: "VIDiGREET"!