Paranormal Disruption is a startup satire in a haunted reality. An upcoming web series written and starring Nikita Redkar, Paranormal Disruption is a comedic horror series set in a startup. It contains big funny characters in open floor plans and nap rooms with beer on tap. It addresses cult mentality, a lack of racial diversity, bait-and-switch job perks, and the chilling ease of your replaceability. Sound familiar? Thought so! It makes you wonder why there aren’t workplace horror shows.
Nikita Redkar (Moontower Comedy Festival, BettyFest) is currently crowdfunding for Paranormal Disruption, which features a cast of familiar Austin talent and an all POC crew behind the scenes. Nikita took a moment to tell us why we should all rush to hit the donate button.
Nikita: Like most comedians, I’ve kept up a string of jobs to keep me fed and sheltered while I pursue comedy. From healthcare to technology to even a shady law office, I’ve kept myself afloat in all sorts of day jobs. And I’ve noticed one common theme uniting all offices.
Remember in the early 2000s when Blink 182 was all like, “works sucks. I know.” That was true! And now, we’re in an era of following our passions and scoring our dream jobs (hey, I wouldn’t be here right now if I wasn’t doing exactly that!) But somehow, EVERYTHING has become a dream job. Offices have taken the message of “bE yOuRsElF” and dangled it in our faces in the form of an exciting work culture, only to have it be a lowkey trade for unquestioned allegiance. The number one culprit of this? STARTUPS.
How is this funny?! Oh it totally is. We haven’t seen enough of startup culture antics on TV. Silicon Valley got us started, but now it’s time to get more niche and call out the rapid spread of cool offices all over the world!
How is this scary? Well, I’m a big fan of horror. We’ll talk about this again in another paragraph.
The series weaves narrative structure with sketch comedy. As in, each episode contains 1-2 quick sketches introducing us to the absurdity and satire of startup culture.
But the overall episode pushes the plot forward. The series centers around Nikita, the main character, who begins working at a startup with a mysterious, insidious way of conducting business. The employees aren’t normal and seem to be operating on a weird agenda.
Horror is the most challenging genre. One wrong emotion from an actor, missed cue from a director, poor edit from an editor can ruin a perfect scare. That’s why I love the genre so much – it’s CALCULATED. Also, I love a good scary movie. Especially when I’m watching with someone I want to cuddle. If my series can give you that excuse, well I’ve done my part.
Paranormal Disruption’s core crew is made up entirely of people of color. I hadn’t set out to make a point of diversity, but everyone I’ve ever dreamed of working with turned out to be a person of color. And the best thing about us is we never have the same idea. Different backgrounds bring different perspectives, and if you want to relate to as many people as possible, you need as many perspectives as possible. That’s why I’m pushing diversity in film.
But I need your help! I want to make Paranormal Disruption as perfect as possible and that can’t happen without money. Why should you support me? Because I love when comedy has a good message. You know that feeling you get when you leave a comedy show feeling energized and smarter? Or even when you have a moment in your life where you feel a little less alone and a little more supported because you heard someone voice what you were thinking? That’s what I want to do with all my content, ever. I use comedy to learn about different perspectives and to learn about things I take for granted. It’s kept me on my toes, and I want to do the same for you.
In short, Paranormal Disruption is a startup satire in a haunted reality. It contains big funny characters in open floor plans and nap rooms with beer on tap. It also addresses cult mentality, a lack of racial diversity, bait-and-switch job perks, and the chilling ease of your replaceability. I hope you support or share our project. Mostly? I just hope you enjoy the shit out of it.
You can make a donation to Paranormal Disruption on Indiegogo: www.indiegogo.com/projects/paranormal-disruption