Work at a Pizza Place is a 2021 independent comedy-drama crossover short film directed, co-written and produced by animator Michael Murphy, also known as "BrightDragonfly". It was produced by Hayden Webb, Raylee Hamilton, Kris Sherman, and Ash Pickett, and it was written from a script by Glenn Chapman, Ali Fisher, Skye Herring, Gale Ross, Alex Howard, and Brett Tyler, in addition to co-writers Franky May, Hayden Marsh, Harper Robinson, and Shay Vinson. Songwriters Bailey Marshall, Kris Austin, and Kris Gates wrote and composed the music. The short film stars the voice cast of Jo Saunders, Skylar Read, Kit Day, Nicky Hamilton, River Stevens, Jo Simmons, Reed Francis, Reed Crawford, Drew Beach, Mason Tyson, Elliot Rogers, Hayden Parrish, Franky Tate, Lynn Owen, Reed Burks and Gene Walter. Based on the real-life island, Pizza Place is a small pizzeria where a group of six individuals go about their everyday lives in the short film on the island of Working at a Pizza Place Island. However, they had no idea what would happen to each of them in the next month—major changes, dramas, encounters with new creatures, including a shy Gengar, and their attempts to pull together to save the Pizza Place from collapsing.
Based on his experiences as a waiter, pizza maker, and cashier when he was a young adult, Michael Murphy began work on the short film in February 2019. The film was repeatedly hinted to in several of his videos before it was formally announced as being in development. With influence from anime and cartoon television shows in Japan and the US, the animation for the project was developed for a minimum of nearly two years, from November 2019 to the first week of December 2021. Work at a Pizza Place was released on Youtube on December 21, 2021 to positive reviews from media critics, praising its comedy, animation and writing. Since its release, the short film has gained a huge cult following among enthusiasts and followers. A sequel is in development, planned for a 2024 release.
Plot
Work at a Pizza Place follows six persons named Blair Fox, Bailey Barnes, Danny Dean, Jamie Graham, Billie Terrell, and Val Lee as they work at the island's shop Pizza Place. However, within a month, the owner, considered as the "nicest person in the world," was engaged in a tragic automobile accident and died as a consequence of his injuries. As a consequence, the new owner, Gabe Campbell, took over for the prior owner. However, after a few days of his arrival, things began to fall apart, as the owner became enraged and occasionally intoxicated while working, causing the restaurant to decline in popularity. Most of the staff had quitted and departed the restaurant permanently, leaving only 20 of them, which is insufficient for the owner to do the job and begin hiring additional personnel. One day, Billie worked on making pizza, which was then brought to a nearby truck by Jamie, the driver. Suddenly, a Gengar arrives from a portal, forcing the truck to "do the Thomas-crash style" before collapsing on its side near the water. The Gengar then quickly returned the vehicle to its original place, with Jamie knocked unconscious in the impact. The concerned Gengar then lifts him up and drags him to the pizza restaurant. After the beast slammed into the manger job, the owner panicked out and fled. By then, the majority of the workers have met the Gengar, which is now shy. They decided to give him an opportunity to work, and he began to make pizza.
However, their owner dislikes the idea of having a large creature, fearing that it will drive most of the customers away from the restaurant; however, with the assistance of some of the employees, the owner decided to give the creature a "chance," but if he failed even once, he would be removed and forced to live somewhere else. One day, the owner walks in and announces that many of the world's largest and "harshest" critics are coming to the restaurant to test the meal. As a result, the employees proceeded to decorate the establishment until the critics arrived and sampled the pizza. However, to their horror and surprise, the critics "hated" the pizza and left in a bad mood. The owner blamed Gengar, who blamed itself for the pizza restaurant's failure and fled to "somewhere". Angered by this, Danny Dean, who had formed a "crush" on the animals, resolved to track it down and try to persuade it to return. During the drama, a group of new owners abruptly enters the restaurant and demands that the location be transferred to them within 30 days or they would file a lawsuit due to the customers' unsatisfactory reaction. The next week, Val Lee experienced a severe panic attack and fled due to the stress. Gengar, on the other hand, hugs her, soothes her, and offers her a cup of water. Val, through tears, revealed to the creature that she started working at the restaurant because of his father, who was the major reason she became interested in preparing pizza. In an attempt to salvage the restaurant, Gengar and all of the employees began to protest and request a chance, but the owner did not respond.
Voice cast
- Jo Saunders as Blair
- Skylar Read as Bailey
- Kit Day as Danny
- Nicky Hamilton as Jamie
- River Stevens as Billie
- Jo Simmons as Val
- Reed Francis as Gabe
- Reed Crawford as John (in flashbacks)
- Drew Beach as Gengar
- Mason Tyson as Chef #1
- Elliot Rogers as Chef #2
- Hayden Parrish as Chef #3
- Franky Tate as Chef #4
- Lynn Owen as Chef #5
- Reed Burks as Critic #1
- Gene Walter as Critic #2
Production
In his early adult years, Michael Murphy worked as a server, pizza maker, and cashier at a pizzeria before going on to become an animator and YouTuber. Before he retired and started working as a full-time animator on his YouTube channel, he had "many expriences" there, and many of the ideas he had there ended up creating the concepts and narrative of the short film. Michael Murphy mentioned "working as a cashier" and wanted to develop a concept he had purchased out the previous month into a "film" at a meeting with a buddy in January 2019. His first intention was to transform his experience into a "full-length film." He worked out the most of the ideas and intended for the movie to be a comedy-drama.