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Fred and Sharon’s Movies
Status: Undetermined
Nick Foister sent me a link to Fred and Sharon's Movies, which have become the latest viral video sensation. Fred and Sharon are a couple who claim to run a movie production business in Kelowna, Canada. But their movies are so bad they're actually funny. It takes talent to be that bad. They have over 20 videos on youtube. If you haven't seen any of them, at least watch "Who Needs a Movie?" (below), in which they try to promote their movie production business.
Fred and Sharon also have a website. Their site was originally free and open, but the majority of it has recently been locked down so that you need to pay to see it. However, the fee is only $1, so I paid the buck. Turns out that all the "extra content" you get if you pay is simply more videos freely available on youtube. I would have felt cheated if I had paid more than $1, but since it was so little I didn't mind. They deserve it for producing some amusing content.
The question that many people are wondering is whether Fred and Sharon can possibly be for real. Or are they either a) the creations of an advertising agency, or b) comedians.
I haven't had much luck shedding light on this mystery. Though my gut feeling is that they're genuine. It's their effort to make people pay for their site that most makes me think they're genuine. An ad agency would never try to restrict access to content. But a couple like Fred and Sharon who suddenly start receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors to their site, and are faced with a huge bandwidth charge, probably would decide they need to make some money to cover the costs.
Fred and Sharon's site is registered to someone called Rob Korbynn. The only info I can find out about him is that he also seems to be the webmaster of The Ram's Horn, an Ontario-based journal about "food systems analysis." I'm guessing he's must be a guy who provides web services such as site design to clients in the Ontario area.
Even though I do think Fred and Sharon and for real, I also think they're now purposefully hamming it up for the camera. After all, they must realize they've suddenly got a huge audience.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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I've been following Fred and Sharon eagerly, and I'm convinced they're real. The only question to me is to what extent they're aware they're being laughed at/with, and thus to what extent they're kinda playing along now they've found fame/notoriety.
They're in Kelowna, in the lower BC interior, by the way, not Ontario. There's lots of local footage in the videos to verify this.
Posted by Dave Rattigan in Liverpool, England on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 07:57 AM
They're in Kelowna, in the lower BC interior, by the way, not Ontario. There's lots of local footage in the videos to verify this.
Sorry, I see you were talking about the guy the site's registered to - not Fred and Sharon - when you said Ontario.
Posted by Dave Rattigan in Liverpool, England on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Wait a sec, if Rob Corbynn is in Ontario and the couple are in BC, that's quite a distance - a couple thousand miles or more; say 4 or 5 thousand kilometers. That strikes me as suspicious.
Posted by Christopher Cole in Tucson, AZ on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 09:33 AM
I posted a "Fred and Sharon Crapolicious Film Festival" and am 98.6% certain they're legitimate. I've worked in TV/video for over 20 years and think that if they were a hoax, their vids would be worse (although "Who Needs A Movie" is just awful).
Posted by Scott Schaefer in Seattle, WA on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Ah, Alex, you just think they're real because the Loch Ness Monster shows up in the opening credits of "Who Needs a Movie?"
The movie looks to me like they're trying a little too hard to be bad. Really talentless artists at least try to make their stuff good, which is where all the irony and dramatic tension comes from.
Fred and Sharon certainly ARE Canadian, though-- they pronounce "house" as "hoose."
Posted by Big Gary in Alamo, Texas on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 10:29 AM
The movie looks to me like they're trying a little too hard to be bad. Really talentless artists at least try to make their stuff good, which is where all the irony and dramatic tension comes from.
Fred and Sharon certainly ARE Canadian, though-- they pronounce "house" as "hoose."
Opening credits? I meant to say, Nessie's in the closing credits.
Aaaahhhggh.
Posted by Big Gary in Alamo, Texas on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Aaaahhhggh.
I work with a guy from Kelowna who turned me onto this who F&S;stuff. He claims that they're real but to make sure, he's making some calls to his folks in Kelowna to do some detective work.
Posted by johnny in Vancouver, BC on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Actually, Gary, that's Ogopogo in the closing credits. It's the Okanagan's alternative to Nessie!
Posted by Dave Rattigan in Liverpool, England on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Anybody remember Dave Thomas & Andrea Martin's hilarious commercials on SCTV for "Tex & Edna Boil's Prairie Emporium"?
These ads are remarkably similar! There'a bunch of them on Youtube, too. Just do a search for "Tex edna".
Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQl9jdKUmM
(I do also think these guys are real, though.)
Posted by Josh W. in LA on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 11:13 AM
These ads are remarkably similar! There'a bunch of them on Youtube, too. Just do a search for "Tex edna".
Here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQl9jdKUmM
(I do also think these guys are real, though.)
Anybody remember Dave Thomas & Andrea Martin's hilarious commercials for "Tex & Edna Boil's Prairie Emporium" on SCTV?
These commercials are remarkably similar. Here's one (but you can find tons by doing a search for "Tex Edna"):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQl9jdKUmM
I do think these guys are real though.
Posted by Josh W. in LA on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 11:17 AM
These commercials are remarkably similar. Here's one (but you can find tons by doing a search for "Tex Edna"):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQl9jdKUmM
I do think these guys are real though.
You need to visit a small town (a real small town, not merely a suburb) sometime. You'll see.
Posted by K on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 02:27 PM
I feel it's almost completely authentic, and all the more valuable therein.
I think if there was any hint of parody, the "script" would have had a flub or joke in it, but on it's own it's pretty straight forward.
People trying to be funny, usually try to be funny everywhere.
Posted by j k in LA on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 04:25 PM
I think if there was any hint of parody, the "script" would have had a flub or joke in it, but on it's own it's pretty straight forward.
People trying to be funny, usually try to be funny everywhere.
The Worst Fimakers In The World Award surely goes to the Brothers Polonia, namely Mark and his recently deceased twin John (J.J.), of Wellsboro, Pa. Their screen credits include "Splatter Farm", "Saurians", and some other crap so bad I can't even remember the titles. I mean, these films, really, really suck. They were distributed on VHS by the National Video store chain in the 90's, but I don't know if they're available in any other form, DVD or You-Tube snippets included. The special effects are incredibly bad, the sound horrible, the scripts and dialogue are leaden beyond belief, and the acting should in no way be confused with any real thespian talent. Having said all that, taken as a whole, their efforts rival the immortal Ed Wood in the sincere belief by the Brothers that they were truly making films worth watching. Truly so bad, they are good, I give you, Mark and John, the Bros. Palonia. Google and Enter at your own risk
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 06:02 PM
I got interested in the Fred & Sharon story a couple of weeks ago via one of my favourite websites, b3ta.com.
I blogged about them myself and wondered if they might be a hoax, a joke, a viral marketing campaign or whatever; And so emailed Alex and asked him to lend his expertise to the matter.
Alex has done (as always) excellent investigative work here and now I'm pretty sure that Fred & Sharon are for real. I'm sure their internet fame has not yet reached its peak, and they'll end up being right up there with the star wars kid!
Good luck to them, and I hope they make some money out of it
Posted by Nick Foister in UK on Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 08:00 PM
I blogged about them myself and wondered if they might be a hoax, a joke, a viral marketing campaign or whatever; And so emailed Alex and asked him to lend his expertise to the matter.
Alex has done (as always) excellent investigative work here and now I'm pretty sure that Fred & Sharon are for real. I'm sure their internet fame has not yet reached its peak, and they'll end up being right up there with the star wars kid!
Good luck to them, and I hope they make some money out of it
Max Headroom lives!
Posted by KDP in Madill, Oklahoma on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 12:17 PM
I also blogged about this last week: http://tinyurl.com/25ehrm
Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm still undecided really. Funny though regardless of the truth.
Posted by Mark Iddon in UK on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Hmm, I'm not sure. I'm still undecided really. Funny though regardless of the truth.
It strikes me as very similar to Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, great job!
Posted by happle on Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 07:42 PM
anyone tried out the phonenumber at the end of the video?
maybe then you can find out if it is real or not
Posted by frank on Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 07:05 AM
maybe then you can find out if it is real or not
Posted by Jack in Glasgow on Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I contact a musician who was credited at the end of the "Tribute to Students & Troops" video and asked him about Fred & Sharon -- actors or real? He responded to me with this:
"Fred and Sharon are not actors, they run a small baking business in Peachland and sell their breads at the local farmers markets. The movies are consistent with their characters, and they are serious about it. I do see why people would wonder though. They do make one of the greatest sandwich breads ever, and are really nice people."
Peachland is a name given to the Kelowna/Vernon area of British Columbia.
If you watch Fred's you tube video where he replies to someone's farmer's market video (in boulder) you can tell he's the real deal. I hope this helps settle this! I am also awaiting response from them myself for an interview.
Posted by Johnny in Vancouver, British Columbia on Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 06:15 PM
"Fred and Sharon are not actors, they run a small baking business in Peachland and sell their breads at the local farmers markets. The movies are consistent with their characters, and they are serious about it. I do see why people would wonder though. They do make one of the greatest sandwich breads ever, and are really nice people."
Peachland is a name given to the Kelowna/Vernon area of British Columbia.
If you watch Fred's you tube video where he replies to someone's farmer's market video (in boulder) you can tell he's the real deal. I hope this helps settle this! I am also awaiting response from them myself for an interview.
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