AceShowbiz - Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, the creative duo known as BriTANick, faced a unique challenge when naming their feature directorial debut, Pizza Movie. The title itself was never intended to be an obvious crowd-pleaser, but rather an internal working title that stuck despite their doubts. The pair, who previously wrote for SNL, initially struggled to settle on a name for their “stoner comedy for theater kids,” which stars Gaten Matarazzo of Stranger Things fame.

Both Atlanta natives and NYU classmates, Kocher and McElhaney have a history of wrestling with naming decisions, as evidenced by their early sketch partnership name, BriTANick—a blend of their first names and the word Titanic. The quirky title Pizza Movie ultimately grew on them, especially after they included a key joke revolving around the title late in the film’s runtime. McElhaney recalls sending out numerous polls to friends to find a better title, but nothing gained unanimous support. “I remember shouting, ‘We cannot call this Pizza Movie! That is the worst title in the world,’” he shared, though Kocher has come to appreciate the title’s payoff, calling it “all the setup for this punchline 83 minutes into the movie.”

Pizza Movie follows the surreal journey of Jack (played by Matarazzo), Montgomery (Sean Giambrone), and Lizzy (Lulu Wilson) as they navigate their college dormitory lobby to retrieve a pizza intended to counteract the effects of an experimental drug they ingested. The film’s release on Hulu reflects the shifting landscape of comedy films, which are increasingly moving away from traditional theatrical releases toward streaming platforms. BriTANick knew from the outset that Pizza Movie would be a streaming release, but they did explore the possibility of a theatrical run, which was ultimately declined.

Inspired by Timothée Chalamet’s creative promotional stunt for Marty Supreme, the filmmakers decided to embrace the lack of a theatrical release humorously. Instead of a grand venue like the Las Vegas Sphere, Matarazzo and Giambrone performed an impromptu promotional bit atop a picnic table, humorously explaining their disappointment about the film’s absence from cinemas. Hulu, according to the filmmakers, was supportive of this playful approach. “Hulu was totally down for it. They knew that we wanted it to be in theaters; we'd had the conversation before,” McElhaney said. “Hulu has been really cool the whole time about us making fun of the things we want to make fun of and making the movie we wanted to make.” They filmed the scene quickly during a break in press events at South by Southwest.

Both Kocher and McElhaney acknowledge that one reason comedy films have declined at the box office is the genre’s saturation on social media platforms. As pioneers of internet comedy through their BriTANick YouTube channel and other web projects, they see their own contributions as part of this trend. “We're complaining about the thing that we began,” McElhaney admitted. Kocher elaborated, calling it “a double-edged sword” — removing gatekeepers has made the industry more accessible for newcomers but has also created “a ton of noise and distraction.”

Despite the streaming release of Pizza Movie, BriTANick has a theatrical film debut planned for April 24 with Over Your Dead Body, directed by Jorma Taccone and starring Samara Weaving and Jason Segel. This film is a remake of Tommy Wirkola’s Norwegian dark comedy-thriller The Trip (2021). For Kocher and McElhaney, working with Taccone—who was part of the influential sketch trio The Lonely Island—was a dream come true. Kocher recalled the moment they revealed their SNL writing background to Taccone, who responded with an embrace akin to “the hug of war veterans who've been in the battle trenches together.” The duo expressed enthusiasm about continuing to collaborate with Taccone in the future.