In early 2007, the on-line community was taken by storm when a 30-second viral video spread like wildfire. The now legendary “The Ball Kicking Fight Club” achieved the world record in views, a staggering 1.6 trillion - nearly one third of the global population. The intrepid creators of the video, Billy Lang and Garlyn Thornquist, became household names overnight.
But as fast as their notoriety came, even more rapid was its departure. As the video’s hits slowed to a halt, Lang and Thornquist fell into a deep depression, unable to understand the fickleness of viral video stardom.
Now, with a renewed sense of purpose, Billy Lang and Garlyn Thornquist pass their tricks of the trade on to the viral video makers of tomorrow. GET HIT follows them through their process of writing, producing, directing, acting, editing and marketing their latest viral video. Within their process lie the secrets to achieving true viral video success.
Demonstrating what it takes to write a successful viral video script, Garlyn and Billy begin the scripting process for their latest video. When they produce an 1,800-page script, they find that the cutting process is more painful than anticipated.
Revealing the secrets behind producing a successful viral video can be dangerous, especially when Garlyn and Billy solicit the financial assistance of Billy’s nectar-addicted, Uncle Drake.
On location upstate, the role of viral video director is examined as Garlyn and Billy not only struggle with their homemade crane made of rusty garden tools but with one of the stars of their video, Garlyn’s estranged 10-year-old daughter.
The viral video acting method becomes fully realized as Garlyn and Billy utilize the intense power of the “spud gun” to assist them with their performances.
For Garlyn and Billy, editing a viral video can be a risky game especially when heated kitchen appliances come into play.
In this epic finale, Garlyn and Billy hit the streets to market their viral video and encounter a fellow internet celebrity as well as a thug with a questionable “job” offer.
BILLY LANG
Originally from Manawa, Wisconsin, Billy was raised by his mother. His father, a sergeant in the Marines, was out of the picture. When Billy was ten, he was sent to a summer camp for boys with behavioral disorders and met Garlyn Thornquist. While there, they wrote their first and only play about two Vietnam veterans called 21 Clicks. Camp counselors told Billy’s mother that the play was “emotionally charged” and “included one of the most disturbingly violent scenes they’d ever seen.” The head counselor told Billy’s mother that the two boys should not be allowed to remain friends. Billy was then sent to a boarding school in Massachusetts for the rest of his childhood. Twenty years later, he reunited with Garlyn at a falconer’s convention. Billy had just purchased his first digital video camera. Garlyn had just gotten out of a divorce and was moving to New York City. Shortly after their reunion they made “The Ball Kicking Fight Club” for which Billy received a “Best Viral Video Actor” award.
GARLYN THORNQUIST
After his father’s suicide in 1979, Garlyn’s mother abandoned him to be raised in an orphanage. He was subsequently foster parented by a well-known erotic filmmaker in central Minnesota. Garlyn met Billy Lang at “The Troubled Seedling” summer camp in 1984. He is one of the playwrights behind the highly controversial, 21 Clicks, which camp audiences described as “emotionally charged” and “horribly disturbed”. He continued to experiment with different art forms throughout his formative years ranging from clay-mation to kabuki theatre. In the summer of 1990, his creative exploration came to an abrupt halt when a peyote healing ceremony in Mexico resulted in an eight-year coma. When he came to in 1998, Garlyn married a Swedish woman, had a daughter, and divorced in 2007. It has always been his dream to become a viral video maker in New York City. He is the co-creator of the most viewed viral video of all time, “The Ball Kicking Fight Club,” for which he won a “Best Viral Video Actor” award.
