We’re Still Friends - From Sketches to Series

I co-founded a comedy collective in Los Angeles with a group of close friends. What began as sketch comedy filmed for fun slowly gained traction, eventually landing us a digital series deal with NBC and SyFy — their first digital comedy, publicly announced in The Hollywood Reporter.

As a co-creator, writer, and actor on Underlings I helped shape the series from concept through execution. I also designed the full identity system for G.O.R.I.L.L.A., the fictional evil organization at the heart of the show. That system came to life in the hands of our set designers, appearing on everything from large-format signage to coffee mugs and props across a custom-built set in the historic LA Times building. The show featured actors from Always Sunny, Mr. Show, and Game of Thrones, and was co-directed by Josh Forbes and Isaac Rentz, who we’re also co-creators.

Design also played a role in how we pitched. We presented to Amazon, Netflix, and others before landing the deal with NBC, and our pitch decks helped communicate the concept. It sharpened my creative thinking and my pitching chops.

This project taught me something essential about creative leadership: as an idea grows, you have to guide it — but also let go. You have to empower others to contribute, give strong direction, and then trust the talent you’ve brought together. Watching our story expand with collaborators, cast, and crew made the final result far richer than anything we could have done alone.

We went on to produce an animated pilot for Comedy Central, animated by ShadowMachine (Bojack Horseman) and starring Paul Scheer, and had multiple feature scripts optioned. But Underlings remains the purest example of what can happen when storytelling, design, and belief in an idea all come together. It’s still one of the wildest things I’ve ever been part of, and easily one of the most fulfilling