Ahead it of its 42nd season, Saturday Night Live has added a slew of new writers to its team, including Upright Citizens Brigade alums Joanna Bradley, Anna Drezen, and Kristen Bartlett, Kimmel writer Zack Bornstein, and standup Julio Torres. Also on the roster? Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, the comedy duo known as BriTANicK, who are behind one of the strangest, best short films of all time:
“Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses: The Movie,” is a comedy about—well, exactly that. The film was originally McElhaney’s thesis while a student at NYU, and it apparently generated quite a bit of controversy: The project “garnered no support or money from any of the faculty and nearly got him thrown out of class.” Still, McElhaney persevered, the movie was screened at Slamdance and SXSW, and BriTANicK have gone on to make viral sketches like “The Dinner Party” and “Trailer for Every Oscar-Winning Movie Ever.”
In 2012, they caught the attention of Joss Whedon and scored minor roles in his slinky adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing—and they returned the favor, casting the award-winning director as an, er, unusual kind of coach in one of their own videos:
Since then, they’ve worked with the likes of Danny Pudi and Nathan Fillion, but even after all this time, “Eagles,” with its wonderfully offbeat sense of humor, veritable maze of plot twists, and endlessly quotable script (“Did you take my ginger ale?!”), might just be their best work, and a sign of good things to come for this season of SNL.
