The genuineness of reality television doesn’t always represent the authenticity of its audience’s lives and emotions. The new satirical comedy short, ‘Unfaithful!,’ instead reflects on the growing absurdity of the means the participants and creators of so-called reality shows take to succeed.

Seri DeYoung co-wrote the film with her husband, Otha Cole. She also served as the director, as well as one of the producers with Cole and actor Jack D. Fleischer, on the movie. Besides Fleischer, the comedy also stars Ronald Auguste and Aimee McGuire.

‘Unfaithful!’ chronicles the antics of the titular 2007 reality series, which ruthlessly exposes cheating partners. The show’s host, Shaun Johnson (Auguste), discovers how much his life mirrors his troubled guests when his own relationship insecurities cause him to spiral. Ignoring warnings that his current guest is actually a stalker, he lets the episode fall into chaos.

DeYoung and Fleischer generously took the time earlier this month to talk about penning, helming, producing and starring in ‘Unfaithful!’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom earlier this month. The duo spoke about making the movie before it has its West Coast Premiere at Dances With Film: L.A. during the Fusion Shorts Block 7. The screening will be held this Thursday, June 26 at 7pm PT at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Film Factual (FF): Seri, you co-wrote the script for the new comedy short, ‘Unfaithful!,’ with your husband Otha Cole. What was your inspirating in penning the screenplay?

Seri DeYoung (SDY): So, Jack’s a friend of mine, and he wanted to collaborate and make a project together. He wanted to lean towards something sort of dark and interesting. So I was like, “Let’s do it.” But I didn’t know what the story would be about yet.

Then I was sitting on the couch one evening, watching some vintage reality TV with my husband. The episode that we happened to be watching really took a turn. We were laughing about it, and we were like, “This is so weird and so funny.” It was one of those shows that I call the “romantic crime” genre.

I had coffee with Jack the next morning, and I wasn’t really planning on pitching him this idea. But then I just started talking about it, and I was like, “Isn’t this crazy? What do you think?” He said, “Yes! Let’s do it!”

There wasn’t a script at that point. But we were just really into this concept of exploring the Wild West of early reality television.

From there, my husband, who’s the co-writer and also one of the producers of the film, and I started working on the script. Maybe a month later, we had a script and were jumping into prep.

Then a month after that, we had our shoot – it was a one-day shoot. A month after that, we were submitting to film festivals, so it was all a really quick process.

FF: Jack, you play Mark in the film. How did you prepare for your portrayal?

Jack Fleischer (JF): Mark was really a treat for me to jump into.

I feel like we kind of started with this one particular episode from ‘Cheaters,’ where it seemed as though one of the guests might not have really been dating the woman that they were tracking. It was never quite revealed in the way that we reveal in our story.

But if you looked at it from the outside, there was just something so off about this guy. You say to yourself, he’s clearly stalking her, and he’s using this show to do it. So that was sort of the springboard for our show.

Then in terms of creating Mark, I personally drew from some of my background with musicians I’ve known and people who have struggled with artistic careers.

I also kind of dove into my own shadow as an artist. I questioned what it means to be a failure. What happens if you really really give up on your dreams, and where does the artist go? (Fleischer laughs.)

In a way, I think Mark is this incredible, but troubled, work of art. So that was a fun thing to play with, and I love the character.

FF: ‘Unfaithful!’ also stars Ronald Auguste and Aimee McGuire. What was the casting process like for their characters?

SDY: We didn’t work with a casting director. We pulled from people who we knew in our community. Jack and I tossed some names back and forth, and every actor we approached said yes. That was cool, because it’s a wacky little concept. (DeYoung laughs.)

I always get a little sweaty when I’m sending off my script to someone else. I’m like, “Okay, what do you think?” They all said yes, so it was actually pretty easy.

FF: Seri, you also directed the film. How did you approach helming the movie during the production?

SDY: It was really fun to bring this to life visually. I would say pretty early in my prep process, I realized that the show within the short film needed to be represented visually. So the cameras that were seen on screen while the reality show was filming were originally thought to be just props for the short. But they ended up being practical cameras as well.

So I worked with my cinematographer, Carrie Morgan Glassman, who’s fabulous. She did a deep dive into what which cameras were used to shoot reality TV in 2007. She then went on this hunt to try to find some that we could rent that were actually usable. She tracked a couple down, and we used them shoot the reality show scenes for the short.

So there were times in the film where you’re seeing cameras on camera. Those are rolling at the same time, so we were often rolling three cameras at once. She handled that so well, and that was really fun.

Those cameras were shooting tape. 2007 was in the era before reality TV shows were shot digitally; it was right, right on the cusp of those shows switching to digital.

So when you see the shorter image in the condensed aspect ratio, that is the tape that we shot on while we were shooting on an Alexa Mini.

FF: Once you began shooting ‘Unfaithful!,’ how did you work together and with the rest of the cast and crew to build the story?

JF: I have nothing but great things to say about Seri as a director. Obviously, I’m biased as one of the producers of the film. (Fleischer laughs.)

It’s an ensemble piece, so it took a lot of coordination. She’s one of the best organized people I’ve ever met! (Fleischer laughs.)

Also, big shout out to Carrie Morgan Glassman, who is our DP (Director of Photography). Like Seri was saying, we had to coordinate the fact that the show cameras were capturing footage while we were filming with the Alexa. To have all of that fit together, my long-time assistant director for all my projects, Nicole Whelan, was instrumental.

So the film’s ability to both bring performances to life from the cast, and the crew keeping tabs on this very complicated set-up for a short, was amazing.

We had a good rapport going back as friends and filmmakers. So I had an inherent trust of Seri as a director. I also think the fact the cast was made up of people who were from our community played into our success.

FF: The short’s story incorporates satire into the story’s humor. How did you balance the story’s satire with the comedy?

JF: That’s a great question. I think satire is a very hard genre to do well. A lot of the time, I feel like it’s easy to slip into a cartoon, and you don’t want to do that as an actor.

So with material like this, I tend to approach it with a very dry, hyper-realistic sense. If I’m thinking, what would make this funnier, it’s actually going to make it less funny.

So we have to balance that fine line of what’s the truth of the situation? That’s going be the funniest thing. So getting down to that during the process is the key.

I thought our cast did a great job at just keeping it very dry, so that when you watch it on screen, it’s actually very funny.

SDY: I’m biased, obviously, but I think it’s hilarious. I’ve never laughed so hard when I’ve been in post (production) on something.

My biggest influences as a filmmaker are the Coen Brothers. Their characters are always people who are just living their lives, and are trying to just deal with whatever is in front of them very earnestly. They’re often very heart-forward, and I think that is so funny.

So that’s what I wanted to bring to this world – showing this real earnestness in a very serious way. So then you have this base and groundedness in a lot of heart. Then from there, I feel like you can play and get silly.

But Jack, Ron and Amy, who are our main leads, were so grounded. It was the reason why I approached these actors specifically; I knew that they would approach the material very honestly.

FF: You both also served as producers on the film, like you mentioned earlier. How did you work together as producers during the production?

JF: I feel like it was this fluid thing, which is rare. We all found a synchronization, in terms of delegating tasks and finding the different resources. It was so easy, which is rare.

SDY: I’d say, Jack, you’re such a cool EP (Executive Producer) to work with. This short is weird; I did a lot of weird stuff in it, and I feel like I was constantly pitching you weird ideas. You were always just so game and enthusiastic, and that was awesome.

To have that kind of freedom and support as a creative is so rare. Often times it’s a negotiation and a reining in of things. But Jack just gave me the green light to get weird, which I’m so grateful to have been able to do.

FF: ‘Unfaithful!’ will have its West Coast Premiere at Dances with Films: LA (this) Thursday, June 26. What does that mean to you both to have the short play at the festival?

JF: I’m very excited. The cast and crew will all be there, so that’s going to be a lot of their first time seeing it. Also, the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is iconic. So it’ll just be fun to watch it with a full house there.

We premiered the short at the Santa Fe Film Festival, where we won the Best Short Comedy award, which was a great honor. So we’re looking forward to seeing the movie again on screen with another audience.

SDY: I’m definitely excited about it, too. I’m a two-time alum of Dances With Films. I love them – they’re such incredible supporters of indie filmmakers. So I’m excited to be back again – they’re fantastic!