The short film, which has a running time of about 36 minutes, had its world premiere at the recent Tribeca Film Festival. In the teaser, actor Dennis Quaid narrates the life story of a sex symbol who’s too good to be true. At the height of his fame, Bronco disappeared from the limelight.
Szymanski said, “We finished this film right before the pandemic struck which meant, unfortunately, I was not able to direct it from home in my underwear. That is, however, how I’m giving this quote. John Bronco is one of those mythic characters you almost can’t believe is real, but thanks to the treasure trove of archival footage we found, you can see he definitely is.”
Other than making the footage look old, the mockumentary has taken a step further in satirizing its imaginary persona. The official website has an entire page dedicated towards the whereabouts of the fictional character. An online petition has been set up to “bring back Bronco from hiding.”
It’s a viral campaign, of course, so it wouldn’t be complete without getting the people involved. So by that token, if anyone has spotted the elusive figure, they can report their sightings on social media and tweet the hashtag, #WhereIsJohnBronco. When users check out the thread, they will be directed to @JohnBronco_66’s account. Bronco may not be a real-life person, but his profile does exist on Twitter.
Last week, @JohnBronco_66 tweeted, “Well howdy there friends, it’s me! Good-ole John Bronco. Coming at you from a shiny new phone that can take pictures and videos.”
In an interview with Salon, Szymanski talked about his experience making short films for Saturday Night Live.
He said, “I went from Funny or Die to SNL, and it was actually pretty similar. Even doing the digital shorts at SNL, you’re throwing them together so fast. You’re nailing down the idea on Wednesday or Thursday, shooting it on Friday, and staying up all night to edit for the show on Saturday.”
“Even though you have the best team to put it together and the funniest people to be in it, it’s always a mad rush to get it done. That’s part of what’s great about doing them,” continued Szymanski.
