Target Audience – a short dark comedy film

Sponsored Feature: Melvik Productions

Target Audience is a new dark comedy short written and directed by Bernardo Hippert and co-written by Pedro Muller.

Watch the trailer here:

Target Audience delves into the absurd world of social media’s obsession with influence. Meet Mark, a famous hitman-turned-influencer whose charisma and controversial “career” have amassed him millions of followers – and countless targets. As his online popularity grows, so do the cracks in his perfectly curated persona, exposing the hypocrisy of his audience and the bizarre contradictions of a culture that demands perfection while thriving on anything that is attention grabbing. Who is influencing who?

A Q&A with writer/director Bernardo Hippert

Welcome, Bernardo! Thanks for chatting with us about your new dark comedy, Target Audience. What inspired you to tell this story?

Thank you for having me! I feel like the main inspiration was an attempt to make the countless hours I wasted scrolling in the last years count for something. I was noticing how I sometimes didn’t even want to watch whatever was on the screen. Grabbing attention was the only purpose of most of the content. Not a means, but an end in itself. So, it all came from this question of where is this trend taking us?

I feel like the main inspiration was an attempt to make the countless hours I wasted scrolling in the last years count for something.

How did you approach the tone of the film—especially balancing comedy and horror elements?

We had so many talks about this. It was one of the first things I discussed with Andrew, our lead actor. It was essential that he was a part of that universe and not above it. For it to work as a satire, the characters could not be aware of the irony. We’d talk about some of Mark’s hit jobs as if they were performances, like an athlete’s. I believe that having the characters saying and doing these things with such a straight face is what gives strength to the horror and comedy elements.

What was the biggest challenge you faced during production?

I am still trying to believe it, but the production ran uncommonly smoothly, thanks to our wonderful crew. If I had to point out one challenge, it would probably be the first scene, in which Mark asphyxiates a man with a pillow. It was a night scene, which is always hard. And a kill scene, which is even harder, especially because of the safety considerations. The big challenge was having the pillow feathers falling around. A few takes (and pillow cases) later, we managed to get it right!

Can you share a favorite moment from set—planned or unexpected?

There were so many fun moments on set! I’ll give you one of each. Planned: it was so much fun shooting the Sharply commercial. Having edited a lot of ads, it was funny being on the other side. It was probably the clearest scene in my mind during pre-production. Unexpected: I think it was the first time I saw Sam’s makeup work for one of the scenes. I knew he was incredible at his craft, but seeing it in real life was very shocking, in the best way possible.

What are some of the key influences that helped shape the film’s visual style?

I had a lot of talks with Joél, our cinematographer, about that. Our visual influences came from all over the place. We drew from thriller masters, such as Hitchcock, DePalma, and Argento. But the main source of inspiration was really the virtual world. There are so many “genres” in the internet and, like in cinema, they have established conventions. So we tried to reference these, usually striving for hyper-stimulating imagery.

The main source of inspiration was really the virtual world. There are so many “genres” in the internet and, like in cinema, they have established conventions.

What’s the core message or takeaway you’d like audiences to experience?

Hopefully, they have a fun time rotting their brain with this film! I’m super excited to experience it with audiences and curious to see how they will react to it.

What upcoming projects or stories are you most looking forward to exploring next?

I have a few ideas in mind! First, I have a treatment for a feature version of Target Audience, which expands on the insane universe and also goes deeper on the character behind the screen. I also have been developing two original short horror scripts. If there were too many phones in Target Audience, the characters in these ones only wish they had their phones with them.

Learn more about Target Audience at targetaudiencemovie.com and bernardohippert.com. Follow Target Audience on Instagram at @targetaudiencemovie. Visit the film’s IMDB and Letterboxd.

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