Delivered in January of 2020, “The Flip Phone Manifesto” is an account of the world as it appears to someone who has never owned a smartphone. The manifesto’s five tenets—defend the imagination at all costs, make reality the default setting, live life at a natural pace, get your dopamine in the raw, and stop the conjuring of false spectacles—are presented as both argument and warning, rationale and rant, offering a possible cure to the comfortable disease of progress. Far from bashing technology, the talk encourages us to re-think our relationship with the digital world, and, if we’re so willing, to break away from cyberspace and return to the here-and-now.
David is head writer of The Minor Prophets, a sketch comedy troupe he co-founded with his good friends, Steve Kuzmick and Gil Damon. Since 2001, the Prophets have written, directed, and produced over 30 short films, including The Most Important Meal of the Day, which has been viewed more than 4 million times on the Tube of You. In 2006, they began working with director/producer Derek Frey, a collaboration that has resulted in seven award-winning shorts. The troupe believes, as does Sergei Eisenstein, that “the richest source of experience is Man himself.” Their body of work, from 4th and 99 to Awkward Endeavors, addresses mankind in full, bringing together its angels and assholes in a comedy of collision.
SHORT FILMS
Awkward Endeavors (2021)
A delusional pizza delivery man puts the moves on his piano teacher, much to the consternation of the woman’s husband, an impotent real estate agent.
Kill the Engine (2017)
Three broken men decide to kill themselves by carbon monoxide poisoning, but the group suicide is foiled when the vehicle of their demise fails to start.
Motel Providence (2015)
A cheating counselor working out of a sleazy motel room tests the boundaries of his own advice after a client’s startling revelation.
Sky Blue Collar (2013)
A businessman and a carpet installer enjoy a wild and playful friendship, but when their class-conscious bosses pressure them to steer clear of each other, the Romeo and Juliet of the workaday world must decide what’s more important: how we make a living or who we’re living for.
4th and 99 (2006)
Just minutes after losing the biggest game of the year, all-state receiver Bobby Makefield takes to the turf again in a one-on-one overtime shocker. Driven to the edge by his referee father, Bobby squares off against the winning team’s golden boy and Mr. Makefield’s newest protégé, Tommy Johnson.
