"Snack Attack" Turns Viral Shame Into a Feel-Good Comedy

Some films start with a single joke that refuses to leave you alone. Snack Attack began with two: a man prowling his own house in his underwear, bat in hand, ready to fight an intruder that turns out to be a broken AC unit — and the strange emotional whiplash of scrolling from a political rant to a heartbreak to a pair of shoes in the span of fifteen seconds. Adam Moorman took both of those obsessions to his writing partner Sam Kreps, and together they built a comedy about Allen, a decent man whose attempt to help a woman spectacularly backfires, goes viral, and threatens to define him.

Directed by Moorman and executive produced by his wife Lauren Moorman, Snack Attack is an independent labor of love in the truest sense — self-funded, made with a commercial crew given real creative freedom, and dedicated to an off-kilter tone that Moorman describes as uneasy but irreverent. It wants you to squirm a little, then smile.

Key Takeaways

• Snack Attack was shelved for years until Moorman reopened the script and realized the first two pages were still very funny.
• The film's real subject is our surveilled, doom-scrolling culture — and the toxic, underappreciated rage simmering in ordinary men.
• Moorman's cast took the characters far past the page, changing how he saw his own story.

Moorman spoke about rescuing a dead script, directing his first fight scene, and why his wife was the most important collaborator on set.

Interview

What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?

The practical answer is that we started writing this eight years ago, and when it was finished, it wasn't as good as we thought it would be. Our friends who read it didn't seem overly excited, so it was shelved. It wasn't until about two years ago, when I opened it up and realized the first two pages were very funny, that I knew we still had a great beginning of a story.

I was struggling with doom-scrolling and feeling like I was a slave to Instagram, while also feeling like the entire world was under surveillance — even the technology I was a slave to was surveilling my life. It caused me a lot of self-loathing and guilt. While this was happening, the world seemed to be caving in on itself. When I took some time away to process all of this, it dawned on me that it was actually funny. Someone can become irate about a political post, then immediately be overwhelmed by emotion from a different post, then fifteen seconds later they're shopping for shoes.

The other side of this story is the attack. One night, lying in bed, I heard a sound and was 100% certain an intruder was roaming our house. I grabbed a bat, in just my underwear, and started imagining every possible scenario — and then realized it was just our AC making a soon-to-be-expensive noise. That triggered me to imagine other situations in which an adult man would get into a physical confrontation, and the consequences were always awkward and funny. It starts with toxic masculinity, but also with catching someone who's felt underappreciated long enough that they've been slowly poisoned with rage. I took those two themes to Sam, and he took them to new places. We just knew this was more interesting than the other movie we wrote, because everything about it was super current, dark, and funny.

What surprised you most about the filmmaking process?

Definitely how the characters actually came across on screen. I've been directing commercials, industrials, and corporate videos for fifteen years, and before that I shot and produced TV. I have a process that works for me. But with commercials, your talent may have one or two lines, one scene, maybe no dialogue, so you have a pretty good idea of what the spot will be regardless of who I cast. With Snack Attack, our cast added so much to what was on paper. They took the characters to depths I'd never imagined. I was so grateful they were excited about the script and inspired to develop each role so thoughtfully.

What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?

Ha, probably being awkward in the convenience store. I'm always good at overstaying my welcome in a social situation. I feel like the same goes for Allen in the carwash — that's actually me playing the carwash attendant, in a full-circle moment. Any of the small-talky, awkward little moments are definitely daily situations for me.

What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?

The coverage of the fight scene. I wanted Allen to look awkward and untrained, because that's how almost every adult man with no fight training would look in a moment of fight or flight — not graceful, but primitive. The problem was the setup. Should it be tense? Funny too? Should it live in the same naturalistic tone, or be set up like a bit? I ended up covering it as I saw it in my head, playing out like an Alexander Payne scene, clean of music hits or tonal shifts.

But in the edit, I really liked the dramatic build David had assembled with the Steadicam shot, sound-design risers, and really telling the audience how Allen felt. The stakes were raised and it gets the audience on the edge of their seats — but then we still get into the bit with him awkwardly running in a static wide. Juggling that pacing, tone, and coverage was somewhat stressful, since it's a huge part of the movie.

What tool, technique, resource, or collaborator helped most during production?

My wife. She is the executive producer of our production company, and she line-produced this as well. She allowed us to spend our own money on a short film that never was, solely for the sake of the art and the experience. For her to say, "Sure, I fully support you wanting to make this goofy movie with our money, and sure, I'll produce it for us," meant everything to me. She arguably worked harder than anyone else, and she's just the best. It's an experience nobody can ever take away from us.

What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

It's a feel-good movie for a reason. I want people to smile and get a nice warm, sunny feeling in their guts. Writing it was in direct retaliation to the world I was experiencing, which was twisted and dark and unwell. Reading a comment section in any social media forum is a complete waste of time, but I did some research in those little havens of hate, and I felt like pointing a finger at some of the stupid stuff we all do — like, "Look how dumb and mean we all are," and then laughing at it. But also making sure our characters are all good people at the end of the day, and that we can all get along if we actually tried to be nice to each other.

What does it mean to have your film selected for HollyShorts?

It means SO MUCH. The validation of the hard work — not just from myself but from the cast and crew — is very special. The experience of making the movie is always the most fulfilling aspect for me, but being recognized by programmers of this caliber is very rewarding. It makes this season of our lives very special, and it helps justify us making the next movie. I'm actually intimidated a little bit, because I'm feeling like Wayne and Garth doing the "We're not worthy" bit in front of Alice Cooper.

Main Cast & Crew

• Executive Producer — Lauren Moorman
• Written by Sam Kreps and Adam Moorman
• Director — Adam Moorman
• Andy Bolduc as Allen Wilson
• Alexis Allotta as Susie Wilson
• Mickey O'Sullivan as Officer Ken
• Cole Steeves as ShadyGabe96
• Andrew Ramirez as Tayson
• Isabella Maria Valdes as Cashier
• Natalie Renee Savoy as Camera Operator
• Audrey Yang as Young Woman in Alley
• Brian Keith as Cowboy
• Gregg Weiner as Big Fan
• Director of Photography — Jason Chiu
• Editor — David Wall
• Production Designer — Brynne Wassel
• Wardrobe Stylist — Taylor Zielinski
• Production Manager — Eric Showalter
• Casting Director — Julie Tallarida
• First Assistant Director — Saró Melero Bonnin
• Sound Mixer — Ed Bornstein
• Visual Effects Supervisor — Jeff Borowiak
• Script Supervisor — Terrence Thompson
• 2nd Assistant Directors — Juan Carlos Linares, Jay Bell
• Production Assistants — George Liang, Jack Reeves, Lucas Melero
• 1st ACs — Leah Wellman, Eva June
• 2nd AC — Sam Tagle
• Steadicam — Taras Nebesnyy
• Gaffer — Ted Holmwood
• Key Grips — Matt Hatleberg, Gadi Solis
• Grip — Chris Richards
• Grip Intern — Tolu Adenji
• Key Makeup Artist — Pamela Bittler
• Special Effects Makeup — Cyle Williamson
• Key Costumer — Elly Jiminez
• Costumes Intern — Marcus Bacerra
• Supervising Stunt Coordinators — Nick Maldanado, Rick LeFevour Jr.
• Stunt Coordinator — Greg Poljacik
• Stunt Safety — Kira Nutter
• Colorist — Nicholas Lareau
• Sound Mix and Design — Zach Scheitlin
• Graphic Design — Sam Kreps
• Meme Designer — Kevin Heineman
• Boom Operators — Owen Wagner, Rob Frye

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