My Robot Roommate
A web series written and directed by Dan Stearns
"My Robot Roommate" is a clean, high-concept sketch-style episode with a strong visual gag and solid deadpan tone.”
My next film project after “Michael’s Air BnB” was my most ambitious to date, “My Robot Roommate.” A funny moment in an acting class during fall semester 2019 spawned some jokes about a robot in a dorm room. During that first COVID summer I drafted several episodes and continued to rewrite over the next few years. I attempted to film the most polished episode as a proof of concept in 2022 but there were significant hurdles and it did not come to fruition. Towards the end of 2024 I had a coherent season of eight webisodes and embarked on pre-production. Though I hired a producer to help me, I was basically a one-man show: I handled all production design except for the robot costume, I hired seventeen crew from among students and recent graduates, I cast ten actors from a similar pool, I coordinated five locations plus the use of our departmental sound stage, I built a dorm room set with the help of two minimally-skilled students, I found all the music for the production, I acted in one episode, and finally, I directed the eight episodes, comprising forty-five pages, over eighteen days of shooting in June and July, 2025. And then I supervised post-production.
“My Robot Roommate” was supported by a Junior Faculty Seed Grant through the College of Liberal Arts at the University, which provided a month of summer salary and benefits for me.
The series has had a successful festival run so far, with several responses still outstanding.
When a college freshman arrives on campus with her (real?) homemade robot there is trouble, fun, and some growing up.
View the playlist below or click through to YouTube.
