New indie feature ‘Ad Nauseam’ blames the advertising industry for pretty much everything

“Do today’s young artists have any choice but to sell the f-k out?” This is the timely question that kicks off Ad Nauseam, an anarchic indie comedy shot in Sydney, to be released through iTunes Australia on Friday November 21st.

And the answer – to speak in fluent Clickbait – will blow your mind.

Packed with buzzy comedians and actors, Ad Nauseam follows young ad producer Derek Jones (Bell Shakespeare’s Andrew Johnston) as he embarks on a kamikaze mission to make a viral video that can “crack a million views” in 12 hours. What follows is the most white-knuckle ride through the advertising world ever committed to Quicktime, as Derek learns the true meaning of “creativity”.

WATCH THE TRAILER

The film’s local release comes after picking up the Best Foreign Feature award at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and going on to ink a limited theatrical/cable/VOD distribution in North America with Continuum Pictures and ComCast’s XFINITY channel.

Ad Nauseam is the brainchild of Sydney-based writer/director Nikos Andronicos, whose real-life experiences as a viral ad producer, sketch comedian and voice-over artist inspired the film’s satirical script. Andronicos raised much of the production budget by working for the hipster ad agencies lampooned in the film itself, but this isn’t a case of biting the hand that feeds – the agencies love it. One even tried to convince the filmmakers to incorporate some branding. (They resisted…just.)

“Some people have assumed the film is a crazy exaggeration of the ad industry”, Nikos says, “but it’s not far from being a straight-up documentary. I almost pitched it to Australian Story.”

Andronicos, who recently directed Crazy Bastards for ABC TV and presented the SBS documentary series Greeks of the Sea, describes Ad Nauseam as “like an extended episode of The Young Ones, filmed on the set of The Gruen Transfer and catered by Sir Les Paterson.”

The cast includes comedians Sam Simmons (Conan O’Brien), Nick Boshier (Bondi Hipsters), Heath Franklin (Chopper) and Henry Stone (Fancy Boy Variety Show) as well as actors James McFay (Power Rangers), Geraldine Hakewill (Wasted on the Young), Renee Lim (Please Like Me), Troy Planet (Underbelly Razor) and Dale March (Sydney Theatre Company).

Ad Nauseam will be available to rent or buy on iTunes Australia from 9am on Friday November 21st. The film is produced by Backseat Rebel and GoWyld Productions.