Gmail: The Movie!
Cast & Characters (4)
Bits & Timeline (14)
The Google Content Creator Studio Meets the Nickelodeon Writers
The creative team behind 'Gmail: The Movie' introduces themselves, revealing a confusing dynamic where the corporate executives and the writers have been going on 'double dates' without realizing only one pair is actually married.
"I would love to throw it over to my work husband. We are not married."
"I just thought well you guys are on a date and us two makes double."
Fathoming at the Mouth
Arthur Binky describes his physical excitement for the project using the term 'fathoming at the mouth,' leading to a discussion about corporate buzzwords and the executives' tendency to act like 'bulls in a china shop.'
"I'm literally fathom at the mouth to get this project off the ground."
"Literally where do you like what is the little bug in your brain that makes you think of this crazy stuff?"
The Emoji Movie for Adults
Jennifer and Arthur explain the genesis of the Gmail movie, which they pitched as a version of the Emoji Movie for adults, despite having no writing experience and taking the idea from a Slack volunteer thread.
"What if we did the same thing for adults?"
"The studio, the Google content creator studio thought of this. Not any writers."
Spam is a Disgusting Live-Action Rebel Wilson
The team discusses the character of 'Spam,' played by Rebel Wilson in a live-action suit. The writers describe a blackout rage where they wrote the script, which the executives then turned into a list of 'commands.'
"Spam is Rebel Wilson meets Stewie from Family Guy."
"Rebel Wilson is just dressed up like Spam."
The Google Representatives' Psychic Connection
Jennifer Oogle and Arthur Binky describe their intense 'work husband/work wife' connection, claiming they can communicate via radio frequencies and predict each other's hunger or need for a nap through subtle head movements.
"It's almost like we're both talking on a radio frequency and like we can dial in if we want."
"Sometimes you'll just do something with your head and I'll go, she's hungry, I'll bring her some food."
"I'm feeling a little sleepy, big boy."
Relatability Issues in Gmail: The Movie
The screenwriters explain that the Google reps' actual use of Gmail—including monitoring open times and taking secret webcam photos of recipients—is not relatable to the general public and had to be cut from the film.
"We had no idea that you couldn't access somebody's webcam by sending them an email."
"You guys send a lot of emails with subjects without body."
"It's just taking a shot of you reacting to the email."
The Love Story of Inbox and Outbox
The group discusses the core plot of the movie, which features a tragic romance between Inbox and Outbox set in the metropolitan city of Webopolis, despite the Google reps' initial insistence on setting it in Disney's Zootopia.
"Believing it or not, it is a love story."
"You two were pretty married to the Gmail movie being taken place in Zootopia."
"Shakespeare borrowed from the Greeks. That's what I heard. And so I think that we can borrow from Zootopia."
The Villainous Junk and the MacGuffin Email
The Tori-Gossers reveal the film's antagonist, 'Junk,' who wants to eat the 'Golden Email' (an email with a mistake in it). The Google reps struggle to understand the physical comedy of a character eating digital data.
"The thing that everyone's chasing is an email with a mistake in it."
"Junk wanted to strengthen itself by eating the golden email."
"I thought somebody eating an email would be such funny physical comedy that I fell in love with it."
Drafts: The Stuttering Child of the Web
The writers pitch 'Drafts' as a character who stutters and represents all the things in life people haven't done yet. The Google reps find the concept confusing since drafts are technically private and 'fake' emails.
"Drafts are all the things in life that we haven't done yet."
"Draft is a fake email."
"This draft is symbolic of the child that we always wanted to make that we never could make."
Webopolis vs. Webland: The Greek Etymology of Internet Cities
The producers struggle to understand the physical layout of Webopolis. Arthur Binky explains it is a city for the internet where every site is a building, leading to a breakthrough realization that 'opolis' means land.
"Why are buildings internet sites, but email is person?"
"Imagine if I called it Webland."
"Opolis is like a Greek word for land, right?"
The Mirror Project and the Impotence Contract
Violet reveals that since signing the contract for 'Untitled Mirror Project', her husband Ken has been unable to perform, exacerbated by the fact that they have a giant mirror in their bedroom.
"My husband has not been able to come since we signed that contract."
"Imagine watching your husband watch himself not being able to come."
"It's honestly a guy secret."
The MacGuffin Misunderstanding
The producers complain about a character named 'MacGuffin' who sounds like a dog. Arthur explains it is a screenwriting term, not a character, leading to a toxic standoff over 'Control+F' in a PDF.
"The part where the emails go on an adventure to catch some guy named MacGuffin wasn't working for me."
"I would do Control F and put in the word MacGuffin."
"MacGuffin is not a character, right? MacGuffin is a problem."
If You Want the Movie Made, You Hire Us
Arthur delivers a brutal truth: they didn't write a good movie, but if the producers want the movie actually produced rather than just being 'good', they hired the right people.
"This is not a good movie. You guys did not write a good movie."
"If you wanted the movie to be good, you don't hire us. If you want the movie to be made, you hire us."
The Final Pivot: Zootopia
In a final desperate pitch to save the project, Jennifer suggests replacing emails with boats, then animals in an animal world, realizing they have just reinvented the movie Zootopia.
"What if instead of emails, it's boats?"
"Zootopia. Have we tried Zootopia?"