As multi-hyphenates who together have premiered a pair of acclaimed indie comedies at Cannes — first The Climb in 2019, and more recently, Splitsville — Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin have a unique perspective on the old adage that comedies don’t travel internationally.
“At the advent of cinema, what were the first blockbusters?” asks Covino in an appearance alongside Marvin on our Comedy Means Business podcast. “It was like Charlie Chapman and Buster Keaton and a ton of Pre-Code stuff where everyone was naked. But for the most part, it was slapstick. It was silent films where people were falling down or crashing into things or a hose was spraying them in the face, and that is universal and goes worldwide.”
In the case of “very specific, topical comedy that is of a place and speaking to zeitgeist only, then sure,” Covino can see a case being made that a comedy might not translate. “But universal comedy, I think, translates better than any other genre.”
Covino and Marvin’s films together jointly embody an interest in absurdist comedy elevated by sharp writing and dynamic visuals, which focuses on relationships. While The Climb focuses on a revelation emerging from a long-distance bike ride and the strain that it puts on the relationship between two friends, Splitsville tells the story of two evolving marriages, and another revelation that complicates the relationship between those two couples.
When Ashley (Adria Arjona) tells Carey (Marvin), abruptly during a road trip, that she’s been repeatedly unfaithful and wants a divorce, Carey turns for solace to married friends Paul (Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), learning that the key to their personal happiness has been to open up their relationship. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage his marriage, Carey pitches Ashley on a similar situation, and chaos ensues.
Covino tells me on the podcast that a driving force behind his films with Marvin has been an interest in “strong point of view” — stories embodying a unique juxtaposition between “grounded emotions and characters” and “absurd…and farcical situations.” From Marvin’s perspective, the film also highlights their very simple goal of making sure that “people are entertained” if they take the time to check out their work, in a moment where there are seemingly unlimited options, as far as what people can be consuming or doing with their time.
“I think for us, that means not holding back,” Marvin explains. “If you can make everything interesting and compelling and believable, why would you hold back on the scenarios or situations that are fun to watch or have things going on that put pressure on character? I think we talk a lot about that entertainment value — what the experience of viewing the movie is going to be, and how we make that experience as fun as possible.”
A joke a minute, with some really memorable visual gags, Splitsville is certainly that. It’s a film with no clear comp, which while complicating conversations around marketing, affirms to Covino that he and Marvin hit on something good.
In their appearance on our podcast, Covino and Marvin discuss the process of creating indie comedies unlike any you’ll find elsewhere — one that was helped along, in this case, by Adam Newport-Berra, the cinematographer on the rise who’s coming off his first Emmy nomination for his work on The Studio. The pair also discuss test screenings, the idea of cultivating “future nostalgia” through the theatrical release, their desire to tackle a Christmas movie, and more.
Covino directed Splitsville from his script written with Marvin, with the pair also producing. Neon releases the film in limited theaters on August 22 and will go wide with it on September 5.
Alongside the podcast, I release a Comedy Means Business newsletter for Deadline — chronicling the latest happenings in the comedy space — twice a month, on Mondays. Sign up to receive that here. View a video clip from the conversation with the Splitsville creatives above and listen to the full cut below.
