This Labor Day (9/4 at 8pm ET/PT) marks the premiere of Office Race, an all-new Comedy Central original movie and the feature film directing debut of Jared Lapidus, known for his comedic commercials for TurboTax, Little Caesars, Oreo, Verizon, A&W, Scotts, Quilted Northern and more, as well as TV work including Netflix’s six-time Emmy nominated series, The Who Was Show.
Office Race stars SNL alum Beck Bennett who portrays Pat, a stunted office worker who goes to great lengths–specifically 26.2 miles–to defeat his exercised-obsessed, micromanaging boss, Spencer, hilariously played by Joel McHale (Animal Control, Community). Lapidus also co-wrote the running-themed sports comedy with long-time sketch comedy writing partner James Kilmoon (Impractical Jokers).
Filmed before the actors and writers strikes, Office Race was shot over a brisk 20 days this past spring, in and around Trilith Studios Atlanta, and with the film’s imminent release, Lapidus is now available again for commercial projects via Los Angeles-based Thinking Machine. He’s back in the brand space with an expanded toolkit, having directed the film’s celebrity ensemble across scenes of immense scale, involving hundreds of background actors, special effects makeup and prosthetics, and big physical comedy set pieces featuring complex stunt work.
Lapidus saw his previous experience working with celebrities reach new heights on Office Race. “Led by Beck and Joel, there was an instant camaraderie between the cast members–they so clearly enjoyed working with each other, and that joyful spirit made the on-set experience fun and entertaining for everyone,” Lapidus said. “They’re all such pros. They showed up on set with ideas and inspiration, and it was dynamite, lightning in a bottle. They’d put a scene on its feet, I’d give them small adjustments, and then get to step back and enjoy the magic as it happened. Beck was incredibly dedicated and got into great shape. And Joel, already a very physical guy, was up at 4 in the morning working out, then would sit in the makeup chair for hours as his prosthetics were applied. Both really put in the work.”
Office Race isn’t the first collaboration between Lapidus and Bennett. The two worked together on a Thanksgiving-themed campaign for Michelob ULTRA and the Turkey Trot 5K, and on comedy sketches for Lorne Michaels’ Above Average, which co-produced Office Race, along with Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning studio Believe Entertainment Group.
Office Race features a smorgasbord of additional comedic talent alongside McHale and Bennett. There’s Kelsey Grammer (Frasier), J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Erinn Hayes (A Christmas Story Christmas), Kylie Bunbury (Big Sky), Geoffrey Arend (500 Days of Summer), Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics), Katlyn Carlson (iCarly), Matt Richards (That Damn Michael Che), Karolena Theresa (You Hurt My Feelings), along with several surprise cameos.
Lapidus enjoyed first-time collaborations with comedy muscle on his production team as well. Tim Suhrstedt (Silicon Valley, Little Miss Sunshine) was Office Race’s director of photography and Brad Wilhite (Daddy’s Home 1 & 2) edited. And Grammy Award winning multi-hyphenate talent Bryan Adams wrote two original songs for the film, including the theme song.
