2020 Proved To Be An Expansion Year For The Nacelle Company
LOS ANGELES, CA – As the Covid-19 pandemic pummeled businesses across the world in the Spring of 2020, The Nacelle Company quickly implemented an internal work from home order for all its employees on February 27th and pushed concerns about possible logistical challenges to the back burner, so employees health and safety were prioritized. This proved to be the right move for The Nacelle Company, and a lifeline that helped them continue an upward trajectory, despite some bumps, in one of the most uncertain years in generations.
Despite the odds stacked against production companies when Covid-19 hit, Nacelle and Comedy Dynamics produced and distributed 64 shows and 61 albums, some of which include hit series and specials such as:
- Down To Earth with Zac Efron (Netflix)
- The Movies That Made Us (Netflix)
- How To Fix A Drug Scandal (Netflix)
- Grant (History)
- 9/11: The Pentagon (History)
- A Toy Store Near You (Amazon)
- Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist (Amazon)
- Pete Davidson: Alive in New York (Netflix)
- Maria Bamford: Weakness Is The Brand (Comedy Dynamics Network)
- Jimmy O. Yang: Good Deal (Amazon)
- Arsenio Hall: Smart & Classy (Netflix)
- Russell Brand: Deported (Amazon)
- Larry The Cable Guy: Remain Seated (Netflix & Comedy Dynamics Network)
- Celeste Barber: Challenge Accepted (Showtime)
- Gina Brillon: The Floor Is Lava (Amazon)
- Claudia Oshry: Disgraced Queen (Comedy Dynamics Network)
- Craig Ferguson’s Hobo Fabulous (Comedy Dynamics Network)
- Nate: A One Man Show by Natalie Palamides (Netflix)
- Sebastian Maniscalco presents Pat McGann: When’s Mom Gonna Be Home? (Comedy Dynamics Network)
Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist, was nominated for Comedy Album of The Year at the Grammys, the company’s 20th Grammy Nomination in 7 years.
2020 has been a building block for many Nacelle productions of the future, as the company signed a first-look deal with Sony Television to produce scripted comedy on the heels of the success of their 2019 reboot of Mad About You. They also struck deals to produce scripted drama series for network television:
- City Hall (Fox)
- Fire Season (TNT)
- Interceptor (Fox)
Rather than downsizing during the pandemic, Nacelle Company expanded. 2020 brought two new departments that honor their commitment to preserving pop-culture history through the art of podcasting and publishing. NacelleCast, the state of the art podcast studio in Burbank opened its doors in October of 2020 and have already begun production and distribution on their first slate of shows, which includes a 10 episode limited series from Star Trek legend Gates McFadden. The second being a publishing department that will specialize in pop-culture and deep historical dives into some of our favorite films, shows, brands and icons.
The Summer of 2020 brought a new set of challenges, as their partnership with Tribeca to bring a stand up comedy showcase to the famed film festival suddenly turned into a last minute move to change the event into a drive-in setting 3,000 miles from New York. After 4 successful nights nights at the Rose Bowl in California, the Tribeca x Comedy Dynamics Drive-In became one of the first comedy specials that were filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Comedy Dynamics’ record label released at least one album each Friday for the entire year. In November, they released the first brand new Jerky Boys album in over 20 years. They released Lenny Bruce Is Out Again, the long-lost album from one of the pioneers of modern comedy, in collaboration with the Lenny Bruce estate and the late comedian’s daughter, Kitty Bruce. The album was also released on vinyl, with a limited pressing of 1,000 for Record Store Day 2020. In August, the company announced that they’ve partnered with the Joan Rivers estate to release hundreds of hours of unreleased material from one of the all-time queens of comedy. Amongst the weekly releases in 2020, some of the most notable are:
- Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist
- Maria Bamford: Weakness Is The Brand
- Russell Peters: Deported
- Lenny Bruce is Out Again
- The Jerky Boys
- Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh
- Jimmy O. Yang: Good Deal
- Gina Brillon: The Floor Is Lava
- Arsenio Hall: Smart & Classy
- Bill Hicks: One Night Stand & Flying Saucer Tour Vol.2
- Preacher Lawson: Get To Know Me
- Larry The Cable Guy: Remain Seated
- Sebastian Maniscalco presents Pat McGann: When’s Mom Gonna Be Home?
Although Covid restrictions haunted most productions in the Spring of 2020, we found creative ways to continue producing new episodes of The Movies That Made Us, Behind The Attraction for Disney +, an upcoming Margaret Loesch documentary, All The Way Black for BET+, a Magic The Gathering documentary, and the Covid-inspired series, A Toy Store Near You, in a remote environment that didn’t sacrifice overall production quality.
In addition to their slate of weekly releases, The Nacelle Company and Comedy Dynamics acquired and released many films including Antarctica, Dons of Disco, The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir, The Social Ones, 37-Teen, BlunderPuss, Kittie: Live at The London Music Hall, Poor Greg Drowning and Never Be Done: The Richard Glen Lett Story.
“Our hearts go out to the companies and individuals that have suffered through this crisis, and we hope to see 2021 return us all to some sort of normalcy and prosperity,” said Brian Volk-Weiss.
About The Nacelle Company:
Founded by Brian Volk Weiss, The Nacelle Company develops, produces, and distributes feature and documentary films as well as TV shows - both scripted and unscripted. Nacelle's vast array of partnerships include: Netflix, Amazon, Disney +, HBO, Discovery, BET+, A&E Networks, Hulu, Viacom, and many more. The Nacelle Company has produced the hit Netflix docu-series, Down to Earth with Zac Efron, The Movies That Made Us, and The Toys That Made Us, as well as Behind The Attraction for Disney +, Sony’s Mad About You reboot, Netflix’s How To Fix A Drug Scandal, CW’s Discontinued, Netflix’s Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History, All The Way Black for BET+, and Grant for The History Channel.