Eating 38 Cheeseburgers
Eating 38 Cheeseburgers (2024 Winner: Waco Indie Best Editing Short) A surreal and whip-smart commentary on social media, artificial intelligence, and consumerism.
Director, Andrew Schwab with his award at the 2024 Waco Indie Film Fest.
It’s been far too long since we’ve interviewed an alumnus, so let’s pull up to the table and chat with the writer/director/producer of Eating 38 Cheeseburgers, Andrew Schwab.
Andrew, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. This film is so crazy amazing. We tried to describe it above. How would you describe it?
AS: Eating 38 Cheeseburgers is a darkly comedic satire about the slow, surreal collapse of reality in the age of influencer culture, targeted ads, and generative AI. What begins as an influencer video quickly unravels into something far more glitchy, invasive, and absurd.
What inspired you to make your film?
AS: I’ve been following image generation tech for nearly a decade (anyone remember DeepDream?), but when I first tried ChatGPT and Dall-E 2 in 2022, it was clear this was going to change everything. In a time when so many of us already feel isolated from one another, I saw this technology as something that could super charge that disconnection. Writing the film was my way of unpacking those ideas. Exploring how consumerism, media, and identity are starting to blur together in ways that feel both fascinating and deeply unsettling.
Fascinating and unsettling, yeah, I think those are excellent ways to describe Cheeseburgers. Do you have any films or filmmakers you draw inspiration from?
AS: I've recently been kind of obsessed with Michael Haneke's body of work. His films are so dark and twisted but also can be quite profound.
What do you remember most about Waco Indie?
AS: There are so many great ones to choose from, but what stands out most is the sense of camaraderie among filmmakers and the friendships that came out of it. I actually met Alexander Jeffery at Waco Indie, and now he’s releasing Eating 38 Cheeseburgers through Crafty Short Films, the company he co-founded. So I definitely owe y’all one for bringing us together!
I love that you connected here. We love bringing great folks together. Now, how do we keep up with you and any future absurd films?
AS: You can find me on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bobschwab and if you end up watching the short please rate us on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/eating-38-cheeseburgers/
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