GREENVILLE — Last fall, a former “Saturday Night Live” star quietly made a music video short film in Greenville.
Across three days, Fred Armisen took pictures in Camperdown Plaza, shot scenes in the Mint House and transformed into a character struggling with post-pandemic loneliness in Greenville.
It’s not something that happens every day, but Chris White, a Greenville-based independent filmmaker, wants that to change.
Armisen is a memorable “SNL” star, creator of the hit sketch comedy “Portlandia” and now bandleader for “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” In Greenville, he played the leading role in an eight-minute music video, “Come And Save Me,” by rock band Danielson.
On April 19, the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg will host a screening as part of the Tryon International Film Festival SC Shorts Showcase.
White brought Armisen to South Carolina to show people that Hollywood-level movies with celebrity actors can be produced in the Upstate.
“We just kept saying that we really want to make movies in South Carolina, and there’s just not the industry here to do it,” White said. “We want South Carolina to be a place where movies and television are made.”
While neighboring states have doled out money to attract films, South Carolina has historically lagged behind in terms of funding, transportation and the amount of post-production resources, White said.
Georgia, for example, has become an epicenter of the film industry, dishing out nearly $1.3 billion in tax incentives. The South Carolina Legislature, on the other hand, currently provides at least $10 million in direct cash payouts and caps the amount individual films can receive.
The productions that come to South Carolina, such as “Outer Banks” and “The Righteous Gemstones,” are almost all shot in the Charleston area.
White, who runs the production company Studio Fifteen, created “Electric Jesus,” a comedic musical about a 1980s Christian hair metal band. It stars Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin in “The Office.”
On April 26, a week after the Spartanburg showing, it will be released to the public on the Electric Jesus YouTube channel.
White had recorded films in Greenville. But in recent years, the Columbia native found himself leaving the Upstate, his home since 2003, to make multimillion dollar movies elsewhere.
“We kind of thought we had outgrown the Upstate,” he said.
Fred Armisen starred in “Come And Save Me” a music video shot in Greenville for the band, Danielson.
About a year ago, he decided to make a movie in his home city. He built a team of other Upstate production agencies, preparing to direct a low-stakes, short music video to a song from the “Electric Jesus” soundtrack.
But if he wanted to garner attention, White needed a celebrity. He learned that Armisen was a fan of Danielson’s music, occasionally attending the New Jersey-based band’s concerts and visiting backstage.
He coordinated with Armisen’s team, but it moved slowly. It took something that hasn’t happened in decades for the plan to crystallize: a strike.
In July 2023, the film industry came to a screeching halt following the actors’ SAG-AFTRA strike against production companies and streaming services. Actors couldn’t work on movies or TV shows produced by heavy hitters such as Sony, Netflix, ABC and Amazon Prime.
That, however, didn’t preclude them from filming independent music videos.
“What was maybe a more misfortunate moment for the big guys became a really fortunate moment for the little guys like us,” White said.
The music video, partially based on the work of 1960s actor and filmmaker Jacques Tati, follows a person searching for community during a wave of post-pandemic loneliness.
During the depths of the strike, Armisen spent three days in Greenville, recording across town and eating meals at Scoundrel, Northampton Wine + Dine, Lewis Barbecue and Swordfish Cocktail Bar. They kept the movie under wraps until it was announced in April.
White was blown away by Armisen’s ability to make someone laugh, even though he doesn’t speak in the film.
In one scene that didn’t make the final cut, Armisen had to act as if he was stuck on an endless Zoom call. White kept throwing different scenarios for Armisen to improvise:
Fall asleep on the Zoom, White instructed. Slip out of your chair. Stack your water glasses on top of your coffee mug. Pretend to age 100 years — and then seconds later, morph into a newborn baby.
“I’m just coming up with crazy stuff, and he’s making all of them laugh-out-loud funny,” White said. “His comedy instincts are incredible.”
Seven months after Armisen visited Greenville, White still seems surprised. A self-proclaimed “SNL nut,” he can’t believe that he got to work with “one of the great comedy actors of our generation” — and not leave the Upstate.
Now, he hopes, it’s just the start.
