Let’s get one thing straight: in Coco World, you are not the main character. COCO is the main character. Who is Coco? She’s cute, quirky, and a rising star at her makeup pyramid scheme, Clara Jo. Yup, Coco World rocks... but it can always rock harder. One day, her boss offers her an ultra-promotion if she can land an ultra-client, and as if by fate, EDWARD walks right in. Unfortunately, Edward rejects her pitch after receiving a call about a failed adoption, leading Coco to have a stroke of genius: she’ll impregnate herself with an anonymous donor, offer the baby to Edward, and close the deal! She goes through with the plan, and for nine months life is perfect, until one fateful weekend when Coco World comes crashing down.
The Coco World Team
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Drew Muxlow
Writer, Director
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Andrew Battat
Writer, Producer
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Christina Hilliard
“Coco” (very funny)
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Chris Barnett
“Hugo” (funny and has abs)
Director biography
In June of 2023, Drew Muxlow had zero filmmaking experience and zero connections. After being laid off from his job editing TikTok compilations for the Snapchat Discover Page, he decided to make a movie in the time before his unemployment checks dried up. He sifted through his pile of screenplays and realized none of them could be shot for less than $5 million.
In a frenzy, Drew wrote a no-budget script and showed it to the funniest person he knew: Christina Hilliard - former UCLA classmate and current Second City cast member. She was in, but the script still demanded a heartthrob. After cold-emailing hundreds of up-and-coming actors, Chris Barnett, the TikTok hunk with over 10 million followers, hopped on board. With Chris’ prowess, Drew was able to scrape together just enough cash to hire a barebones crew off of a Facebook filmmaking group and plan a 12-day shoot.
By the end of production, he realized that he had stumbled backwards into the greatest team of artists in the history of art, and with their help, created a film that will split the timeline of movie history into two categories:
B.C.W. (Before Coco World 🤦♂️)
A.C.W. (After Coco World 🥳🎉🕺)
Director statement
We all know a Main Character. In their world, everyone plays a supporting role. You can feel the invisible camera hover around them. When their friend’s grandpa dies, their first response is to pity themselves. Hopefully this person has friends who can keep them grounded. But what happens when someone convinces them they are utterly and absolutely without flaw? That is the question I wanted to answer with “Coco World”.
Coco is walking the line between reality and self-serving fantasy when her new therapist, Dr. Block, shoves her over the edge. Every decision, no matter how selfish or manic, is justified in the pursuit of self-discovery. This may seem like an insane worldview, but if you scroll through the motivational side of TikTok or Instagram, it becomes the norm.
Instead of the typical paper-thin Gen Z character, Coco is sympathetic, funny, and driven. She acts like a Main Character, but we forgive her because she is quite literally the main character. The film is inspired by studio comedies of the early 2000s, so we still root for Coco when her selfish choices result in silly hijinks. The difference, though, is that this movie is set in the real world. Our world. And in our world, when you prioritize yourself over everyone around you, it doesn’t end in laughs.