Original subtitles

What's up, internet?

Whit here, fillin' your life with another vlog

about bein' awesome!

Hey, internet, it's Whit.

Here to talk to you... Fuck!

We good, internet? What's shakin', internet?

What's up, what's up? Uh, hello, uh...

Hola, internet. Blow me, internet. Fuck you!

God fucking dammit!

You're good, it's fine. This is good. You're good.

Hey, friends, welcome back to the show.

I'm Whit, you're watching, now, let's get talking!

[on TV] I open my closet this morning and just, my God!

It looks incredible!

[on TV] I mean, did you see me on that runway?

Everyone at last night's show noticed.

I just feel really blessed.

Like, not everyone has the opportunity

to wear something like this.

I asked around, and you need at least 3 million followers,

or they won't even make it custom for you.

Fuck!

I mean, it's just one of those situations

where they don't tell you the real shit until you sign.

Uh-huh.

Toured the place, it's perfect.

Move in, and you find out that every single one

of your fucking neighbors is a chain-smoker.

Did you know Charlie Jeffries is gonna be at this party?

- Are you listening? - Yeah, of course, it's just...

Charlie Jeffries?

Yeah, right.

Anyway, Jenny... Jenny writes this letter to management,

but they do the whole, "We can't help you" thing,

and I already tried talking to the neighbors...

So, you know, I figure I'm just gonna

burn the whole place down, yeah?

Commit arson, kill everyone,

laugh maniacally while pissing on their burnt corpses.

When the cops show up,

I'm gonna light them on fire too,

'cause I can just do that now with my bare hands.

Totally.

We're both really glad you came out tonight.

It just feels like we don't get to see you as much anymore.

So, Nick tells me you're still doing your show?

It's a vlog. It's called Whit's Hits.

You should really check it out.

If you like it, you can share it on Twitter, Instagram,

Snapchat, TikTok.

Even OnlyFans.

I'm not on OnlyFans.

You know, 'cause I'm dating your friend.

Nick doesn't have to know.

You know, I was actually reading that a lot of those apps

aren't really great for your mental health.

I was listening to this podcast last week

about body image issues...

...bombarded with the toxic messaging...

Hey.

Whit?

And this dude will not stop talking about

how many followers he has!

So eventually I'm like,

"You're yucking my yums right now,

and I literally cannot stand you."

Wow, that's...

that's really funny!

You... you are hilarious!

It's nice to meet you. I'm Whit.

He said he'd shout me out in one of his videos.

He's got like 600,000 subscribers,

- so if even like a frac-- - Yeah, he's not gonna do that.

Why not?

Because he just said that so you'd leave him alone.

Twitter says James Leo's at the Scorpion Lounge.

Last call's in like an hour,

- so if we, uh-- - Hey, Whit,

I am right here, man!

- What? - Who...

Who brought you to that party tonight?

- What do you mean? - Dude, that was...

so fucking rude to Jenny, and...

and...

You know what?

Get out of my car.

But Nick, if you don't drive me...

how will I get to the Scorpion Lounge?

Fuck you!

It's Whit's Hits!

Whit's Hits!

Welcome to Whit's Hits.

Hey friends, welcome back to the show.

I'm Whit, you're watching--

[on video] Have you ever wanted to be on TV?

Feel the glow of the spotlight?

And a chance to fill your pockets with cold, hard cash?

Then the Magnificent Million Dollar Question

is for you!

This revolutionary game show will be taping a pilot

this Thursday, and will be looking for audience members

and participants!

Hey, it's your homie, Whit!

I'm out here today with my dude, Carl!

Can you get in the damn car, please?

Ha-ha! Carl! He's the best.

Anyway, I'm diversifying my brand today,

and I'm making my TV debut, what?

I'm gonna be on this sick new game show

called The Magnificent Million Dollar Question,

where your boy's competing for, you guessed it,

a million dollars, whoo!

I'll check in with you guys after we record to let you know

when and where you can catch me on that big-screen TV

that I know you've got at home, so...

Um...

And... and... and let me know what you guys wanna see,

'cause I... I wanna keep this audience happy and growing,

so, um, I... I'm always down for suggestions.

Okay, Whit out!

How long is this gonna take?

Too long.

Hey, I'm Whit Barnett.

Uh, supposed to be recording

for The Magnificent Million Dollar Question here today.

Perfect. Just a moment, please.

Hello? Hi.

Yes, he's here.

Mm-hmm.

Of course.

- Someone will be right with you. -Great.

Do you know who I am?

- Of course. Whit's Hits. -Really?

Sorry, of course.

- Whit? -Yeah?

Follow me.

Perfect timing. You shouldn't have to wait

- too long. - Uh, great.

- Busy day today? - Buddy, you got no idea.

Let's keep you in here.

We'll come get you when we're ready.

What was that?

Uh, we got another contestant

finishing up right now.

Crowd really likes him.

Um, I'll be able to do that too, right?

Do what?

Be likeable?

I mean, casting doesn't make mistakes.

"I'm Whit, you're watching, now, let's get talkin'!"

- Hey, Whit? - Hi.

It's good to meet ya.

Uh, yeah! Uh, nice to meet you too, sir.

I see you're right at home here.

Oh, I... I'm sorry about that. I was--

Kid, I'm fucking with you. It's fine.

We got this shit in here for a reason.

- So, are you excited? - Yeah.

That's perfect. We like excited people.

It's entertainment. There's no reason

not to be pumped up about it.

Yeah, of course. Uh, I can be pumped.

So, let me give you a quick rundown

of how this works.

We're gonna bring you out on stage,

have the host get to know you a bit.

Now, use your character.

That's the point, right? We like characters here.

From there, you'll be asked a series of questions.

If you provide an incorrect answer

at any point, game is over.

But if you give five correct answers--

I win a million dollars.

Name really gives it away, huh?

Whit? Time to go.

Oh, hey, uh, kid. Uh, pardon, uh...

I just like to ask,

what are you gonna do with the money?

You know, if you win.

I'd give it away!

Wow. That's charitable.

Yeah, yeah, that's what they'd say.

I'd set it up as this whole stream

on my channel.

Just do this 40-minute video where people would come on

and cry about how sad their lives are,

and then I'd get to decide who the saddest person is,

and then I'd just give them the money.

And I'd be like...

a hero.

Everyone would wanna watch that.

I like you, kid.

You're gonna do great.

That's you.

Good luck.

Hello?

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

welcome to the Magnificent Million Dollar Question!

You're just in time to see the greatest show on Earth,

where the stakes are high,

the prizes are immense, and the drama...

is real!

Hello, son. I hope you're ready to play.

Do you have a name?

Whit. Uh, Whit Barnett.

Ooh, a strong name!

I'm a fan!

Oh, are you having a good day today?

Um... Well, I am now!

What do you do for work, Whit?

Uh, I'm a content creator.

Uh, I have a vlog called Whit's Hits.

Oh, well, that sounds exciting!

Well, I have a feeling you're gonna be getting

a lot more followers after today!

And does that work pay the ol'... bills?

Uh, well... ...not really.

I also have an allowance, but... but that's just temporary,

until I make it, you know?

Of course, of course!

We've all been there before, right?

Do you have any, uh, hobbies?

Anything else you like to do for fun?

Um, Well... ...the videos?

Anything else, I mean.

We're gonna come back to it. Do you know the rules?

And you're prepared to play?

Prepared to chase...

...that ever evasive

million dollars?

Perfect!

First question.

What is the name of the British playwright

who penned such works as Hamlet and Macbeth?

William Shakespeare?

Correct!

We like to start things off nice and simple.

Set you up for success.

If only life were that easy, right?

Time for our second question, young Whit. Are you ready?

Yes, sir.

In which country...

are the ancient pyramids located?

Egypt?

Correct!

I have a good feeling about you, kid!

Uh, what's going on here?

Do we wanna learn more about Whit?

Yes, of course we do!

Where're you from, Whit?

Uh...

I'm from Toronto. I moved out here for uni.

I just sort of stuck around after.

I see.

And your, uh, family, they're still in Toronto?

How often do you see them?

Not as often as I probably should.

Well, would you like to say hi to them now?

You're on TV, after all.

Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I made it! I... I'm finally on TV.

Third question, and this one's a little tougher.

Can you provide for us the address

of the party influencer Charlie Jeffries

attended last night?

Is everything all right, young man?

- Do you need a hint? - Uh, nope.

No. No. I... I got it. I was there.

It was 311 Belmont Street, in Calneta.

Correct!

You are getting closer and closer, buddy!

Why was that a question?

Your friends must be so excited for you!

Well, yeah, I... I guess.

Did any of your friends join you today?

Did they come by to revel in your fame and stardom?

Whit?

Did any of your friends join you today?

No.

What is this?

You seem nervous.

But then again, I would be too...

if I was on the brink of winning

a million dollars!

If I was on the precipice of fame and stardom!

One more question, then we'll let you off the hook.

- How's that sound? - No.

No more questions.

If you were to die today...

...would anyone miss you?

You don't answer the question,

you lose the game, young man.

I have... I have friends.

That wasn't the question.

I'm gonna ask you for some honesty...

just this once.

If you were to die today...

...would anyone miss you?

Fuck you.

-Excuse me? - Fuck you!

And fuck this!

You can't do this to me.

Everything here is bullshit!

Your questions are bullshit. The audience is bullshit.

Is... is this even real?

Is anyone even watching?

Kill the stream, Gary. He popped.

I... I will burn this place to the fucking ground!

- I'll take it from here. - Thanks, boss.

- What is this? - This isn't really a game show.

It's more of a... spoof on a game show.

Performance art.

Streaming live over the internet.

- Gary, how many viewers? - We had over 600,000.

- 600,000? - Yup.

Watching that live.

They were liking, sharing, commenting,

overwhelmingly cheering for you.

Kid, those viewers aren't lost forever.

We can be back online in 15 minutes.

But only if you wanna play alone.

Let's do it.

Come on.

Let me take you to the green room, okay?

Just be a couple minutes.

Great choice, kid.

Your, uh, channel there...

it's gonna blow up after this.

I promise.

See you soon, bud.

So, the 600,000 people,

how many of them do you think we'll get back?

We'll get them all back, I promise.

- Oh, hey, are-- - No!

Next contestant's in there,

so we gotta put you somewhere else.

Don't worry, it's much nicer.

Are you guys still watching?

Yo! It's Whit, and I'm back!

I'm sorry about that blow-up earlier.

Your boy here just didn't really know what was going on.

But now that you know who I am...

...what do you guys wanna see?

Oh, you're back!

There's a lot of you!

Um...

Feel free to head over to my channel

and leave a comment.

Let me know what you guys wanna see.

And I can be that guy.

Just please keep watching.

Please.

Look, you're a star.

Welcome back from The Void. Thanks for watching.

I'm David Cummings,

the creator and host of The NoSleep Podcast.

Today we're joined by John Thomas Kelly,

who wrote the adaptation of the NoSleep story,

The Million Dollar Question, written by João Ribiero,

which we adapted into the episode titled "Starlight."

John, welcome. Thanks for being with us today.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Now, John, you are the screenwriter

of this episode,

but you're also co-showrunner of Tales from the Void,

and I'm curious what drew you or inspired you

to tackle this screenplay.

Yeah, so, when I first read The Million Dollar Question,

I really loved the brutality inherent

in the twist at the end of that story, right?

Um, so that was kind of the immediate draw.

But I think the more I read it,

the more I was very attracted to the idea of this game show

that has a veneer of professionalism

hiding an incredibly grimy and dirty reality

of what's actually happening

kind of underneath the surface, right?

Um, because having worked in the film industry for, like,

a decade-plus now, I saw some obvious parallels there

that I thought would be interesting to explore.

One of the main themes of this story

is influencer culture

and the obsession we have with social media.

And I'm curious, what... what did you want to instill

into those themes, and what kind of message

did you want this story to have?

Francesco, you know, who's my co-showrunner

and the creator of the show, and who directed the episode,

he and I spoke about this a lot

in the lead-up to, you know, the execution on this one.

Um, and I think we were in a very similar boat,

where I think we were both raised

in an environment

where humility was, like, a core teaching.

And it's, you know,

was really stressed upon both of us

that the world did not revolve around our whims and desires.

Um...

...so, you know, personally, I've always found it

a bit confounding

that there are people who seemingly feel

the need to document every moment of their lives,

as it seems, you know, equal parts narcissistic

and emotionally exhausting.

You're out at, like, a concert or you're out to eat,

and there are literally people who are so driven by

this weird form of digital engagement

that they're setting up a shot on their cell phone

as opposed to kind of living in the moment in front of them.

Um, and this is not intended to be like an old man

shakes fist at tree situation.

I don't think it's generational, but I think it's more just

the way that our societal norms and values have evolved

across all generations,

from boomers to millennials, to Gen Z.

Um, where I think there is now a lot of value that is placed

on this form of cheap fame, right?

Where you're simply famous for being accessible.

So what the episode, I think--

And again, this was something that Francesco and I spoke about

kind of at length.

It would be interesting to take

kind of an extreme version of that idea

and play it through

to its logical conclusion, right?

Where we're taking this guy whose entire life is really,

truly accessible, to the extent that he's actually quite happy

at the notion of dying on camera,

because it's going to get him a lot of these clicks

and attention that he so desires,

um, that have evaded him up to this point, so...

In "Starlight," we see Whit trying to process

everything that's going through or that he is going through.

And yet the story seems to be hinting to the audience,

uh, what's gonna happen.

And so it's almost like the audience

is a few steps ahead of where Whit is,

and so you're trying to tease

what's gonna happen without giving it away.

This really comes back to the idea

of infusing the episode

with a little bit of comedy, right?

Um, kind of like a marker of just,

you know, something that will always be funny

is when you have a character who's a bit of a dunce

and the audience is a step or two steps ahead

of where that character is.

Because, you know, to the question you posed,

we get to revel in the dramatic irony

of the character being just so far behind

where we are mentally,

um, in terms of the situation they're stepping into.

Um, there is a bit of a balance there,

'cause you don't want to create a character who is just so,

you know, obnoxiously beyond stupid

that it feels unbelievable,

so we really tried to-- You know, something

that I tried to do in the script is to give him

um, such a incessant need to achieve the goal

that we've placed in front of him,

of being famous, that that kind of,

instead of him just being too stupid to understand

his surroundings, he's just blinded

by his insatiable need for fame,

to make decisions that are intrinsically, like,

really stupid.

Um, but every time he makes one of those dumb decisions,

and like, walks through the double doors, you know,

to go backstage or you know, walks on-- You know,

decides to go back to the second version

of the green room, when I think, like,

we all know there's clearly something up.

Um, you know, it gives a bit of a wink and a nod

to the audience, of like,

there's... there's some comedic elements here.

We're having a bit of fun at his expense.

You understand why he's doing it,

but you are more than allowed to... to laugh at the fate

that is about to befall this, uh, rather naive individual.

In the original story, it really is very plot-driven

and not as much character-driven.

And yet you adapted it to really bring out characters.

The character of Whit, certainly,

but then we have the carnival barker,

the person who really infuses not just a sense of dark humor,

but he really kind of, uh, ties together

the whole game show process.

So, how did you decide to take this character

with his snappy dialogue and the wit that he brings

to the... to the story? Uh, you know,

how did you build him in your mind

to fit him into this story?

Yeah. Um, so whenever, you know, you're working within,

like, uh, a set of ideas,

and you need to, you know, find characters

to fit into those ideas, what I typically try to do

is figure out who would be the best person

to place inside of this situation, right?

So, looking at the story from 1,000-foot view,

you're looking at, you know, unsuspecting guy

goes into game show not realizing it is snuff film.

So it's like, well, who's like the perfect person

to be stepping into that situation?

Well, the perfect person to be stepping into that situation

is a guy who so desperately wants to be famous

that he will maybe ignore some of the telltale signs

that something is wrong.

You know, this person who does not have fame,

does not have,

you know, clout, I guess, in any way, shape, or form,

but who desperately desires it.

And I thought with the carnival barker,

what would be very interesting would be to create

a pure juxtaposition to Whit.

Where it's this guy who's literally going on stage

in front of a, you know, a "crowd."

Um, a crowd of, like, adoring followers,

um, but who hates it, right? So, you have this--

So, you know, while Whit, you know,

so desperately wants to be on stage

and so desperately wants this attention,

and is very nervous in that seat,

you have the carnival barker who is incredibly calm

in the spotlight,

has all of the spotlight he could ever desire,

and just completely despises it

and is kind of, uh, sarcastic throughout.

And I feel like this episode was really inspired by

those giallo films, where the focus on, uh,

the extremes of death and the blood

and the gore that comes along with it.

Both Francesco and I are really big fans of giallo films,

and in modern cinema,

you don't see a ton of opportunities

to be able to take big swings.

You know, like, you know, Argento used to in Deep Red

or Opera, or films like Torso or Stage Fright.

Um, but when we looked at the material

that was on the page, we saw a lot of opportunity

to go really big and really broad.

And I think Francesco did some incredibly interesting things

with lighting and shot design and music,

that plays really nicely with the manufactured feel

of what you're going to get on a game show set.

And similarly, the manufactured world

that an influencer is trying to portray around them.

So being able to kind of leverage the...

the markings of a giallo film

and to create a manufactured feel

across both that game show set and the world of the influencer,

felt like a really, you know, good fit of style,

you know, um, to material.

John, thanks for being with us tonight,

and thank you for being such a big part

of Tales from the Void.

Thank you so much for having me.

I had, uh, I had a great time.

Thanks for watching this extended presentation

of Tales from the Void.

We look forward to you joining us next time.