Friends, filmmakers fashion farcical Akron-based videos

Akron filmmakers Andy Hammersmith, at left, and Matt Mascolo produce comical tourism videos about Northeast Ohio. Photo courtesy of Andy Hammersmith and Matt Mascolo

AKRON — YouTube, an online video-sharing platform, allows Akron filmmakers Andy Hammersmith and Matt Mascolo to obtain instant feedback on their videos, which helps shape their future work.
Hammersmith and Mascolo, who are friends and work under the name TV Head Productions, now are making comical tourism videos about Akron and Northeast Ohio and posting them on YouTube and social media platforms. And they’re having a good time doing it.
The videographers specifically are carrying on with their original series, “Rubber City Travelogues,” as they said it has been well received, especially among fellow Akron-area residents. They added they still have plenty of ideas as they move forward, too.
“We like to push what we can do, and a lot of what we do is very Akron-centric,” said Mascolo. “I feel like it is big enough of a city. It really does have its own personality, and there definitely are stories to tell in our city that Akron residents will like and think are funny.”
Both Hammersmith and Mascolo are 2014 graduates of Archbishop Hoban High School, where their friendship began. After high school, they both went on to study film and digital media at Cleveland State University.
Mascolo said he originally considered a career in music, eventually switching his attention to film. Hammersmith, as a young boy, stated he saw his older brother making a video with his own friends and has wanted to work in the film industry ever since. As teenagers, Mascolo and Hammersmith enjoyed creating mini-movies together for fun, but they did not produce films together much in college.
When COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., Hammersmith was at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He decided to finish his master’s degree in screenwriting online back in Akron, where he reconnected with Mascolo.
The two share a similar humor, much like the one displayed by British comedy troupe Monty Python, so they began bouncing “absurd, comical” ideas off of each other, said Mascolo. The pandemic brought their heads back together, the wheels turned and the production company began. They started creating short films, about 2 minutes in length, focusing on Akron. Their official travelogues took flight from there.
One of those is the story behind the design of an Akron bridge — told in a joking, embellishing manner — with that film shared at a Highland Square Film Festival.
“It was played at the Highland Square Theatre and received a really good reception,” said Mascolo.
TV Head Productions also won an Audience Choice Award for a short feature on potholes in Akron at the festival, he added.
“We really latched onto things that are Akron-specific,” said Mascolo of their films. “Our city drives a lot of the films we make.”
Hammersmith and Mascolo have also produced short films bringing attention, in a comedic way, to the Rubber Bowl; Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens; the Montrose area; local dining establishments, including Whitey’s Restaurant, Ken Stewart’s Grille and Swensons Drive-in; and other Akron attractions. They even put out a short film presenting a plea for an Akron script sign, much like the ones in Cleveland.
“These are just short-and-sweet videos about places, events and topics in Akron,” said Hammersmith. “We also want to start working with other friends to expand a little bit and get more people in our videos.”
The pair now is working on a piece about the Summit County Historical Society’s John Brown House.
“We are interested in discussing the history of Akron, too,” said Hammersmith. “We want to give some information that is interesting but add some jokes into it.”
At the end of the day, Mascolo said he and Hammersmith are entertained through their entire filmmaking process.
“If Andy and I were the only ones who enjoyed the videos, they would still come out on YouTube and Facebook,” he said. “But, hopefully, everyone else will continue to enjoy them, as well.”
Hammersmith added, “What we are doing is making the two of us laugh. Having it home-specific is really fun, also. We hope people continue to get something out of our work.”
Hammersmith and Mascolo’s travelogue videos can be found on their Facebook page, under TV Head Productions, and on their TV Head Productions YouTube channel.