BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT: “BERNIE”
“Bernie,” a web series developed for a leading provider of cloud-based software for professional services firms, follows an old-school staff accountant whose life is turned upside down after his employer installs a highly efficient time-and-billing software package.
The new software, which greatly streamlines Bernie’s circuitous workflow, disrupts his outdated routines. To his dismay, Bernie finds that tasks that used to take him hours are completed in mere minutes — leaving him with too much time on his hands.
Forced to adapt, Bernie finds increasingly creative ways to fill his time and in doing so he is slowly but surely brought out of his safe little world into the larger, more elliptical orbit of a cast of eccentric office mates who encourage him to explore the outer reaches of workplace propriety:
Like eating lunch away from his desk, occasionally wearing the odd-patterned necktie and, when the spirit moves him, surrendering himself to the poetry of a Steve Miller soft rock anthem — and the healing power of interpretive dance.
Click the images or character names below to see clips.
CAST AND CHARACTERS
BERNIE ROOTLE (Actor: Eddie Wolfe) - click photo to see clip.
ABC’s staff accountant, Bernie is a lovable Luddite who likes to do things old school. He clings to obsolete tools and outdated processes as if cherished family traditions — the kind of guy who shuns technology in favor of No. 2 Ticonderoga pencils, and prefers sending interoffice envelopes instead of email. He has a soft spot for soft rock, a yen for Chinese food and couldn’t live without his manual Mr. Coffee© maker.
SANDRA GLOYD (Actor: Kathleen Puls Andrade) - click photo to see clip.
Meet the ballsy new boss. Sandra is the curvaceous, flame-haired cougar who sets her sights — and outsized appetites — on Bernie. The trophy wife of ABC’s recently deceased founder, Sandra has a head for numbers, a body built by carbs, and a knack for telling everyone else what to do. She’s hellbent on making changes around ABC, no matter how many toes she has to step on with her leopard print heels.
CAROL PHIPPS (Actor: Heather Beeman) - click photo to see clip.
The company’s HR manager, Carol is pretty in a buttoned-up way and serves as the firm’s resident cheerleader, a talent honed in her suburban Illinois high school. Carol floats from one staffer’s office to the next, offering advice and a sympathetic ear — usually while bringing another HR form to fill out. She’s Bernie’s biggest champion, pushing him to find his greater purpose. Her sunny optimism is at times blinding.
MITCH COX (Actor: Christopher Woolsey) - click photo to see clip.
With bed-head hair and perpetually loosened tie, Mitch always looks like he just rolled in from an all-night party. As ABC’s lead account rep, he has charm to spare — a gift he uses to get Bernie into cleaning up his expense reports. Formerly a women’s shoe salesman, he knows what to say to the ladies, but harbors a deep, dark secret. His catchphrase, said whenever he’s trying to shirk responsibility: “I’ve got a lunch!”
RUSSELL BELL (Actor: Justin James Farley) - click photo to see clip.
The firm’s IT guy, Russell is a hipster and a nerd, which means this dude’s never gonna fix your monitor. He “offices” in ABC’s break room, where he can be near his prized cappuccino maker. He’s always texting and rarely looks up, yet he sees all — including Bernie’s many missteps in life, love and office politics. A cum laude in English Lit, he’s at work on a roman à clef no one knows he’s writing via smartphone.