Guide Note
Luke Barats and Joe Bereta make up the online comic duo, Barats and Bereta.
The two started working together in 2003 after meeting at their college improv club, the Gonzaga University Theatre Sports group. They wrote and produced videos to share with college friends, which eventually made their way to YouTube for family members to see. The videos were popular enough to garner about 200 hits a day, before Mother's Day, a sketch of two brothers having a picture taken for their mom, ended up on the YouTube front page. Their daily video views rose to 40,000, with Mother's Day eventually receiving over five million hits.
Fast Facts
- Hometown: Spokane, Washington
- Both graduated from Gonzaga University
- Signed a 1-year contract with NBC in 2006
- Featured on Variety's 2006 Comedy Impact List
- The Sexy Milk Jump won Canon's Battle of the Viral Video Superstars
- Just Wonderful won first prize at the Spokane First Night Film Festival
- Won the Brickwall Amateur Comedy Competition in 2005
Beyond YouTube
Barats and Bereta's continued success at creating popular videos soon led to interest from beyond YouTube. In 2006, Windward Reports hired them to create a viral advertising video, and several major networks, including NBC, MTV, and HBO, vied to work with the talented duo. NBC won the fight with a one year contract offering a six figure development deal. Although This is Culdesac, the sketch comedy pilot they produced under contract, was not picked up by NBC, their next television project, a more traditional sitcom, was. They will be writing the show for NBC and may also be given roles in it. A movie idea pitched to an independent studio was also purchased from them in 2007.
Barats and Bereta are currently living and working in Spokane, Washington, where they regularly perform with the Blue Door Theater troupe.
