The brilliant comedy team behind some of TV’s funniest sketches has released a new project that’s sure to get sides splitting. Writers Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle from NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, co-wrote, starred in, and produced - along with Felicia Gordon - a short, New York-centric film entitled All Access. The comedy explores the gentrification of New York City and the mental/emotional divide between those in favor of a more alternative, artistic vision of the city - Old New York - versus those of the more commercially-invested, ‘modern’ mindset - New New York. Set in a struggling Public Access television studio, All Access tells the story of a popular program host, Charlie "Pep" Peppercorn (Riddle), whose character resembles a modern-day cross between comedian Paul Mooney and old-school civil rights leader Huey P. Newton. Pep becomes entangled in a bitter battle against the station’s new director, a conservative, network suit named Raymundo “Ray” Hull (Salahuddin). After Ray attempts to sack old employees and make a number of changes to the show, Pep and the rest of the program’s original crew embark on a major fundraising campaign to take over the station and preserve the qualities on which Public Access TV was founded, lest they be lost to the ‘new’ realities of corporatized New York. Too bad they only raise about $76, and that’s before someone asks for their money back.

Though mostly shot in the studio, the film includes scenes from all over Manhattan’s classic neighborhoods and is set against music from LCD Soundsystem and Yacht. Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, of The Roots, plays one of the network’s hosts. And there is a sampling of hilarious vignettes of fictional Public Access shows like Brotherbey’s - a black auction show - and The Black Name Spelling Bee.

An intimate screening of the film was held last week at the Magno Screening Room, and the small theater was filled to capacity with friends and fans.

“I thought it was great!” said Jimmy Fallon, who came to show his support, “They have so many ideas and I'm glad they used an outlet [for them]. It was good to see them doing other things. We love those guys, they are funny, funny dudes. We're at the show support them."

“The story of a revolt in a Public Access channel is silly itself, even without all of Bashir and Diallo's zany, colorful characters,” said Julian Mosely, one of the actors. “All Access is original, lighthearted, and quirky. It doesn't have a defined audience, it appeals to the masses. If you saw the people that were in the house for the screening, it was people from NBC, to Jimmy Fallon, to young urban individuals - the audience itself embodied the NYC ‘melting pot’."

Salahuddin and Riddle are credited with creating such sketches as “Slow Jam The News” and “Hubble Gotchu,” and prior to Late Night, the men wrote for Comedy Central’s Chocolate News with David Alan Grier. Their critically acclaimed web series The Message, hosted by HBO online, has also produced several online comedy hits. The team behind All Access has entered the film into several festivals and will continue to do so through next spring. For more information on the film, please contact Felicia Gordon at fmgordon@aol.com.