What started as three brothers making home videos became a sketch-comedy YouTube Channel. Now, it’s a media production company pitching its first sitcom.
Goof Entertainment is a multimedia organization specializing in photography, videography and music production owned by Courtney Theophin, 24, and his brother, Kenneth Theophin, 26.
The team recently finished filming the pilot for “Courtney,” a show about a struggling comedian in his early twenties navigating life after a hard breakup. It draws inspiration from Courtney’s personal experience balancing his previous romantic relationship with his creative ambitions.
“When I was in a relationship I wasn’t really feeding my creative side,” Courtney said. “I was like, ‘Let me make a show about how a person finds themselves after getting out of a relationship.’”
Courtney studied nursing at Santa Fe College for two years before transferring to UF to study journalism and improve his writing and production skills. His goal was to grow Goof Entertainment, which originally started as a sketch-comedy Youtube channel with his brothers in 2015.
The brothers’ collective creativity emerged during their childhoods after their father gifted them a camcorder. They continued to write, film and edit comedy sketches to entertain themselves after moving from New Jersey to Bronson, a rural city about half an hour from Gainesville, in 2006.
“We just perfected it over time,” Kenneth said. “We are YouTube graduates.”
While at UF, Courtney became distracted with school and his personal life, leading him to take a break from the channel. However, after a difficult breakup in 2019, he put all his efforts back into it.
“I had all this extra time on my hands and as part of my healing process I picked up that camera and started shooting as much as possible,” Courtney said.
The brothers also shifted away from sketch comedy and turned Goof Entertainment into a media production company to make the business more profitable by establishing a broad clientele, Kenneth said.
“Courtney” represents Goof Entertainment’s return to original video content.
Ricky Theophin, the 23-year-old youngest brother, stars as himself in “Courtney.” He is excited to show people they are serious and bring wide-spread attention to Goof Entertainment.
“I've always wanted to get into the creative industry because I enjoy making people laugh and smile,” Ricky said. “The most rewarding part is knowing I get to do it with my brothers.”
Ricky is a law enforcement officer but also acts and writes sketches at Goof Entertainment.
Kenneth, co-CEO of Goof Entertainment, spends most of his time behind the camera as a photographer and videographer at the company. The oldest brother also runs Goof Entertainment’s business and marketing sectors.
Having grown up with little access to cable television and the internet, Kenneth said he is proud of how far he and his brothers’ video editing skills have come.
“It's always been the goal to do what we're doing now,” he said. “I'm happy that we're able to make things happen together as a family.”
Ashayla Blakely, a 23-year-old UF telecommunications alum and the assistant director of “Courtney,” met Courtney in 2020 working for the UF College Reach Out Program, an initiative dedicated to raising the number of Black students admitted to UF.
Courtney approached Blakely with the “Courtney” script and asked her to be his assistant director in January. Blown away by the script’s humor, she agreed without hesitation.
Blakely said the plot of “Courtney” is similar to famous writer and actress Issa Rae’s comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl,” with a timeless comedic touch resembling the work of Eddie Murphy.
“I know people are going to love it,” Blakely said. “I see this show becoming something that my kids are watching.”
For Sabrina Blakney, a 24-year-old UF acting MFA junior who played Courtney’s ex-girlfriend Lani in the pilot, working with Courtney was thrilling. His infectious personality and prioritization of her comfort put her at ease throughout the entire filming process, she said.
Blakney also said Courtney’s directing style was supportive and open-minded.
“He allows you to try to figure it out on your own and gives you the room to explore,” she said. “That’s an actor's dream.”
Kenneth and Courtney recently moved to Los Angeles to pitch “Courtney” to television networks and plan to release the pilot on the Goof Entertainment Youtube channel in July.
For Courtney, the sitcom represents his journey as a content creator and the creative community he has cultivated living in Gainesville.
“This project is a culmination of all the time I spent and connections I've made in Gainesville,” Courtney said.
Contact Amanda at afriedman@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @afriedmanuf.
Amanda Friedman is a senior journalism major and the Enterprise Editor at The Alligator. She previously wrote for the Avenue, Metro and University desks. When she isn't reporting, she loves watching coming-of-age films and listening to Ariana Grande.
