Press kit

There’s Something Wrong with Marty

A dark comedy feature by Ben Giroux & Arnie Pantoja

Two estranged best friends — one mid-psychotic-break, one proposing to a woman who can’t stand him — reunite for a manic odyssey to recover a diamond engagement ring inside a stolen bag of dog ashes… with only hours to retrieve it.

Kickstarter launches Oct 14, 2026 · 7 PM PT
8/10 on the Black List
Based on a true story

Press inquiries All photos (ZIP, 8 MB) Kickstarter page ↗

For editors

The short version

There’s Something Wrong with Marty is a dark comedy from Ben Giroux and Arnie Pantoja, longtime Nickelodeon actors who have spent more than a decade in kids’ TV and animation: Ben as The Toddler on Henry Danger and Danger Force, and the two of them as best friends Nate and Teddy on Big Nate. This one is not for kids. Inspired by their own true story of a mental-health crisis and the friendship that survived it, Marty is adult, raw, deeply personal and very funny, and the script earned an 8/10 Black List website evaluation. Ben and Arnie are making it independently through their company, Small Red Cape, with a Kickstarter campaign that launches October 14, 2026 at 7 PM PT.

At a glance

Fact sheet

Title: There’s Something Wrong with Marty
Format: Feature film · dark comedy
Status: In development · screenplay complete
Written by: Ben Giroux & Arnie Pantoja
Director: Ben Giroux
Starring: Ben Giroux (Dan) and Arnie Pantoja (Marty). Other film casting has not been announced.
Production company: Small Red Cape, Los Angeles
Kickstarter: Launches Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 7 PM PT. $100,000 goal, 30 days, all-or-nothing.
Recognition: 8/10 overall, Black List website evaluation (August 2026)
Table read: July 12, 2026, Los Angeles
Launch night: The Marty Party, October 14, 2026, Studio City

Why it’s a story

Story angles

Kids’ TV veterans. Very grown-up movie.

Ben spent a decade as The Toddler on Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger and Danger Force; he and Arnie play best friends Nate and Teddy on Big Nate. Marty is their pivot: adult, raw, deeply personal and darkly funny.
An 8 on the Black List.

Before a dollar was raised, the script earned an 8/10 Black List website evaluation: “A burst of creativity and cinematic delights… a genuine page-turner.”
Based on a true story.

The script grew out of a real mental-health crisis and the friendship that survived it. In their words: “There are a lot of movies about what happens when someone goes into a mental hospital. There aren’t many about what happens when you get out.”
Done waiting on Hollywood.

Two working actors with a decade of TV and animation behind them are funding their feature directly with their audience instead of waiting for a studio green light.
A creator-built campaign.

Ben’s audience of nearly five million on TikTok is watching a daily countdown: one new video every day, shot in the same Los Angeles alley, until the Kickstarter goes live.
The table read.

In July, a cast including Jerry Trainor (iCarly), Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911!), Josh Sussman (Glee) and Dre Swain (Henry Danger) read the script for a live audience. Film casting has not been announced.

A note from Ben & Arnie

Based on a true story.

We’ve been creative partners for over a decade, mostly inside other people’s projects — a hundred-plus episodes of television, a decade of cartoons, dozens of scripts written, multiple projects in development.

Then, in 2020, one of us was admitted to a mental hospital after a psychotic break. The same day, the other met someone toxic it would take years — and real balls — to leave. A dog died. Our friendship was hanging in the balance, and for a while, one of us wasn’t sure the other was going to make it. He did.

There are a lot of movies about what happens when someone goes into a mental hospital. There aren’t many about what happens when you get out. That was the one we wanted to see — grief, ambition, friendship, and the uphill climb to get your life back. So we did the only logical thing... and wrote it ourselves.

We’re not waiting on Hollywood for permission. We’re going all in and making it ourselves, with our own audience behind us. Every job we’ve ever taken turned out to be practice.

This is the take. — Ben Giroux & Arnie Pantoja

The filmmakers

Ben + Arnie

Ben Giroux and Arnie Pantoja have spent more than a decade as creative partners, first thrown together by the industry and then building by choice. Trained at The Groundlings and UCB, improv is the engine of their work. Their shared credits include Henry Danger, Danger Force, Rick and Morty, and Big Nate, where they play best friends Nate and Teddy; together, they have also show-run projects for Facebook Watch and The CW. There’s Something Wrong with Marty — which they wrote, produce, and star in under Small Red Cape — is their first self-made feature.

Ben Giroux

Co-writer · Director · Plays Dan

Ben Giroux is an actor, director, and producer whose work spans more than 100 episodes of television. He stars as Nate Wright in Paramount+’s Big Nate and spent more than a decade as The Toddler in Henry Danger and Danger Force. His directing and digital work has reached hundreds of millions of viewers, and he develops original film and television through his Small Red Cape production banner.

TikTok · Instagram — @bengiroux

Arnie Pantoja

Co-writer · Plays Marty

Arnie Pantoja is an actor and improviser known for sharply comic, offbeat characters. He stars as Teddy Ortiz in Paramount+’s Big Nate, voices Kazuma Satou in KonoSuba and Reno in the Final Fantasy franchise, and has appeared in Henry Danger, Danger Force, The Goldbergs, Superstore, and Sydney White. A UCB-trained performer, he brings an improviser’s instinct to screen and voice work alike.

Instagram — @arniepantoja

Early response