About Willie & Andrew
The American team completed the 6th leg of the Van-Tastic Adventure – the Northern Territory outback. Willie Concepción is originally from Miami, Florida and Andrew Adams is from Baltimore, Maryland. The two met while in university where they developed their filmmaking, writing and directing skills, as well as their comedic talent. With their passion for film, travel, and new experiences, Willie and Andrew kept us entertained throughout their six week roadtrip and truly captured the spirit of a roadtrip adventure.
The Prize
As our Van-Tastic Adventures winners, Willie and Andrew have won $10,000AUD and two flights with Virgin Blue to keep them travelling.
Their Reaction
Willie is working at as a camp counsellor; he’s not allowed to answer his phone. When we call to tell him the news, he sneaks into the nearest closet to talk. Andrew is at the Flaming Lips concert in Central Park. When we call him, he runs through the crowd to where he can hear better (as the band is coming out on stage in human-size hamster balls).
"The realization comes in bursts. First it's overwhelming. Then confusing. Do people realize what won? Our videos had fart jokes in them, and highlighted playground games like "Safety." But mostly I feel humbled and incredibly joyous that people enjoyed watching." - Willie
"It's affirming, really, which is what's most valuable to me. Willie and I both chose to study arts in college, knowing full well how low the rate of success is in such fields. So to earn such an amazing opportunity in the first place, and then to know that our work touched people in such a way and was actually entertaining -- it means a lot. It lets us know that we didn't make a mistake, and that we were right to study what we love." - Andrew
What's next?
"I was about ready to quit acting because I wasn't sure that my career was going anywhere. Then this news came. And now I KNOW that this is the only thing I want to do with my life. So I've decided to save the money and use it to make a feature film." – Willie
"Together we're working on a script, a dark comedy that we can make on a super low budget. Using the award money, we're hoping to get a nice camera, to move to New York and get involved in the comedy and film scenes there, and to start funding a film. Basically, we're hoping to use the money to launch careers in film. We're also hoping to use the recognition in pitches to other tourism bureaus, ideally ones that would fund more travel and more videography." - Andrew
"Just winning the road trip was a dream come true, but now all the additional rewards can make all the rest of our dreams a reality, too. This award has rejuvenated us and reaffirmed all the risky decisions we've made up to this point. It's an honor. Thank you so much for taking a risk on two wacky guys that live their lives by the "Yes And" rules of improvisation. And we're really sorry about all the fart jokes."
- Willie & Andrew
