Conner Supreme movie poster (made by Annaleia Rose).

NANTICOKE – If you’re a junior at GNA, there is a very high chance that you have heard people talking about a video titled “Conner Supreme”. You might have seen it in one of your classes, or you might have seen it on TikTok for the short while it was uploaded there. But how did the film come to be, and what makes it so great?

This article contains minor spoilers about the underground-future-cult-classic film Conner Supreme. If you do not wish to have the movie spoiled for you to any degree, please click off of the article and read another one on The GNA Insider. (*Also, for legal reasons, any similarities between Conner Supreme and any major-motion pictures, franchises, series, characters, etc. are purely coincidental.) 

Conner Supreme follows Conner Supreme (played by Conner Gronka) and Ryan Vida’s (played by, well, Ryan Vida) heated ping pong match. Sports broadcaster Rocco Halat (played by, you guessed it, Rocco Halat) narrates the heated match, and doctor Yenji (played by none other than Ethan Yenji) later joins the broadcast. The cast members are pretty well-known and active throughout the GNA community, being active in Key Club, the National Honor Society, sports, and overall just being good students and peers. 

With a runtime of 5:57, it is a very full video, and it doesn’t feel short in any way. The storyline is easy to enjoy. Who doesn’t love a good sports rivalry plot? Conner and Ryan’s fast-paced and constantly updating game features, updated commentary from sports broadcaster Rocco makes sure you don’t get lost in the match. 

At the end of the match, both players suffer injuries, and Dr. Yenji’s explanation of both players’ injuries is not only understandable but also very informative. Now there will be a certain number of people who will go out into the world who learned about torn rotator cuffs because of Conner Supreme. 

Now, I was lucky enough to be able to ask the students who created and starred in Conner Supreme a few questions about their film. Please enjoy The GNA Insider’s exclusive QnA with the cast of “Conner Supreme”! 

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Q & A:
Hi! Thank you for sitting down for an exclusive QnA with the GNA Insider to answer a couple of questions about your movie, Conner Supreme. Let’s jump right into it!

1: What prompted you to make Conner Supreme? 

Rocco: We watched “Marty Supreme,” which then led to us buying a ping-pong table. Mr. Prushinski assigned us a project, which gave us the idea, maybe. Thank you.

2: How long did it take you to create the movie (planning, filming, editing, etc.)? 

Ryan: Like four days, especially because it was a struggle to get Conner to hit the ball and to also get the right shots for the movie. I don’t know, maybe. Thank you.

3: Favorite memories from filming? 

Rocco: My favorite memories from filming were the bloopers and simply laughing with my friends, maybe. Thank you.

4: How sweet! How do you all feel about the excitement surrounding Conner Supreme? Did you expect so many people to enjoy it, and so many people to want to see it? 

Ryan: I feel stupendous about the excitement surrounding Conner Supreme. Of course, I expected it, and I also expected people to want to see it. Maybe, thank you.

5: Is Conner Supreme actually going to be getting a sequel? 

Ethan: I don’t know, maybe? Thank you.

(Interviewer note: after the questions were answered, I asked Rocco why every single answer concluded with “…maybe, thank you.”, to which he answered that after I sent him the list of questions and he forwarded them to his friends, Conner replied something along the lines of “uh idk yes maybe thank you”. After that, they began to use it as a joke at the end of their answers. He said that I didn’t have to include it in their answers in the article, but for journalistic integrity (and also because I think it’s really hilarious), I kept it in their responses.) 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions! Wishing each one of you all the best and hope you have a great day at GNA, maybe!

Now, onto my review of Conner Supreme. Personally, I think that this was an absolutely incredible short film. It’s really hilarious, like, really funny. Everyone I know who saw it too agrees. It’s clear that a lot of effort was put into this one-of-a-kind work, and the fellas locked in to play their roles. There’s a blooper reel at the end of the movie, which gives an inside look at the lightheartedness behind the scenes of creating the movie. 

You could read more into the video and find your own easter eggs, like the TV in the background’s constantly changing program, Ethan very clearly reading off a script behind the camera, Brayden Isaacs’ cut character makes a major cameo in the blooper reel, and where are the sheets on the hospital bed? Who knows! It could be a theological metaphor, a border of sorts between being an injured champion or a healthy loser. I don’t know; I didn’t work on the movie. I’m just the reviewer, and I like reading into things more than need be and finding meaning.  

Everyone’s characters are well written, and the script and line deliveries are very nice. It’s the right amount of corny while not being cringey at all, which is a really hard balance to achieve, especially when you’re a group of teenage boys making a movie. The editing is really good as well. It’s reminiscent of the beginnings of great films such as Napoleon Dynamite or Superbad. Overall, it’s a great production and one that you can look back at in ten, twenty, and thirty years and laugh at. It’s heartwarming and a lovely view into what a great friendship can produce. 

So now you want to see Conner Supreme, but where can you? Well, if you’re a junior and have a class with one or all of the boys, you might be lucky enough to be able to watch it in your class. Otherwise, you should ask one of them for the link to the video so that you can experience “Conner Supreme” from the comfort of your own home. I highly recommend it.

My final thoughts: “Conner Supreme” is a hilarious short film that showcases youth in the purest form of pantomime. It’s creative, comedic, and cinematic. It’s the quintessential nostalgic home movie made by a group of good buddies who made something truly great just by having fun and enjoying the unseriousness of their teenage years, and I think everyone can take something from that.

5/5 stars.