Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker met in 1994 as roommates and film students at Temple University, becoming instant friends. They began producing a number of short, low-budget films and cartoons for their website. Their short entitled "Tom Goes to the Mayor" was selected by the Philadelphia Institute of World Cinema as a short film and was included in Penn University's Institute of Contemporary Art. In 2001, the two compiled a tape of many of their shorts and submitted it to various comedic heroes, including Mr.