Phil Hartman’s Flat TV is a short film that adapts six early archival audio recordings created by Phil Hartman in the late 1970s, before he became widely known for his work in television and film. Each recording captures Phil experimenting with characters, voices, and comedic ideas during a formative period of his creative life.

Each sketch is paired with Phil’s original drawings and interpreted using a different visual approach. The film moves between hand-drawn animation, rigged digital animation, puppetry, clay animation, and mixed techniques. Rather than settling into a single visual style, each segment is allowed to find its own form, reflecting the playful, exploratory nature of Phil’s early work.

Structured as six short segments, the film forms a compact anthology highlighting the range of voices and ideas Phil was developing long before his on-screen career took off.