Francis Parker staffers' remake of Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' video goes viral

Francis W. Parker technology coordinator Cathy Donnelly and librarian Anne Duncan star as “The Techie” and “Story Time” in a Chicago-made spoof of the Beastie Boys’ video “Sabotage.”

Mike Ferbrache and Duane Freeman work by day at the elite Francis W. Parker School in Lincoln Park — Freeman as a middle school counselor and Ferbrache as a third-grade teacher.

During their off-hours they produce the Mike and Duane Show on Vimeo. Past musical-comedy shorts from the duo, who’ve been collaborating for a decade, include a version of Michael Jackson’s Bad video (wherein a principal gives students lunchroom tips) and an impressive spoof of the popular treadmill video from popsters Ok Go. As Freeman told Today.com, all of their productions include Parker administrators, faculty, students and staff.

Over the past few days, Ferbrache, 38, and Freeman, 34, have become viral sensations thanks to their latest project: a remake of the Beastie Boys’ 1994 video Sabotage. Posted a few months ago after ten hours of shooting (with two cameras and a POV GoPro device) and nearly 15 hours of editing, it’s now ping-ponging around the cybersphere thanks in part to an August 15 share on the New York Public Library’s Tumblr page, which was then shared on boingboing.net and Rollingstone.com and the Huffington Post. Today.com featured it as well.

According to Freeman, it has so far garnered more than 300,000 hits.

Directed by Spike Jonze, the original “Sabotage” video features Beasties Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz as cheesy 70s detectives running down perps. In the absence of available rappers, Mike and Duane used Parker people. Very game Parker people, it should be said.

“We usually get a teacher to do something out of character,” Freeman said. “Just something that is kind of unexpected.”

The two main stars, technology coordinator Cathy Donnelly and librarian Anne Duncan, sport slick shades, chase and interrogate mopes who mistreat/try to abscond with library books and high-five each other after a job well done. Former Parker librarian Stephanie McMurray plays “Late Fee.”

“Even when I came to them, they were like, ‘Uh, what am I going to do?’” Freeman recalls.

Did they even know who the Beastie Boys were?

“No,” he says. “They still don’t, I don’t think.”

Who said school isn’t fun?

http://vimeo.com/66169135