Articles

An Interview with Franklin Martin, director of HURRICANE SEASON

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, director Franklin Martin went down to New Orleans and made a documentary about a local football team. Watch our recent interview to find out more about the film.

Wednesday, February 24th at 7:30pm

Terry Bradshaw Presents: HURRICANE SEASON

Located just 15 miles west of New Orleans, the tiny town of La Place, escaped the cruel flooding of its neighbor only to suffer a different kind of flood: the overnight influx of 20,000 displaced hurricane victims. Electricity, food, water and shelter become scarce; traffic, unemployment and long lines prevalent. The school system was overrun with 1700 displaced students. Can teenage boys blown together by the winds of Katrina overcome the tragedy of losing their homes and school? Can kids with vastly different racial, economic and religious backgrounds co-exist? Can one-time high schools rivals set aside these differences to band together and lift the spirit of this broken community?

Q&A with the director and special guests will follow the screening.

Majestic Crest Theater
1262 Westwood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024
http://www.indiedocs.net

Adults: $13.00
Students: $10.00

Click HERE for tickets and more information.

Bob Newhart At the Aero

“This is not Billy Wilder’s life, or Cary Grant. I made a few movies.” -Bob Newhart

While the statement above might seem like a typical example of Bob Newhart’s dry wit, it’s also essentially true. Newhart has had a career that spans five decades, but for most people movies are not the first thing that comes to mind when you mention his name. But Newhart has appeared in an eclectic assortment of films dating back to 1962, when he appeared in Don Siegel’s “Hell is for Heroes.” His more recent credits have included stints opposite Will Ferrell in “Elf” and Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde 2”. But many of Newhart’s most interesting films are rarely screened, and deserve a second look.

Enter the American Cinematheque, who gave a sold out crowd at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica a treat by programming a double bill of “Cold Turkey” (1971) and “Hot Millions” (1968). “Hot Millions” is available on DVD and download from the new Warner Archive site, but “Cold Turkey” has yet to see a DVD release of any sort. “Cold Turkey” also carries the distinction of being the only feature film to be directed by television legend Norman Lear. It’s the kind of movie that Hollywood would never make now, as the plot centers around a small town who’s promised $25 million by a tobacco company if they can quit smoking for 30 days. Considering that the MPAA is practically handing out R ratings to filmmakers who even dare to show a cigarette in a movie these days, “Cold Turkey” seems like a minor miracle.

“Hot Millions” finds Newhart’s paranoid accountant character trying to catch Peter Ustinov in the act of embezzling money from a large American corporation with the aid of their giant computer. Newhart has a lot of funny exchanges with Ustinov in the film, and it’s even funnier to see him shift into lecherous mode as he tries to put the moves on a young Maggie Smith. On a side note, it’s almost uncanny how tricks and mannerisms Ricky Gervais seems to have lifted from Peter Ustinov. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine a remake with Newhart in a cameo.

As entertaining as the two films were, the house was packed to see the man himself, and Newhart didn’t disappoint. Appearing for discussion in between the two films, he took questions from the audience and regaled the crowd with a series of priceless anecdotes from his long show business career. He gave his wife credit for coming up with the idea for the famous final episode of “Newhart” where he wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette on the set of “The Bob Newhart Show,” and he had hilarious stories about appearing with Frank Sinatra on The Tonight Show, the first time his wife met Don Rickles, and working for Mike Nichols while hung over on the set of “Catch-22.”

The crowd got an unexpected treat when Newhart called Norman Lear out of the audience to join him on stage. Lear seemed very touched by the way “Cold Turkey” had played with the crowd and said he’d never had a chance to see the film with an audience before. He also revealed that he shot the pilot of “All in the Family” three different times before someone finally picked it up. Newhart had some similar problems with CBS when he was doing his show for them in the 90’s and got a big laugh when he turned to Lear and asked “Can you imagine a network being unfair?” A class act if there ever was one, Lear seemed reluctant to steer the spotlight away from Newhart and left the stage after a few minutes.

Now 80, Newhart shows few signs of slowing down. His comedy album “The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart” seems as fresh as it did 50 years ago, and Newhart said that he still does about twenty stand-up dates a year. A good comedian always knows his audience, and Bob Newhart wrapped up his American Cinematheque appearance by referencing Billy Wilder once gain. Addressing the question of why he continues to do stand up, Newhart claimed he did it to avoid the alternative: ” Sitting in a dark room on Sunset Blvd. with Erich Von Stroheim bringing me my favorite Newhart episodes.”

MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD

MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD

Los Angeles, CA (February 8, 2010)—MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS, a hilariously shocking mockumentary, is now available on DVD in stores at an SRP of $19.98.

The movie, which won bronze in the Heineken Audience Award at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, features five little people and five mascots who battle for $1 million apiece in competitions such as “how few insults does it take to get punched in a bar” and “alligator wrestling.”

With Gary Coleman starring as himself, much of the film is shot guerilla improv style, as the teams surprise unsuspecting bystanders when they crash restaurants, bars, and neighborhoods during outrageous competitions. As described on the Tribeca Film Festival website, the film’s “hilarity and raunch… struck a chord with [Tribeca] audiences” and “is certain to shock and amuse.”

Directed by Ron Carlson with appearances by Jason Mewes, Scottie Pippen, and Ron Jeremy, the film has already generated considerable word-of-mouth and online buzz. At Tribeca, tickets to the film’s initial four screenings at Tribeca sold out in two hours, prompting the Festival to add a fifth showing.

A cross between Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat and Johnny Knoxville’s Jackass, MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS is geared toward 18-34-year-old males. In test screenings, the film’s scores came back 20 percent higher than the average studio comedy. In head to head testing, MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS also beat seven of 10 relevant comedies, including Jackass, Reno 911, Napoleon Dynamite, Bad Santa, Pineapple Express, Clerks, and Harold & Kumar.

Already an online sensation, MIDGETS VS. MASCOTS (www.midgetsvsmascots.com) has logged 50 million media impressions since January 1, 2010, and 800,000 online views of the trailer and clips. The film’s trailer is ranked in the top 1% of trailers/videos on Trailer Addict (www.traileraddict.com).

The critics are already buzzing:

o “Looking for party entertainment that you can pop into the DVD player when everyone is stoned and in a silly mood? Then this is exactly the ticket.”—Jon Bastian, FilmMonthly.com

o “Hilarious, politically incorrect sleeper hit.”—TheBachelorGuy.com

o “Comedy gold guaranteed.”—Dustin Rowles, GoldFishSyndrome.com

o “It’s wild, it’s crazy!”—Danielle Evenson, Entertainment.Comedy.com

o “The must-see movie of the decade is Midgets vs. Mascots.”—blogcatalog.com

Tony Curtis Appears at the Magic Castle

Not only is Tony Curtis an exciting and outstanding actor, he also provides generous support to charities he believes in. To fundraise for his Las Vegas based Shiloh Horse Rescue foundation, Curtis appeared at the Magic Castle in Hollywood on Sunday, February 2 following a screening of the classic film comedy, “Some Like It Hot.” Directed by the great Billy Wilder, “Some Like It Hot” focuses on the exploits of two male musicians (Curtis and Jack Lemmon) on the run from Chicago mobsters in 1928, who join an all girl band on their way to Florida, after noticing the delectable charms of lead singer Sugar (Marilyn Monroe). Romance, humor, and suspense ensue.

Following the screening, Curtis appeared on stage to loud applause from the audience. He revealed that he suffered muscle weakness after a long bout with pneumonia several years ago, but appeared indomitable and strong. Displaying his impish sense of humor, he doffed his cowboy hat to reveal he was also bald.

Curtis brought his wife Jill on stage to explain the work of their foundation, Shiloh Horse Rescue, which she and Tony founded about 5 years ago. The organization rescues abandoned, injured, abused, and slaughter bound horses, training them for adoption by loving families, or peaceful and contented retirement on a rural farm outside of Las Vegas. At any time, over 500 horses are stabled at the ranch.

Curtis expressed enormous gratitude for his 56 year long career, before regaling the crowd with several amusing stories. He revealed how much Cary Grant had influenced his career. Curtis stated that Grant “...filled me up with energy,” that imagining he was Grant gave him a sense of who he was, and how to act as a gentleman.

Like Grant in the film “Destination Tokyo,” Curtis served on a submarine during World War II, and attended college on the G. I. Bill following the War. This gave him the chance to make something of himself. At college he began studying acting, which lead to an appearance in the play “Golden Boy.” Discovered by a talent agent in the play, he was signed to an acting contract and sent to Hollywood.

Curtis jokingly told the audience of meeting a well groomed man who invited him up for a talk at his seat in the front of the airplane, appearing interested in his background and future plans. Curtis proudly spoke of his contract with Universal, before the man asked if he needed a lift to his hotel. Once in the limousine, the men introduced themselves, with Curtis discovering he had been talking and joking with Warners Bros. head of production Jack Warner, who went on to become a lifelong friend.

A person in the audience asked about his early acting days. Proud of his time at Universal, Curtis revealed he loved working for the studio in his early years because it gave him roles in a variety of pictures, which provided great experience and training for how to handle himself in all types of situations.

Another questioner asked him what he learned playing real people in movies. Curtis stated that he enjoyed reading and learning about Harry Houdini, an Hungarian Jew like himself, who possessed enormous discipline and knowledge in becoming the world’s greatest magician during the early part of the twentieth century. From Houdini, he learned the attitude, “You don’t act, you be.”

Responding to a question about THE DEFIANT ONES, Curtis explained how he suggested Sidney Poitier as his costar, as well as how he demanded that they share star billing for the film, the first time a black actor’s name had appeared over a film’s title.

He claimed that he met Marilyn Monroe in 1950, very early in their careers, and how they carried on an affair for a while. He believed she was a lovely, sweet woman who unfortunately found herself in situations she couldn’t handle with people who weren’t always looking out for her best interests.

Representatives of the Magic Castle presented him with a proclamation from the city of Los Angeles, as well as sterling silver cufflinks in the shape of Lifesavers (in honor of a funny anecdote from Curtis), and a letter from the rabbi of the largest Jewish temple in Europe, located in Budapest, Hungary. The letter almost moved him to tears, as Curtis revealed he had founded the Emanuel Foundation (named after his father) to help Hungarian Holocaust victims in the United States as well as Europe, giving back as a way to honor his heritage and people.

After his talk, Curtis retired downstairs to sign his book, photos, posters, artwork, and other memorabilia to raise money for Shiloh Horse Rescue.

Sundance Interview with the writer/director of TUB

The synopsis alone tells you this will be a short like none other.

Writer/Director Bobby Miller is a 2009 graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Film program. His previous work includes directing a stop motion commercial for VH1, writing for The Onion, and creating the Webby-Award winning variety show The Best Short Films In The World for Next New Networks. His feature film scripts have placed at Slamdance, Scriptapalooza, and the BlueCat Screenplay competition. He’s currently writing his 4th feature length screenplay and writing, directing, hosting, and editing The Reel Good Show for Next New Networks. (TheBobbyMiller.com) TUB was made by Streetwise Pictures Entertainment and produced by Kim Jackson & Richard LeMay.

10 Frequently Asked Questions about “TUB” with answers by Writer/Director Bobby Miller

1.) When was “TUB” conceived?
TUB was originally written back in 2006. I had never worked with a decent budget before and I knew that TUB had to have a certain level of special effects for it to work. So, I applied for many filmmaking grants, but could never get funding. It was depressing. TUB would become my passion project. No matter what I did at film school, my friends would always ask, “When are you going to make TUB?” But, because I never felt like I had the right people involved or the funding in place, it just never happened. In 2009, after working with Eric Levy and Matt Sanchez on a side project, I decided to up and fund the thing myself. Besides: What’s another student loan anyways?

2.) Where the hell did you come up with the idea for “TUB”?
It’s all based on a true story.

3.) What were you trying to accomplish with “TUB”?
I’ve been making short comedy films forever and was dabbling with more dramatic stuff at Columbia University’s graduate film program. I also love traditional special effects and dreamed of making something with a more complex puppet. Instead of, y’know, a sock. TUB was the ambitious fusing of all of my interests into one project. It’s funny in parts, but sometimes dark, dramatic, disturbing or just plain weird. More than anything, I was interested in creating a unique tone with this film and walking the tight rope line between comedy, drama, and goopy special effects. It was easily one of the most satisfying creative experiences of my life.

4.) Where/when was it shot?
TUB was shot in April of 2009. The shoot consisted of two days in a studio and two days on location. The bathroom in the film was not a real bathroom, but rather a bathroom set. All shooting was done in New York City. The apartment location was in Brooklyn. It’s my friend Shivonna’s place. She’s really cool. You should meet her sometime.

5.) How was the baby in the film created?
The baby in the film consists of two versions: A full body silicon puppet and a larger scale stand-alone head. The larger stand-alone head was equipped with animatronic eye-lids, so the baby could blink and appear more lifelike in it’s closeup shots. The baby was designed by Cheryl Gross and sculpted by Monster in My Closet FX, headed by Jeremy Selenfriend. I feel like I interviewed every FX house in NYC for the job of creating the baby and Jeremy and his crew do amazing work.

6.) What was it shot on?
A Sony EX-1 with a Letus35Extreme 35mm lens adapter.

7.) What are your filmmaking influences?
I find I’m attracted to filmmakers with a skewed or absurd look at the world. Terry Gilliam, Spike Jonze, Fellini, PT Anderson, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Woody Allen…am I boring you yet? I also think Ren and Stimpy screwed with my brain at a young age.

8.) Tub is world-premiering at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, when does it screen? It screens in SHORTS PROGRAM V.
Friday, January 22, 11:30 a.m. Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Saturday, January 23, 5:30 p.m. Library Center Theatre, Park City
Sunday, January 24, 3:45 p.m. Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC
Wednesday, January 27, 9:00 a.m. Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
Saturday, January 30, 6:00 p.m. Egyptian Theatre, Park City

9.) Where can I find out about all things “TUB”?
That’s funny you should ask that, imaginary question-asker. You can visit: TubMovie.com. Once there, you can download the trailer, poster, photos, and follow us on twitter and facebook! I mean…that’s gotta be exciting, right? ...maybe?

10.) What is next after “TUB”?
I’ve been making short films since the 5th grade and showcasing my work online since web video was possible. (I remember feeling frustrated when my little one minute .mpeg video file took forever to download on a modem.)
For the last two years, I’ve become a one-man-band of sorts: Writing, directing, hosting, and editing a show every week for Next New Networks. All the while, I’ve been slowly building an online audience. (That same audience helped me defeat Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for “Best Variety Show” at the 2009 Webby Awards. More at: DontLetJimmyWin.com)

Amongst all of that, I completed graduate film school at Columbia University, where I wrote 3 feature length screenplays and got the idea for my 4th. I also directed a commercial for VH1. And while all of it has been exciting, there’s one thing that has been lingering over me for a long time…I guess this is a long winded way of saying I’m dying to make a feature film already.

Check out the trailer:

RUSSIAN LESSONS

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2010

RUSSIAN LESSONS
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Directors: Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov
Executive Producer: Giorgi Arveladze Producer: Torstein Grude

An investigation into Russian preparation and execution of the war in Georgia, autumn 2008, with the forgotten ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia in 1993 as a backdrop.

Renowned Russian film director Andrei Nekrasov returns to Sundance with his controversial film RUSSIAN LESSONS which tells the story of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war in the context of the two countries’ post-Soviet history. His journey to Sundance this time will be bittersweet. His co-director, partner and wife, Olga Konskaya, a prominent film producer and human rights campaigner, sadly, passed away in May 2009 while finishing the film, at the age of 44.

RUSSIAN LESSONS starts as a journey by two directors-protagonists, Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov, one on each side of the frontline during the last year’s Russian-Georgia war. A personal take of the two Russians on war, politics, political culture and history focuses first of all on human drama before coming up with assessments. They gradually emerge, however, as the intercut double journey progresses, the two meet on the frontline and return to their native St. Petersburg with the footage they shot during the war. In their cutting room the filmmakers analyze and edit their material, and this process becomes part of the actual film. Using this devise the film strives to integrate hard fact analysis into the narrative of the two filmmakers’ journey through space and time, but also through the minefield of propaganda and emotional manipulation that have surrounded the Russo-Georgian confrontation.

Importantly RUSSIAN LESSONS puts the recent war in the context of the post-Soviet history which has managed to keep its darkest pages away from international public’s attention despite dozens of relevant UN resolutions and OSCE conventions. At the same time as Milosevic and his henchmen were earning the reputation of the biggest evil of the post-communist world, a perfectly comparable, but perhaps even more cruel, campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing was happening in Georgia considered by some as Russia’s sphere of “privileged strategic interests”.

Press & Industry Screening
Wednesday, Jan. 27th, 8:00 p.m. at Holiday Village III - 1776 Park Ave, Park City

Public Screenings:
Tuesday, January 26th, 9:00 p.m. - Holiday Village Cinema IV - 1776 Park Ave, Park City
Wednesday, January 27th, 9:00 a.m. - Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1 - 1800 Park Avenue, Park City
Thursday, January 28th, 10:30 p.m. - Broadway Centre Cinemas IV - 111 E. Broadway, SLC
Friday, January 29th, 3:00 p.m. - Holiday Village Cinema IV - 1776 Park Ave, Park City

OBSELIDIA at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival

SUNDANCE 2010 FILM FESTIVAL

OBSELIDIA
Written and Directed by Diane Bell
Cast: Michael Piccirilli, Gaynor Howe, Frank Hoyt Taylor
Producers: Chris Bryne. Sheri Davani, Matthew Medlin, Ken Morris

Ever feel like the whole world is disappearing? Species by species, technology by technology-everything you know and love is becoming obsolete.

That’s how George, a lonely librarian feels and why he’s writing The Obselidia, an Encyclopedia of Obsolete Things. He wants to record it all, to catalogue the world before it’s gone.

OBSELIDIA, beautifully written and directed by Diane Bell will captivate critics and audiences. This cinematic little gem will OBSELIDIA tells the story of George Ruben (Michael Piccirilli), a man out of step with the 21st century who is pathologically nostalgic for things that used to be and never will again. George’s obsession with chronicling all things obsolete even believes that love is obsolete. On his quest to catalogue critically endangered occupations, George meets the beautiful Sophie (Gaynor Howe), a cinema projectionist who works at a local art house movie theater. Sophie’s a vivacious free spirit,
who lives life in the moment and rarely stops to look back. She romantically believes that nothing is obsolete so long as someone loves it.

New to LA and a little lonely after breaking up with her long time boyfriend, Sophie pursues a friendship with George. She allows him to interview her about her own work for The Obselidia - and she becomes fascinated by this guy who’s quite unlike anyone she’s ever met. He doesn’t use a computer, he doesn’t own a car, and he seems so earnest and sincere. When Sophie learns that George is planning a trip out to Death Valley, via public transport, in order to interview a maverick scientist, Lewis Fordham (Frank Hoyt Taylor) who is predicting the eminent end of the world, she steps in and insists that she drive him.

With a soundtrack composed using an orchestra of obsolete instruments and sounds, adding to the quirky romantic feeling of the film, OBSELIDIA is a sweet, romantic journey in which two people meet, go on a journey together and are forever changed. Stunning cinematography driven by beautiful storytelling, OBSELIDIA is sure to be one of this year’s little break-out festival gems!

Press & Industry Screening:
Saturday, January, 23rd, 10:00 p.m. - Holiday Village II - 1776 Park Ave, Park City

OBSELIDIA
Public Screenings:
Friday, January 22nd - 2:15 p.m. - Racquet Club - 1200 Little Kate Rd., Park City
Saturday, January 23rd - 12 noon - Broadway Centre Cinemas VI - 111 E. Broadway, SLC
Tuesday, January 26th - 12:15 p.m. - Eccles Theatre - 1750 Kerns Blvd., Park City
Wednesday, January 27th - 5:30 p.m. - Prospector Square Theatre - 2200 Sidewinder Drive, Park City
Friday, January 29th - 12 noon - Egyptian Theatre - 328 Main Street, Park City

http://www.obselidiathemovie.com/

Retaking Your “Wonderful World”

“Wonderful World” is a portrait of one man’s actualization of his own negativity. Josh Goldin’s directorial debut really encompasses a lot of what is probably consuming the American psyche right now. The world sucks and there is very little that one man can do to change it. Or can they?

I was dreading sitting down with Josh. I was expecting a flood of corporate conspiracy theories, a nihilistic world view and/or a critique of the MSM. I was expecting a beret, a Che-shirt and possibly a pack of cloves. So I was boweled over when he sauntered into the junket room, clapped his hands and said, “Okay! Who’s ready for the funny interview?”

Huh. His main character ‘Ben Singer’ (Matthew Broderick) is a guy who has lost his will to embrace anything good, except for his nightly blunt. His ex-wife is doing great, giving his daughter a huge home and douchey step-father. Ben shares a one bedroom with his roommate. His once successful career as a children’s song writer has been relegated to occasional jam sessions in the back of a guitar shop. During the day he proofreads copy surrounded by gen-“Z” ers who have yet to be singed by their dreams. What a bunch of suckers. He has grown to accept his hellhole as home.

“(Ben) is very isolated, kind of a hermit.” says Broderick. “He has his one roommate who he kind of talks to. Other than that his world has gotten very small and internalized. I think the fact that he has his daughter is what forces him to get out this rut. He’s beginning to effect her badly. That motivates him to wake up.”

Wait? Matthew Broderick plays this guy?

“I have been friends with Matthew for about twenty years.” adds Goldin “I can actually say for sure that his persona in real life is quite different from his movie personas. Not that he is a curmudgeon but he has a cynical side. I wanted to have a character that had both that curmudgeon quality but when you see Matthew you know that there is something inside that is NOT that. It’s adds a tension because you are waiting for that to come out. “

But ‘Ben’ is in a really dark place. Goldin claims that ‘Ben’ is based on him.

“People will vouch that I am not THAT negative a person. But I think that anyone who lived through the Bush years, anyone who has a brain, has a running commentary of negativity. If you don’t you are not alive. So it was just there in the ether.”

The movie isn’t what you would call a crowd pleaser. At its core, it is about hope and getting back on track. Most flicks show oversimplifies what it takes to do this. The movie is about a journey that takes you from the bottom of the ladder to just one more rung up. This may be painful.. but it can put your life into a better place.

2009 Award Winners from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Below please find the first announcement of the 2009 Award Winners from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Thank you.

The 35th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards ceremony will be held January 16th:

PICTURE: The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
Runner-up: Up In The Air (Paramount)

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Runner-up: Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon (Sony Classics)

ACTRESS: Yolande Moreau, S�raphine (Music Box Films)
Runner-up: Carey Mulligan, An Education (Sony Pictures Classics)

ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
Runner-up: Colin Firth, A Single Man (Weinstein Co)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo’Nique, Precious (Lionsgate)
Runner-up: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein/Universal)
Runner-up: Peter Capaldi, In the Loop (IFC Films)

ANIMATION: Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox)
Runner-up: Up (Disney)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Summer Hours (IFC Films)
Runner-up: The White Ribbon

NEW GENERATION: Neill Blomkamp, District 9 (Sony)

MUSIC/SCORE: T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, Crazy Heart
Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, Fantastic Mr. Fox

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Philip Ivey, District 9
Runner-up: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Avatar (Fox)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Christian Berger, The White Ribbon
Runner-up: Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker

SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Runner-up: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche, In the Loop

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM: (tie) The Beaches of Agn�s (Cinema Guild) and The Cove (Roadside Attractions)

DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: C.W. Winter and Anders Edstrom, The Anchorage

Interview: Dave Foley and Jameel Kahn hit THE STRIP.

The kid in the hall has befriended the new kid on the block.

Jameel Kahn, a first time director out of 2nd City, was fortunate enough to score “Kids In The Hall” alumni and comedy vet Dave Foley for his debut, “The Strip.” The indie comedy is based around the lives for five guys making the best of working at an electronics store in suburban Illinois.
Film Radar sat down with the duo to discuss the differences between Filmmaking and Improv, working with a broken foot and how one maintains a long career in the business of show.

FILM RADAR: So you got your inspiration to work from working at Radio Shack?

Jameel: I think someone heard me say that once and it got all blown out of proportion. I only worked their for about three weeks and my experiences were quite boring. I didn’t base any of the characters on it. Three weeks was there long enough to know that working retail is like. I knew it was boring.

Dave: You really don’t get into the details of it for about 30 years.

Jameel: (laughs) Radio Shack did make me choose an electronics store. It was based on sketch I had done with Cory Christmas,(who plays Rick) the bald guy. We choose the electronic store.

FR: What were the challenges of taking a boring job and making it funny?

Jameel: I think boring is funny. People can relate to the boredom. A lot of people have worked retail, they know what it is like and they already know the characters. What I think is funny about those boring jobs is a lot of people are excited about them and how seriously people take it. I think that was fun to work with.

FR: How did the two of you hook up to make the movie?

Dave: Well, first of all, we didn’t “hook up.” I just got a call from my manager telling me to “Check out these guys in Chicago. They have a good script and they seem like decent people. So check out the script.” My manager is a decent guy, so I trusted him.

FR:Dave, you broke your foot a day or two before filming. How’d that happen?

Dave: I was in the swimming pool with my daughter. I went to move a shade umbrella to shade my daughter and the 40 lb concrete block landed on my foot. My toes did everything except what my doctor calls “exploded.” The whole front of my toes. I had to calmly get my daughter out of the pool my daughter out and back in her playroom, get on the phone and waited for my wife to come home to find me bleeding to death in the bathroom.

FR: Every work through an injury before?

Dave: Not that bad. I had done a movie where I tore the ligaments on both sides of my ankle.

Jameel: He was in a lot a pain after every take the first week.

Dave:Nooo, the whole thing. And for the movie I did after that too.

Jameel: Yeah and you were chasing vampires in that one.

Dave: No.. I WAS a vampire. I’m all over the vampire genre now. So basically anytime you see me walking in the movie I am re-breaking all of my toes.

FR: Jameel you have a background in improv, were you a big “Kids In the Hall” fan?

Jameel: I was definitely a huge “Kids In the Hall” fan. I was a bit younger, sorry David,

Dave: yyyeeeaaaahhh

Jameel: I was in high school or maybe even in middle school then.

Dave: or in utereo…

Jameel: So getting Dave was a fantastic.

FR: A lot of folks who come out of IO, Second City or UCB have a hard time transitioning their ideas from the stage to the screen. This is mostly from the audience being MIA. What challenges did you have to overcome?

Jameel: I wasn’t a full time improviser. I was in Film School and I wanted to be a writer. I took improv to become a better writer and I think it helped me. I really liked doing improv.. and was “okay” at it. So I think having the background in film and screenwriting made it a little bit easier. I tried not to make a sketch movie. No one would have heard of our sketches to begin with so who would have gone to see it.

FR: How much of what we see is script and how much is improv?

Dave: It was mostly the script. There wasn’t much need for improv. The script was well written.

Jameel: Ahhhh. Thanks.

Dave: There was a little minor ad-libbing basically around the script. There was a little talking over each other and playing loose with it. It was a very tight schedule, so it doesn’t give you a lot of time to play and “find it.”

Jameel: There is some improvised stuff in there. All the day players are improvised. The thing is that once you start improvising, the takes get really, realllly long and they don’t necessarily match. I learned that in the editing room that (improv) was a big mistake.. Maybe in the deleted scenes we will have some of that good stuff, stuff we improvised. There was some really funny stuff but it wasn’t part of the story.

Dave: A lot of the shoppers are Chicago improvisers like.

Jameel:That’s pretty improvised. And Al Daniels was fantastic.

FR:Your character seems really secure in himself in work but not at home. As an actor do you have any personal experiences you can draw from

Dave: Glenn has all of his security is pulled out from under him. I guess so or maybe not. I’ve never had any.. when I was a child my Dad was a construction worker .. and an alcoholic, so there was some insecurity there. I had some shitty jobs.. oh sorry.. “unpleasant” jobs and then I had acting. I’d like to have the security that comes from having a big hit movie that would be nice so I doesn’t even involve working anymore.

Didn’t you have security working on Kids In The Hall?

Dave: We were almost canceled every season. In fact, part way through the first season we were told were canceled. We were told during a dress rehearsal so then we got drunk and had a really good time. That happened like with every year. Even with “Newsradio” we thought every year we were canceled. We did a series finale every year.

FR: What is the secret to the longevity of Kids In The Hall?

Dave: We find each other funnier than we hate each other. We are always find each other a little funnier than we find each other annoying. It’s been 25 years that the “Kids In the Hall” have been working together. That’s a long time. It’s disturbing to me that Monty Python only started 15 years before us. I used to think that Monty Python was WAY, WAY before us but they were only 15 years.

FR: Were any of the characters based on real people? Take, for example, the douchey wanna be actor Rick Shrewsberry?

Jameel: Cory Christmas,

Dave: He’s a real guy. Cory’s great, isn’t he?

Jameel: He was a friend of mine, we did improv together. I wrote a character specifically for him where he would be an obnoxious salesman. He’d never acted before but we make each other laugh and I knew I could make him funnier with my words. “I’m gonna make you funnier.” I told him “electronics store” and now some version of that is somewhere in the movie. The scene with DVD customer is a sketch. The original sketch like seven minutes long, it was really long but we liked enough. He’s a corporate manager at AT&T now.

Dave: He got a real proper job. His wife is not keen about him becoming an actor.

Jameel: Absolutely. We were going to do it even lower budget than we did. I didn’t have much directing experience going in but I’ll know a lot more going into the next movie. I had envisioned people for the different roles but Cory just stood out. I had specifically wrote it for him. Actually, the “Avi” character was one that played in certain sketches. I bumped my ego for Frederico (Dordei). Who did a great job. I altered the script for him.

FR: Is there a thin line between acting and improv?

Dave: I mean Cory was great. I had no idea Cory wasn’t an actor when we started working. I thought he was hilarious. I mean here is this seasoned improviser from Chicago. He’s probably gonna go to Saturday Night Live, ya know go that whole route. I thought he would be the next Jack Black. He’s got that kind of energy to him.

Jameel: The communication is different. I had worked with improvisers not actors. It was a little different to communicate with them. They come from a different space. An improviser has an idea of what the scene is going to be and what the goal of the scene should be, how to make the whole thing funny and work and play off of that. I think an actor comes from an approach of their character. So it took a while for me to learn how to communicate with them and get the results. But they can both be funny and they can both do drama. It’s just how to get to them. Some people are method or whatever..

Dave: I am all about the details of my character. I spent just two, three months just working on my backstory.

Jameel: I wasn’t there for that.

Dave: No.. LOVE that.

FR: What’s is next for both you?

Dave: Me? Just the onward slow decline. The march of age, the loss of bone mass. You?

Jameel: I know, I’m going to be thirty soon. I’ve got another script we will be shopping around soon. It’s about a guy starting a game show school. It’s about his life. Once a year he does a game show and does nothing the other 364 days of the year., he coasts through life. Funny game show stuff and a cartoon..We could use Dave again for something.

Dave: I hope so.

Jameel: Game Show host maybe.. You’re a little too old for the main character.

Dave: Why’d ya have to say that?

Dave Howard can also be read at Crackpot Press.. You can also check out his portfolio site at DavidEHoward.com