Thursday, September 04, 2008

FilmSchool: Tom Stern on This is a Business

THIS IS A BUSINESS
FilmSchool



An interview with TOM STERN, director, co-writer, and producer of THIS IS A BUSINESS - an indie feature in the truest sense. Made on a modest budget and completely outside established studio channels, THIS IS A BUSINESS is an Ionesco-esque comedy about a shipping clerk named Turtletaub who starts his own business knowing only that he intends either to create a product or to provide a service, and whichever one it is, he pledges, it will be good... for everyone. Turtletaub hires an awkward, kind day laborer (Ernesto) as his assistant and a confident yet conflicted salesman (Baltimore) as his sales force. Now all that Turtletaub needs is to figure out what it is that his business will do. But there is constant noise streaming through the vent in the ceiling of Turtletaub's unit, and the landlord keeps giving Turtletaub the run around, and his salesman has somehow started bringing in investment money even though they do not know what it is that their business does, and Turtletaub is not sure what it is, exactly, that he owes these investors. As the pressure builds and things start to move, Turtletaub seems farther and farther away from having his idea. Until one night, it hits... and it's great... Stern has also directed, produced, and written six short films and a number of plays. His short films - BLUE ME and THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF TOM STERN, CHAPTER SIX: THE NEW SCIENCE - have been programmed in festivals on both coasts (Imagefest, LA Shorts, Independent Exposure 2007), and his stage production of FEIFFER'S PEOPLE was performed at The International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

To Listen to the Episode

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