Because finding a home should be something to sing about.
BY JIM DELMONT
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A musical about the real estate business?
Perhaps only the offbeat imagination of Omaha filmmaker Dan Mirvish could have come up with such a project.
But the L.A.-based Mirvish and his writing partner, Larry Maddox, have shot such a film, "Open House," with a veteran cast from the movies and TV.
"Think 'Rent' with a mortgage," Mirvish joked from Los Angeles. "Eight million people in the U.S. work in the real estate business, and every 'open house' sign is a poster for the movie."
"Open House" is in post-production now, and Mirvish is still accepting investment funds. He plans to enter the movie in film festivals to attract a distributor.
Filmed in Los Angeles, the production is such an unusual concept that it already has attracted reporters from Daily Variety and the Chicago Tribune.
Mirvish, a former University of Southern California film student, directed the 1994 comedy "Omaha: the Movie." He later founded the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah - an alternative to the famous Sundance Festival.
"Omaha," later released on 350,000 DVDs, was mostly a Nebraska operation. Jill Anderson and Hughston Walkinshaw starred in the lead roles, with other Nebraskans filling out the cast and crew.
The Nebraska connection has continued with "Open House," with "Omaha" actors Donald Schwartz, Chris Dukes and Kent Theesen. Nebraskan Drew Hancock served as associate producer, and Maddox came aboard as co-writer of both dialogue and songs.
The film nods to Omaha - there's a scene in front of an Omaha Steaks franchise, in which singing and dancing policemen break up a robbery.
Scheduling conflicts prevented Anderson from appearing in the new film, which Walkinshaw has hosted at Omaha's Blue Barn Theater.
Although the film project is low-budget, Mirvish and co-producer Stephen Israel landed a Hollywood cast that includes Oscar nominee Sally Kellerman, best known for "M*A*S*H," plus Kellie Martin ("E.R."), Anthony Rapp ("A Beautiful Mind"), Ann Magnuson ("Panic Room"), James Duval ("The Doom Generation"), Jerry Doyle ("Babylon 5"), Ian Whitcomb ("The Cat's Meow"), Robert Peters ("Ocean's 11"), Hedy Burress ("First Monday"), Jenna Leigh Green ("Sabrina, the Teenage Witch") and Brandon Williams ("Can't Hardly Wait").
"Open House" began as a script, then became a short film that Mirvish entered in the Seattle Film Festival.
It follows a larcenous group of people as they make their way through a series of real estate open houses on a Sunday afternoon.
"We had four days to make a short film - a day to cast, two days to shoot and a day to edit," Mirvish said. "It was a blast."
When Mirvish and Maddox wrote the full-length script, they envisioned a comedy about the real estate business.
"It was a wide-open field," Mirvish said. "Closest thing to a real estate comedy was Annette Bening in 'American Beauty.'"
Then the success of "Moulin Rouge" gave Mirvish an idea: Make it a musical.
"By making it a musical, we'd have a better shot at getting name actors," he said.
Actors sang live with special portable eight-track microphones. Mirvish got the idea from the distinguished filmmaker Robert Altman. With the portable mikes, 360-degree pan shots were possible.
Another technical innovation was Panasonic mini-digital video camcorders that operate at 24 frames per second instead of the usual 30 - hence matching film, which is also 24 frames per second.
"The contrast and resolution is much closer to film," Mirvish said.
This technology allowed Mirvish to forgo the tangle of cables and cords that litter most sets. As a result, actors sang live on set, a rarity in Hollywood musicals.
Dan Mirvish
c/o Bugeater Films
4252 Mentone Ave.
Culver City, CA 90232
ph: 310-839-2569
email: bugeater@slamdance.com
