(World Premiere)
Friday, May 7, 9:00 PM, Charles Theatre 3

Director: Dan Mirvish

Cast: Anthony Rapp, Sally Kellerman, Kellie Martin, Ann Magnuson, Ian Whitcomb, Hedy Burress, Robert Peters, James Duval, Jenna Leigh Green, Dan Hagen, Branden Williams, Kent Osborne, Donald Ray Schwartz

Country: U.S.
Year: 2004
Running Time: 96 minutes
Format: Beta SP

At MFF 2002, Dan Mirvish brought his short film, Open House, made as part of the Seattle Film Festival’s Fly Filmmakers challenge (where directors are invited to shoot a short film during one week of the festival). Dan then developed the short film’s script into not only a feature-length project, but a musical as well. We’re pleased to host this World Premiere of Dan Mirvish’s long-awaited second feature (though we understand post-production may or may-not be 100% completed in time for our festival, particularly in the sound department. They still need a few more investors).

Open House is an ensemble musical comedy about something many have in common: the American dream of finding a home. Barry is an eager-to-please real estate agent desperate to sell a house to the right people. Armed with a tray full of finger-sandwiches and a plethora of toe-tapping tunes, Barry is ready for the many prospective buyers who descend upon his open house…. But not everyone is looking to buy a house. There's Debbie and Joel - two "Sexy Swipers" who spend their Sundays making quick love in open houses and then stealing trinkets to put in the next house. Down-on-his-luck jewel thief Dave has a broken-down getaway car, so he pretends to be an endocrinologist interested in buying a house. There's Ron and Gloria - a couple of adulterous cops trying to break a big case. And finally we meet Marjorie, a dispirited competing Realtor with a penchant for younger men and tequila. This disparate group of strangers come together in search of true love, a bag of jewels and the perfect two-story colonial.

-- Skizz Cyzyk

Preceded by

WHO STEALS MOVIES?
(1:30, BetaSP, U.S., 2003, director: Dan Mirvish and Mark Bell)

Like the MPAA anti-piracy trailers, this short touches on the impact of piracy on the little guy.

Director Dan Mirvish is perhaps best known for co-founding the Slamdance Film Festival. His first feature, Omaha (the movie), was screened at over 30 film festivals (including the Maryland Film Festival). He has also written feature material for Twentieth Century Fox, NuImage, Phoenician Films and Primary Pictures, and was a Washington-based speechwriter for U.S. Senator Tom Harkin as well as a freelance journalist for such publications as The Washington Monthly and The New York Times.

Producer Stephen Israel is a trained rocket scientist (seriously – he worked on semiconductors for satellites), holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Durham in England, and an MBA from Cornell. He has worked for American Cybercast, Turner Broadcasting, Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures, Warner Bros., and is probably best known for executive producing the cult hit Swimming With Sharks. Another film he produced, Kevin DiNovis’ Death & Texas, is also showing in this festival.