A Bright Spot During a Dark Week in Washington
This past summer, my four-year-old daughter Lily met a little girl on the beach named Rose. One day, Lily and I were at the beach together, and Rose was there with her father, whose name is Stuart Zicherman. We introduced ourselves, got to talking, and I found out that Stu is a television and movie writer who had just directed his first film, an independent production entitled A.C.O.D., which stands for “Adult Children of Divorce.”
As some of you know, in addition to my role as Marcum’s Managing Partner, I also am one of the producers of the Jason Bourne movies starring Matt Damon and, more recently, Jeremy Renner. Having been involved in the motion picture business since 2001 when The Bourne Identity was being filmed, I know what the odds are in getting a movie made, let alone making one that’s a hit. My experience, while not scientific, is that fewer than five out of 100 scripts that are written get the “green light” to actually turn the camera on and start shooting. And out of 100 movies that do get made, fewer than five of those are actually (financially) successful. So if you do the math, the odds are heavily stacked against most film makers.
As Stu and I talked, I told him about my role in the entertainment industry. Stu was having a charity screening for A.C.O.D. a few weeks later, not too far from our house, and invited my wife Tracy and me to attend. Not knowing what to expect, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The movie has a first-rate cast, starring Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”), Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”), Jane Lynch (“Glee”), Jessica Alba (“Little Fockers”) and Richard Jenkins (“Six Feet Under”). It runs just 90 minutes and has many laugh-out-loud moments – a feel good, entertaining hour-and-a-half.
As an independent production from a first-time director, A.C.O.D. doesn’t have the promotion and advertising budget of, let’s say, a major studio release by Judd Apatow (an award-winning producer/director/screenwriter of some of Hollywood’s funniest films), but instead relies on word of mouth to hopefully become the next My Big Fat Greek Wedding (the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time).
Consider this my word of mouth recommendation for A.C.O.D. Go see it – you’ll like it! It opened on Wednesday this week.
P.S. I’m sorry to disappoint those of you who were expecting me to rant this week about the Federal government shut down. Let’s see what next week brings.
