One-Day Seminar (2008)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Martin Binder

Writer:

Martin Binder (writer)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Plot:

Benson Mountebank is the top-rated seminar speaker at The Tryan Learn Institute, where the motto is 'Real Seminars for Real People'...

Plot Keywords:

Seminar | Institute | Learn | Hypen In Title | Punctuation In Title

Cast

Tommy Murray	...	Benson Mountebank
Jeannie Stith	...	Front Desk Clerk (Check-In)
Kelly Minner	...	Front Desk Clerk (Check-Out)
Grover Silcox	...	Ted Misanthrope
Andrew Brett	...	Jack Preston
Kim Patterson	...	Jill Stevenson
John Cronk	...	Jay Cronkle
Mitch Warner	...	Mitch Warsing
John Patterson	...	Seminar Attendee
Keyur Patel	...	Seminar Attendee
Emmem Ekorikoh	...	Seminar Attendee
Mitch Schueck	...	Seminar Attendee
Ron Lawrence	...	Seminar Attendee
Susan Murray	...	Seminar Attendee
Erik Kapilow	...	Seminar Attendee

Runtime:

USA:17 min (approx.)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Filming Locations:

Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Movies by Martin

Trivia:

One-Day Seminar was shot over the course of three days at three different locations, culminating in a 13 hour shoot at the Wingate Inn at Allentown.

Clever

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a comedy about a supposed company that does inspirational seminars and in particular, it follows one of their presenters, Benson Montebank during one of his one-day talks.

Mr. Montebank obviously has no idea what he's doing. When the seminar begins, he instructs everyone NOT to look at him, as he has a fear of public speaking! His "seminar" is mostly a lot of platitudes and it's a complete waste of time. How he got the job is a wonder, though at the end of the film it explains this in a very funny epilogue. Another funny moment is hearing the thoughts of the participants as they fill out the satisfaction survey.

Overall, this is a clever and funny little film. While I did like it, it could have perhaps benefited from a slight trimming, as the 20 minute run-time seemed a bit excessive given the material.

By the way, a "mountebank" is a fraud and the name of the company ("Misanthrope") means someone who despises mankind.

PS--I recently received an email from the writer/director and he indicated that there is a shorter version and it was used for submission to film festivals. The one I saw on IMDb is the longer one. I wish him well, as a slightly trimmed film would improve the pace a bit and should please the audiences.