Starving Artists (1997)

A handful of hapless, hungry artists brave absurdity, starvation, and a barrel of monkeys in this Boston-based romantic comedy.

Director:

Allan Piper

Writer:

Allan Piper

Stars:

Lillian Christie Allan, Scott M. Anderson, Deborah Berman

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Lillian Christie Allan	...	William's Widow
Scott M. Anderson	...	Gordon
Deborah Berman	...	KoKo
Richard Berman	...	Voice Over
Colin Buckley	...	Party Host
Sandi Carroll	...	Doris
Jonno Deily-Swearingen	...	Officer Twedal
J.C. DeVore	...	Nick
John DeVore	...	Bob
David Fagundes	...	Voice Over
Jenna Forrider	...	Rachel the Telegram Girl
Cyndi Freeman	...	Roy
Geoff Gladstone	...	Xavier
Claire Harding	...	Jill
Miranda Hodgson	...	Voice Over

Storyline

Zach starves to produce an apocalyptic musical comedy. Doris and Jay starve to make a neo-noir thriller. Joy starves to write a comic book that the copy-shop won't copy because it's copyrighted to her. The street prophet starves because he has no food; but nobody listens to him because he's predicting the end of the world.

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Plot Keywords:

artist | comic book | theater | slapstick comedy | shootout | 

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Taglines:

forty artists... a barrel of monkeys... no angst...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fest Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

While most big budget movies use product placement, Starving Artists practiced person placement, putting the name of everyone who donated even a dollar somewhere in the movie. Names appear in graffiti, newspaper headlines, and other surprising spots. "People get really happy when the find their names," says director Allan Piper, "except for one woman whose name turned up on a porno mag."

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Quotes

Bob: They're hit men, Zach! They shoot people in their apartment.
Zach: If they were hit men, they wouldn't shoot people in their own apartment. That's got to be one of the last professions that still makes housecalls.

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Crazy Credits

Stuffed Animal Wrangler... Jordan Hoffman

User Reviews

Comedy is funny to watch... not easy to make.

Witness, please, the recent witless re-make of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Sure, money helps- it usually does- but at the end of the day, comedy is hard work.

In "Starving Artists" it's hard work that pays off. Low budget? Weak technical support? No-name cast? So what- it's a damned good film, funny as hell, and well produced given the obvious limitations.

Kudos, applause, and congratulations. If you get the chance, see it. Someday, somhow, you'll wish you had!