PIZZA SHOP THE MOVIE - NOW YOU CAN FEAST WITH YOUR EYES

For many years people have been watching movies and eating pizza. But now, for the first time ever, you can watch a movie and watch a pizza... simultaneously! Wait a minute. That didn't sound quite right, did it? Oh! I know. Why don't I shut my mouth and just tell you about this interview I did with my pal George O'Barts, and his indie film...


Pizza Shop: The Movie


1) What are your own origins, George? Plus what path did you take in life prior to getting to where you are today?   As you can probably guess from my last name, I'm of Irish decent, but my family have lived in the USA for many generations. As is the Irish way, or at least my families way, I took the most difficult path in life. I wanted to make movies since I was a kid, but decided I never would, so I went into graphic design instead. I enjoyed it, but I didn't feel fulfilled, so I went back to school for animation. That was where I landed my first industry job as a digital artist for 20th Century Fox's "Titan A.E." -- the movie that closed Fox Animation Studios, forever, despite getting great reviews.

After that I quit the industry for 2 years, then I decided if I wanted to make movies I should do it. So again, I returned to school, but this time I went to film school, where I made a short film called “Pizza Pete”. It was that film, that later inspired me to write “Pizza Shop: The Movie”.

2) What inspired the creation of ‘Pizza Shop The Movie’?   I delivered pizza part-time for a good number of years as a second job. What always surprised me was how some customers would go out of their way to mistreat the person that's alone with their food. Nearly every driver I knew at one point or another had done some unthinkable things to a customer's pizza. I never could do that, so I guess this film is me taking visual revenge for all the indignities I was forced to suffer during that dark time of my life.

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   I think this is a survival story, lightly sprinkled with revenge. Life is hard and obstacles abound. We learn behaviors that help us deal with the world around us. Sometimes we ourselves become people that are hard to deal with. The lead characters Pete and Jason have grown into polar opposites shaped by these behaviors. Eventually their differences result in a battle of survival of the fittest.

4) If this film omitted a collective odour -- and I don’t mean pizza -- what would it smell like and why?   This is a wonderful question to be asked, especially if you haven't seen the film yet. The collective odour of Pizza Shop: The Movie can be summed up in two words -- “fecal matter”.

5) What song would you say best represents your wares and why?   Frank Sinatra's “I Did It My Way”, because as jacked up and arrogant as it may come across, that's what I wanted to do -- to make a movie that causes people to laugh in a uncomfortable, uncontrollable way you do when you see something you don't believe you're actually seeing. It's kind of how my two main characters view life, no matter what, they're gonna do it their way.

[ Buy Pizza Shop: The Movie ]

6) If you could get a known celebrity – either living or dead – to promote this flick, who would you choose, and why would you want this particular person?   Will Ferrell. His approach to comedy is fearless and that's exactly the kind of psychotic behavior I encourage!

7) What were the main obstacles you had to contend with along the way?   Initially we had a huge problem with makeup artists, we couldn't seem to get one to the set with any consistency. Then later, it was locations. We spent 3 years making this film and actually lost key locations twice. We never even were able to secure the last location -- the gay bar. Instead I painted the master bedroom of my Townhouse 'Forbidden Passion Purple' and put up a disco ball and lights and made a makeshift bar from one of the counters in the Pizza Shop.

8) If ‘Pizza’ had a motto, what do you think it would be?   To tip, or not to tip? What actually ends up in your pizza, that is the real question.

So there you have it, dear reader. 'Pizza Shop The Movie' by my mate George. When you have the time please feel free to check out his website for more information about this great project. Or alternately, why don't you pick yourself up a copy from the links provided.