Outsourced

We closed our fifth season with the simply lovely film Outsourced. Our audience of 619 patrons were extremely positive on the film. It was directed by John Jeffcoat who also cowrote it, on spec, with George Wing (50 First Dates). American distributors were very high on the script but wanted an experienced director to helm it. Jeffcoat stuck to his passion for the project and refused to give it up. As a result the film got picked up by a small local (Seattle) distributor and received little exposure across the U.S. maxing out at 14 theatres and grossing less than $200 000 despite a $5 million budget.

Outsourced was filmed over a month in Mumbai (Bombay) India where Jeffcoat ran out of money and had to cut 7 days from the film shoot. With George Wing in the hospital receiving a hip replacement, Jeffcoat locked himself in his hotel and made the accomodating script changes.

The wonderful music was composed by American B.C. Smith and sets a perfect tone and mood for the storyline. B.C. Smith, like Jeffcoat, had lived in India and had significant exposure to Indian music and tradition.

The cast is spot-on. Josh Hamilton plays the 'fish-out-of-water' role beautifully and has wonderful chemistry with all members of the cast especially the hauntingly beautiful Ayesha Dharker. Asif Basra is marvelous as the call centre manager in training and the supporting Indian cast is simply wonderful.

While a light and comedic film, Outsourced nevertheless raises interesting issues including: the differences between the U.S. and India with regards to culture and work, the importance of seriously learning about another culture, the impact of outsourcing, the ways to train and motivate workers and what is truly important about work and life.

$1400 was split between the Good Shepherd Food Bank and Junvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Here is an interview with the director.

http://outsourcedmovie.blogspot.com/2007/09/robert-horton-interviews-john-jeffcoat.html

Let us know your thoughts about the film.


Julian D.