HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE

Amazon.com: Watch Hell Is Other People | Prime Video

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 13:49:10 -0500

Amazon.com: Watch Hell Is Other People | Prime Video:

The film is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Downloads 40% Off This Week

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 02:33:22 -0400

For one week only–from today through June 17th–downloads of my films are 40% off. The two features are $6 each (regularly $10), and Passion Flower is just $3 (regularly $5). Grab them at this price them while you can.

Both of My Features Are Now For Sale, DRM-Free

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:27:00 -0500

For years now, the first question anyone asks me is often “how can I see your films?”—and for years, I haven’t had a good answer to that question. I was working on it. They’d “hopefully” be on Amazon or iTunes or Netflix or in a DVD box “pretty soon.” Now that a couple of years have passed, I find that when I get into these conversations “hopefully” has become “regretfully,” and “pretty soon” has turned into “someday.”

I got tired of waiting for Someday. More importantly, I got tired of waffling my way through so many conversations without providing any good answers. So as of today, I’m going to sell 720p downloads of both of my feature films (Hell Is Other People and The Glass Slipper) for $10 each, with no DRM. The files will be playable on pretty much any computer or device out there, and they ought to be pretty easy to stream onto your television (see below).

Let me try to anticipate a few questions you might like to ask about all of this:

Why DRM-free?

Because DRM sucks, and people who want to make copies will figure out how to do it anyway. I see no need to bind the paying viewers with an ugly set of handcuffs when the people who want to copy the film will pick the locks on those handcuffs immediately anyway. Yes, this means that if you buy a download, you can make numerous copies and put them on every gadget you own. There’s nothing stopping you from handing out copies to everyone you know.

All I ask is that you remember that making films is a lot of work, and yet the pay is already pretty lousy as it is. Just be fair. I trust you.

And yes, Louis CK’s experiment did influence my decision.

Why downloads instead of streams?

Quite simply, it’s a lot easier and more cost-effective for me—at least for the time being. I don’t want to share massive percentages of my revenue with Apple or Amazon, and I can’t afford to host my own streaming server. I’d love to offer streaming options, and at some point I hope I can find a way to make it work.

There are definitely ways to play the video on your TV, though, if you’re a little geeky. My personal solution is to run a Plex Media Server and then stream from there to a Roku. If you have an Apple TV, you can stream via AirPlay. There are other ways. If you have the right hardware, you probably already know how this works.

Finally

I want to thank everyone who has waited a long time to see these films. I’m really, really glad that the time to do this has finally come. Now go grab the files.

Mary Szmagaj's Review

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:00:11 -0400

Mary Szmagaj's Review:

SZMAGAJ: “Even as his life circles a drain of his own making, we kinda-sorta want Morty to win. Why? Because Morty is us. Rarely has a filmmaker held a mirror up right smack in front of his audience as adroitly as this. And we can’t look away. It’s as if Whaley has distilled every wretched thing we’ve ever done, every situation we’ve ever handled badly, regretted, and hated ourselves for in the morning, into a single character and then had the audacity to slap us in the face with him. And because Morty embodies everything we loathe in ourselves, we simultaneously want to kill him and see him prevail.”

Amber Wilkinson's Review

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:46:47 -0400

Amber Wilkinson's Review:

WILKINSON: “Whaley cleverly puts the viewer in the position of Morty’s acquaintances as we, just as they have before us, find he is less tolerable the longer we know him. Whaley imbues him with a passive aggressiveness that is so subtle, however, that you may well overlook many of his less salubrious character traits on a first viewing, making repeat watches satsifyingly rewarding.”

Interview, EYE FOR FILM

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:44:08 -0400

Interview, EYE FOR FILM:

Wherein I discuss the production of Hell Is Other People, and also my next feature, The Glass Slipper.

Sam Ippolito's Review

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:05:00 -0400

Sam Ippolito's Review:

IPPOLITO: “With its laid back Docu-Drama style, about themes of social interaction and suburban isolation, it really seems like a Reality TV Show, similar to say, Bravo’s "Hoarders" or "Intervention”, expanded past its usual hour length. Deft portrait of morally decaying figures surrounded by that same urban decay in the rundown South.“

Cynthia Corral's Review

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:01:00 -0400

Cynthia Corral's Review:

CORRAL: “If this is a mumblecore film, it is most definitely a mumblecore of a different sort. The lilting Tennessee accents of the characters quickly drew me in, and even with the sometimes blurry handheld camera work the film has a beauty that director Jarrod Whaley’s incredibly touching short film PASSION FLOWER also exhibited.”

Alejandro Adams on HIOP

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:24 -0500

Alejandro Adams on HIOP:

“Hell is Other People offers up the pariah Morty, whom director Jarrod Whaley described as a distillation of all the things we don’t like about other people (i.e., ourselves). Morty certainly is that, but there’s something lovable about this character as embodied by Richard Johnson, blinking uncomprehendingly behind smudged glasses, and this creates a compelling tension in the film: when Morty uses his loser superpowers to weasel out of paying a bill, it’s almost unwatchably humiliating. What Whaley brings to the post-mumblecore moment is actual writing, a script replete with memorable one-liners (“It’s my fault you got better” is worthy of a hand-wringing Woody Allen character). The sincere, contemplative aspects of Hell is Other People are dangerously complemented by unself-conscious bawdiness—the film opens with a loud fart. Like the writing of Kafka and Rabelais, Hell is Other People is more filling than its maker wants you to think it is. This is an archaic form of craftiness that, like the patiently staggered opening credits, adds a layer of unanticipated charm. On reflection the titular reference to Sartre assures us that our discomfort with ourselves is always there; Whaley is merely adept at punching the bruise.”

Three Pittsburgh Screenings

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:22:00 -0500

Hell Is Other People will screen on three dates in Pittsburgh, PA this month: March 13th at 4:30, March 15th at 7:00, and March 16th at 9:30. All screenings will take place at the Hollywood Theatre, and will be preceded by a screening of Out of Sync, a short film by Peet Gelderblom.

These shows have been organized by Indies For Indies; see the series’ Web site for more information.

Win Free Tickets To The CQ Premiere

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:00:43 -0500

Five free tickets for the 2/27 premiere of HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE are up for grabs! Call 423-300-MORT and leave Morty a voicemail. Vent your spleen, or air your neuroses, to everyone’s least favorite “psychotherapist.” The five funniest voicemails between now and 11:59 PM PDT on Friday, Feb. 26 will win free tickets. Winners will be notified by phone.

Get dialing!

KFJC interview

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:31:29 -0500

KFJC interview:

Here I am on the radio discussing the film. Also being interviewed is Campbell Graham, writer/director of Anyone You Want, which is also premiering at Cinequest.

Tassoula Kokkoris' Review

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:55:40 -0500

Tassoula Kokkoris' Review:

KOKKORIS: “Chattanooga, Tenn. provides a perfect backdrop for the slow pace and discussions of the characters in this film. The mood feels Southern; polite with a natural tendency to get heated. All of the friends and acquaintances talk to and about one another just as we all do in real life. The women also appear to talk a lot more. Fair enough.”

Richard von Busack's Review

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:52:21 -0500

Richard von Busack's Review:

VON BUSACK: “There’s an acuteness to this home-brewed movie that contrasts nicely with the sheepishness of Morty. Although he is not mean, this shambling boy-man possesses a wily streak. He shows off a humiliating yet really clever method of dodging a bill that was a new one on me, and I didn’t think I could learn any new ones. One thing I like about the year 2010 is that it’s potentially a heyday for the kind of movies that celebrate what Leslie Fielder called ‘The Bum as American Cultural Hero.’ The mainspring-free life–demonstrated so memorably by Morty–is perfect for an economy that has let so many millions know that their services will no longer be needed.”

Premiere Party

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:12:52 -0500

There will be an informal, open-to-everyone party after the premiere of Hell Is Other People on Feb. 27: 9:00PM at The Loft. Everyone is welcome.

5 Questions: CQCentral.com

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:59:29 -0500

5 Questions: CQCentral.com:

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE, from writing to financing.

The core concept of the film–that it would be built around an inscrutably shady character who makes his meager living by working out of his vehicle–came out of a conversation I overheard somewhere. The details of the conversation elude me given that this took place nearly four years ago now, but one of the “conversationalists” was telling the other about an experience he’d had with a weird computer repairman who would only meet his customers in liquor store parking lots in a beat-up old van. Something about that scenario suggested to me the potential for some rather dark and awkward humor. That being the kind of humor I’m attracted to, I stole the idea and started trying to flesh it out with my own details.

>>Read more at CQCentral

Sara Schieron's Review

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:44:18 -0500

Sara Schieron's Review:

SCHIERON: “This gently paced comedy, indistinctly set in Chattanooga, Tennessee, feels like a marriage between Richard Linklater’s early work and an inversion of Mumblecore (trading emotional vagueness and verbal clarity for emotional clarity and totally incomplete sentences). However what first time feature director Jarrod Whaley (an acquaintance of this critic) has done here is distinct; a hyper-specific take on regional cinema, a subset of film that is itself already hyper-specific. The rhythms are often dysplastic, the characters dyspeptic and while the title invokes a well-known quote by Sartre, the existential angle of the film takes such a subtle and semi-literal tack on the matter you hardly know you’re thinking philosophically.”

"Single, unemployed and forever scrambling for money and love, Morty specializes in finding new ways..."

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:34:56 -0500

“Single, unemployed and forever scrambling for money and love, Morty specializes in finding new ways to make his friends feel uncomfortable. Whether being talked into posing for an eccentric artist’s photo project or vainly trying to romance an ex-girlfriend with lines like “You’re beautiful when you’re indignant,” he seems to have taken Sartre’s titular adage to heart. But is he really Chattanooga’s biggest loser, or a forlorn psychiatrist who just can’t seem to take his own advice? That’s the question at the heart of Jarrod Whaley’s deadpan treat. Charting the different relationships within a group of friends with lucid emotion and dry wit, the film manages to be both a wise comedy and a look at the characters’ often painful need for human connection.”

- Fernando Croce, Cinequest Program Guide

Deflated, my entry in the 60-second cell-phone-movie contest...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:37:55 -0500

Deflated, my entry in the 60-second cell-phone-movie contest currently underway thanks to Cinequest and SanDisk. Four finalists chosen from the initial twenty entries will be screened at Cinequest 20 this Feb./March in San Jose.

I’m still not sure how the public voting is supposed to work, so for the time being simply rate the film at YouTube and/or leave your comments.

Premiere - 2/27/2010

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:11:00 -0500

Hell Is Other People will premiere at the 20th Cinequest Film Festival on Saturday, February 27th at 4:15 PM. The exact screening venue has not yet been announced. CQ tickets go on sale this Wednesday at cinequest.org.

Please note that there will be a second screening on Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 PM.

Do drop by the event invitation on Facebook.