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Did you ever wonder who has the rights to Jim Carrey's first movie or where you can find a cyber-punk thriller whose leading man is none other than one-time Harvard professor turned guru of the "tune in, turn on, drop out" generation, Timothy Leary? Well, wander the halls of the AFM no more. Head straight for the offices of Movie Reps International, a sales operation run by Krishna Shah and Mark Dolev, that sells mainly genre pictures to the U.S. and international video markets. Brendon Sheehan, brand-spanking-new sales agent for the company was generally satisfied with his first market experience. "I was prepared for utter chaos," says the clean cut, blue-suited, white-shirted Sheehan, "but instead, we had a sustained level of craziness for a few hours every day." Sheehan didn't actually close any deals, but he did all he could to herd the hall-roaming cattle into the company's suite. With posters for Gypsy Angel, Deja Vu and Big Sister 2000 inside the entryway, it wasn't that tough to get buyers to step inside.
Italian director Andreas Marfori, whose first film Evil Clutch is still a good selling title for legendary Troma, Inc., is happy that Movie Reps is selling his Timothy Leary starrer Energy. "It's a cyber-punk comedy thriller using cool computer images and has Timothy Leary in his only leading role," says Marfori, a filmmaker who obviously loves his craft and believes the 75-year-old Leary, who is dying of prostate cancer, has been unduly neglected over the years. I didn't ask Marfori whether he believes the planned Interscope film about Leary's LSD experiments gone awry will help boost Energy's sales. Sheehan is quick with the VCR remote and points out an Energy clip in seconds flat. "We have 41 titles with many available territories," said Sheehan. He added, "it seems like at least one person has been interested in each title" during the AFM. Among those library titles is something Movie Reps touts as "Jim Carrey's first feature role as an actor." In Introducing Janet, Carrey plays an aspiring young comic in search of himself.
As Sheehan talks about a summer 1996 domestic release of a new thriller, Reasons, the company President Shah and V.P. and CFO Dolev are heard double-teaming a three person buying team that is trying to leave the suite. Dolev appears not to understand why the buyer talks so kindly about a particular package but then wants to walk out without signing a deal. The buyer begins to plead with Dolev that he needs to get to a bank to draw on a check to pay off another exhibitor by close of business on that very day. Dolev calmly flashes an understanding smile and struggles to maintain eye contact with the squirming buyer whom Dolev simply won't let out of the suite. The buyer protests that he can't pay Dolev today and explains that if he doesn't get to the bank right now, his father is going to kill him! Dolev finally announces his comprehension of the buyer's dilemma. The buyer likes the Movie Reps product but he must secure with money today a deal he signed yesterday. Dolev comes to the rescue. He explains that he doesn't want a check from the buyer today. More animated than ever, the buyer says he can sign a deal but he just can't do all the paperwork today and he's got to run out to the bank NOW! Dolev confirms, "you don't have to pay me anything today . . . I don't want anything but your signature . . . because your signature is as good as gold with us."
With that, I believe the buyer signed. Dolev and Shah smiled. Sheehan grinned, shook his head and said, "those two really enjoy this." I think he's right and I also think the buyer got to the bank in time.
