Word: novak
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...David Marx '01 & Benjamin J. Novak '01: The Dilettantes...
...plot had the essentials: murder, morality and chewy nougat. All that David Marx needed was someone with whom to collaborate on his self-proclaimed best idea for a movie ever. Fate brought Marx together with B.J. Novak, roommate and aspiring filmmaker to collaborate in "Studio Holworthy" to make these first-years' first movie. The plot of Marx's screenplay, which came to be called "Who Laughs Last," centers around a joke printed on the inside of a Laffy Taffy candy wrapper--a joke so egregiously unfunny that a group of young Laffy Taffy devotees vow to find and kill...
...screenplay was originally written entirely by Marx but the main characters' "ghetto lingo" lacked the ring of truth, an authenticity which Novak brought forth from his Newton, Mass. roots. Novak plunged right to the heart of the film which he claims is actually all about caring. "The kids care so much about a joke that they're willing to kill for it. I would care that much." He reconsiders, "I wouldn't kill," he says, "but I would care." Eager to shoot the revamped script, the two roommates joined Harvard-Radcliffe Television's movie-making branch, the Filmmakers' Network, which...
...Marx and Novak went to work and succeeded in finding a cast that was more than satisfactory--from an 11 year-old actor whose mother saw one of their posters, to a 43 year- old whose drama coach had heard about the project. In fact, they were even able to get Jonathan Katz from Comedy Central's Dr. Katz to do a voice-over cameo. Marx and Novak can only blame themselves for the glimpses of unprofessionalism in the cast. The actors would invariably "crack-up during the first few takes, especially during the killing part," says Marx...
...resulted from equipment problems. The otherwise user-friendly digital video cameras had a battery life of about five minutes for every overnight charge. "We'd have to sneak into a McDonald's and plug it in for an hour and-a half to get a couple more minutes," says Novak. "Meanwhile our actors and crew would be standing around, waiting...