Tom’s Blog

This time, I want to respond to a question from Sally, about our newly designed website.

First off, I want to tell you that I can relate to what you said about booking tickets. After I saw Outsourced, I’m never rude or quick with the stranger on the line. I, too, want to know what country they are in. I’m loving this website, and I wonder, why don’t all movies do this?

Sally M.
Nashville, Tennessee

Great question, Sally. This website is an experiment. You can’t imagine the army of people and truckloads of energy required to make a film. Then you toss your baby out there to the world… and it’s gone. Because outsourcing is such a complicated new issue, and we believe Outsourced is a film that bridges some gaps in the issue, we wanted the film to have a life beyond itself.

For instance, we booked the film at The Quad Theater in Manhattan. We were the number one film that week at The Quad, and the third highest moneymaker for the theater that year, and yet they didn’t hold us over so that the many New Yorkers that still wanted to see the film could see it! They already had new films coming in, so despite the success of Outsourced, no one else in New York could see it. This is one of the big flaws in the distribution and exhibition system for small films without millions of dollars to spend on prints and advertising — even if people are wanting and waiting to see the movie, they can’t!

Our solution was to create a website that helped inform people about where and how they can see the film. We also made a special “Preview Edition DVD” available for sale on the website right away, so that film lovers could get a copy of Outsourced, throw a movie party, order in some delicious Makki ki Roti, Sarso ka Saag, chai tea and Lassi to drink, and watch with friends. And then, if anyone had any questions about the movie, they can hop online and ask us!

We want our website to be an open forum of discussion about the ideas the film inspires, allowing everyone to post anything they wish, from photos or videos, to stories about personal travel. If you have a story about an incident may have changed your life? We want to hear it. Or have a story about the best or worst customer service experience? Send it in. And we’d love input from customer service and call center workers from all over the world. I think of our website as a time travel machine that has been put in place through customer service lines. I know that there are many experiences that this machine has created that were valuable, moving, funny, and informative… so share them with us!

Producers never stop moving. Our lives are a whirlwind, but we can’t afford to get winded. The past year, as the producer of OUTSOURCED, I’ve been on 37 planes in 3 continents and worn out 4 cell phones. I’ve been to my home in New York City so rarely I forget I even live there. Being a movie producer is like trying to coach a football team AND quarterback the ball to the finish line. The ball is the movie. It’s nothing if it doesn’t cross the finish line. You hold it tight, run hard, a thousand demons snapping at your heels, but at the same time you have to keep an eye on the big picture, the whole game.

Not that I’m complaining. Each film opens a new world. Shooting Outsourced in India changed my life. We had severe budget restrictions, and yet from gaffers to extras, I’ve never worked with a crew that cared more about realizing the vision of making a movie. It’s amazing how well people can communicate over the language barriers of multiple dialects when they want to make something together! But the icing on the cake, or more accurately the fuel in the engine, was our dedicated Chai Master, who served us the best chai in the universe, and believe me, that magic liquid warms your soul and keeps you going day and night. But beyond that, I felt a deep sea change inside me, simply from working with the people of India. It is impressive how Indians just seem to accept things as they are. A very different mindset from your typical busy New Yorker plotting world domination.

The film also changed the way I do business on my cell phone. Before Outsourced, I’d book tickets, buy things, dial tech support, without even thinking about the accented voice on the other end of the line. Now I pause, and ask: Where are you? If they say, the Philippines, I ask, how’s the weather there? If they say: India, I get excited and want to know which town.

I’m being asked a lot of great questions about Outsourced, so I decided to put my answers out there for all to read, and invite more questions. I’ll answer a few right now, and more as you send them in.

I’m curious about color day. Were you there for it? Is it really that messy and fun? I so wish we could do it in my small town. Personally I’d like to drench my neighbor’s dog in red, see if he stops barking.
Steve
Sante Fe, New Mexico

The Festival of Color is called “Holi.” And Steve, you might want to ask Aunti-Ji where it came from, but I think it has something to do with fire, medicine and love. I wasn’t there for the actual day, but we created our own Holi to film. It’s madness. Everyone hides out and tries to trick each other with colored powder and water. It’s a liberating feeling, like Halloween in America, to just cut loose and be wild.

Before shooting, we spent much time and energy researching the dyes. We didn’t want the colors to be as permanent as they usually are, since we shot the film out-of-sequence, so we couldn’t risk having Josh or Asif have traces of red or purple in scenes that took place before color day! If you watch carefully, the first time Puro gets hit with red dye, he seems to choke and gag… this is real! He barely got the scene done, and we almost had to rush him to the hospital. Fortunately for us, he is a consummate professional and managed to get through the day before heading off the emergency room. Fortunately, he was fine. But we applaud him for above and beyond devotion to the film!