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For many people, truth really is stranger than fiction. For Andrea Cohen Malamut ’78, it’s funnier, too.
Malamut turned one of her life’s more bizarre experiences – hiring a maid from Kiev to take care of her house – into a full-length feature comedy that has garnered strong reviews despite not having the backing of a major distributor.
“I think we need to smile and laugh once in a while, because there is such stress in the world,” Malamut told an amused gathering of alumni Friday during the Reunion College portion of Reunion Weekend. (More on Malamut and her film is available on the alumni web site.)
If having a maid from Kiev doesn’t sound funny on its surface, then you need to hear Malamut’s story.
She and her husband hired the maid when they were having their first child. What followed was a comedy of errors in which the maid ended up bringing over family members from the Ukraine to the Malamut home, causing mayhem in which her husband was the main victim.
“She was hiding the entire family in our house,” Malamut said, only half-jokingly.
The film, Domestic Import, had its name changed to Nanny Insanity for release in the lucrative foreign market because not everyone gets the wit behind the oxymoron title and the new name translates better.
The project originally was meant for the stage. Malamut said the play version had all the right backing, including from Joy Abbott, wife of Broadway legend George Abbott, the man behind such hits as Damn Yankees. The show played to packed audiences in Florida, but when a financial backer died and Abbott’s interest turned elsewhere, the play landed in a drawer, where it would stay for eight years.
Still, the script stayed in Malamut’s mind, and she got the backing of investors that included Culver Studios, home to such classics as Gone With the Wind and King Kong and the TV show “Las Vegas.”
The movie was made in Hollywood, and Malamut told the audience of how strange it was to vacillate between the two worlds of living with her family on the East Coast and dealing with California movie executives making a movie. She recounted a time when she was standing in line at the deli counter ordering meat while on her cell phone making decisions about the movie.
Among the film’s stars are Howard Hesseman, most noted for his portrayal of DJ Johnny Fever in the classic “WKRP in Cincinatti” TV show and a role as a teacher in “Head of the Class.” It also features noted character actor Mindy Sterling.
While Malamut praised the cast for its work, she said she has one regret: not getting an A-list star, someone whose involvement would have convinced a distributor to spend significant money on what is known in the business as P&A – print and advertising. Limited funding has kept the film from having widespread release, although it was picked up for international distribution by Curb Entertainment.
“The creative process is truly wonderful,” she said of movie-making. “The business end is not.”
Still, the process was satisfying and the product, judging by excerpts Malamut played for Friday’s crowd, stupendous. The film is chock full of farce and comedic conflict, leaving alumni roaring with laughter and anticipating the film’s video release.
Critics enjoyed it as well. “ABC Primetime Weekend” compared the movie favorably with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and the Philadelphia media ate it up when “Nanny Insanity” played there.
“This is light comedy,” Malamut explained. “It’s a throwback to the way comedy used to be.”