Dinner in a movie: West Seattleites create a “quirky short”

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She’s a successful enterpreneur and coach, but you may know Sunny Kobe Cook best from her “Sleep Country USA” commercials. Now she’s back onscreen as one of the stars of the 8-minute movie you see above, “A Taboo for Eight,” a creation of her husband and MovieStarNow.com proprietor John Murphy, which premiered with a party Friday night at their West Seattle home. Click ahead to read their news release about it (including the list of cast and crew):

Lights! Camera! Action!

West Seattle Independent film maker, John Murphy held the premiere of his latest short film “A Taboo for Eight” (Friday) night in the West Seattle home he shares with his wife, local entrepreneur, Sunny Kobe Cook.

The cast of this quirky short features 7 West Seattle residents. John Llewellyn, a longtime resident and local attorney plays the husband, father and host of a “Twilight Zone” style dinner party. Sunny is tapped to portray the wife, mother and lush of a hostess. Anthony Horton and Jeff Anderson don their chef coats for this offbeat dinner but assume NO responsibility for the menu! Trevor Murphy sports an inspired hairstyle as the brash teenage son. You can find Trevor each Saturday morning working the front desk of All Star Fitness. Tori Paul, in a departure from her warm and charming real life persona, plays the aloof beauty, Mercedes. John Murphy makes a Rod Serling style appearance at the end of the short film.

Joining the West Seattle cast members are Gayle O’Donnell, owner of the “must visit” store for brides, All About Weddings, and her real-life husband, Jim O’Donnell, recently retired from an executive position distributing major motion pictures. The couple portrays new residents to the neighborhood. Rachel Pack, an Auburn Mountainview High School student, plays the daughter. Scott Burns, a familiar
voice from Seattle radio history, stepped out from behind the microphone to give a convincing performance as the stereotypical “sales guy.”

Wrapping up the eclectic ensemble are Megan Watson as camera operator, Kirstin Smith handles the boom mike and Tamara Valjean keeps it under control as Set Manager.

The cast, crew and guests at the premiere party were served an assortment of delicious mini-cupcakes from West Seattle’s Sugar Rush Baking Co. which just received rave reviews in the current issue of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine along with bottles and bottles of bubbly.

With the news release, this photo of cast and crew from the night they shot the short:

We asked Murphy a followup question about MovieStarNow.com, where you also can find “A Taboo for Eight.” He describes it as “a side company I created to help actors showcase their talent. The Seattle market offers virtually no outlet for actors to gain on-camera experience, let alone showcase how well they can act. I’ve spent thousands on acting lessons myself with nothing to show for a demo reel. Then I started doing my own movies.” He adds, “I can do monologue videos, audition reels, scenes, extemporaneous, and fully scripted and cast short movies.” As in, what you see above.

Sunny Kobe Cook March 8, 2009 (2:04 pm)

Thank you to all the wonderful West Seattlites and friends of West Seattlites who generously volunteered their time to help create this short film. We hope you had as much fun making it as we did and be sure to answer your phones, it’s bound to be Hollywood calling!

Gayle O'Donnell March 8, 2009 (5:58 pm)

This was a most UNUUUUUSUAL experience for my husband, Jim and myself. Thanks for inviting us to be part of such a fun project.

Thomas Noble March 9, 2009 (6:11 am)

What an embarrassment for the West Seattle neighborhood!

Nulu March 9, 2009 (10:25 am)

Yes, video production can be fun and an unique experience.
But the production quality and editing only detract from this actors’ showcase. I see little advantage to such static “talking heads” on murky youtube over traditional head shots.
Seattle now boasts one of our county’s top independent film scenes as represented in this years Sundance Festival. This group seems unaware of or in denial of the high level of crafts people available locally.

Aidan Hadley March 9, 2009 (11:07 am)

Wow, I’m glad someone else said it first. It is amazing how much good film and television is out there and yet these people can’t see how much is wrong with this. It made me depressed to watch it because I respect how much time and work goes into producing a short film. I wouldn’t encourage any of these local “actors” to put this clip on their reels. Hollywood isn’t going to come knocking from this any sooner than having your pictures taken at Glamor Shots is going to make the modeling industry come knocking. But it seems in the same league: playing on people’s vanity. I’d normally try to support people for doing something artistic but it isn’t all that creative. Just a tedious, unoriginal rehash of something with no payoff at the end. To end on something more constructive, I’d only say this: filming people sitting around a table can be a visual challenge. But these filmmakers should really learn to embrace the concept of a master shot. Look at the work of Woody Allen and Robert Altman to see how much more successful it is to film an ensemble without doing everything in a one-shot.

WSB March 9, 2009 (11:20 am)

Datapoint, this wasn’t sent in as “we’re submitting this to Sundance” material. I thought it was interesting from the standpoint of (a) relatively new local company and (b) the Sunny Kobe Cook local-celebrity factor. If you read the blurb, it’s clear these folks all have other careers and did this as a lark. Just in case that wasn’t clear. In fact, I almost reframed the whole thing as a story about the company and oh BTW here’s a video they made but for various reasons decided against it … TR

acemotel March 9, 2009 (12:50 pm)

If anything, the film made me realize how much a good actor brings to a production; and what a difficult craft/art acting is. Likewise script writing and production. I had to watch the credits at the end twice to realize there were actually TWO middle-aged women wearing red tops. That was confusing. I’m sure it was fun for the participants. It’s important to keep the audience in mind too, so it will be pleasant experience for those of us who watch the finished product.

Nulu March 9, 2009 (1:39 pm)

WSB
The relatively new company IS in the business of selling Hollywood dreams through video head shots.
I went to their website which is negative on the Seattle film and theater scene.
Its selling point is how “student films” and amateur productions make actors look bad, while their professional scripts, lighting, sound and camera work make actors look good. They imply that actors need their service to get a foot in the door of Hollywood.
We can only speculate on how long Trevor (or any of the other actors) would remain at All Star Fitness or their day jobs, should Hollywood come calling.
Of note also, the vast majority of screen actors have other “careers” to pay rent and virtually all behind the camera people are regularly unemployed.
The Sundance reference was toward the creative, talented and experienced people in our community that have and continue to create first rate product.
Sunny Kobe Cook, local-celebrity, is also now in the business of selling dreams (pardon the bed pun). Her business appears to be “get rich like me” seminars not much different than her husband’s. They both offer services that one pays for with miniscule odds of the payoff they imply.

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