Film Archive

Short Cut to Hollywood

What would you think if you saw a guy in his late 30s in a taxi badly singing a terrible song in English? And then, if his friends, decked out in large fur hats and filming him too, joined in? Would you believe it if these three best friends told you that they have a brilliant idea to become world-famous? Would you not tell them that the days of their boy band, especially with a crappy name like "The Berlin Brothers," are over and they should just let go? Be reasonable? Calm down? Chill a little? Act their age? Yes, you would! But Johannes Selinger, Mattias Welblinger and Christian Hannawald won't hear you anymore. They're long gone on the plane to America and their dream of immortal fame.
You would say, fine, go, you won't make it.

But what would you think if, in a couple of months, as you read your morning paper and suddenly see that a so-called John Salinger and the "Berlin Brothers" are Number 1 in the charts with "The Best Time of My Life"? Would you not shake your head in disbelief and think that it can't be them, no way!
Wouldn't your mouth drop open as you sit, unprepared and incredulous, in front of your TV and see all three of them in Florida, chilling, each one with a blonde chick draped over his arm? Wouldn't you be startled and spill your coffee if you saw the large picture in the paper of John Salinger – that's how the guy appears to be called now – standing in the prairie smiling but with only one arm left? Yes, you would. Everyone would. And you would want to know what kind of idea that was.

Short Cut to Hollywood is the new road movie, black comedy and media satire of the congenial team Mittermeier and Stahlberg who take their approach and concept successfully applied in Quiet as a Mouse to the next level.

Marcus Mittermeier was born in 1969 in Landshut. Active as an actor, director and producer, his films include: Quiet as a Mouse (Muxmaeuschenstill, 2004) and Short Cut to Hollywood (2009).
 
Jan Henrik Stahlberg studied at the Institut des Art de Diffusion acting school in Brussels. Also active as an actor in numerous television and film productions (including Quiet as a Mouse and on the stage, his films as a director include: Bye Bye Berlusconi! (2005) and Short Cut to Hollywood (2009).
 

Genre Road Movie, Tragicomedy
Category Feature Film Cinema
Year of Production 2009
Director Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg
Screenplay Jan Henrik Stahlberg
Director of Photography David Hofmann
Editors Christian Lonk, Sarah Clara Weber
Music by Rainer Oleak
Production Design Peter Naguib
Producers Marcos Kantis, Martin Lehwald, Matthias Esche, Philipp Kreuzer, Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg
Production Companies Schiwago Film/Berlin, Bavaria Pictures/Geiselgasteig, Muxfilm/Pentling, Bavaria Film/Geiselgasteig, in co-production with Artdeluxe/Vienna, Capture Film International/Los Angeles
Principal Cast Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Marcus Mittermeier, Christoph Kottenkamp
Casting Astrid Rosenfeld
Special Effects Marcel Caspers
Length 95 min
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English
Sound Technology Dolby Digital
Festival Screenings Berlin 2009, Molodist Kiev 2009
With backing from German Federal Film Board (FFA), BKM, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Kuratorium junger deutscher Film
German Distributor Senator Film Verleih/Berlin

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