Minnesota-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Jerry Brunskill is frantically putting the finishing touches on his movie "It's Gawd" to get it ready for the south of France.
"The long hours are both from shooting pickup shots on 'Gawd' and editing the movie so that it is ready to take to the Cannes market in May," Brunskill told me via e-mail, which was the medium for this Q&A. "It's Gawd," a Brunskill-written and directed comedy, follows the exploits of Earth's creator as he tries to save the world through a nightly TV show.
"I'm [also] currently producing a weekly show on Pivot TV's Take Part Live called 'Disrupt,' which tackles socioeconomic issues aimed at the millennial generation. I've been directing a story for HBO's 'Vice' on life extension. Busy times indeed, (and I love every minute of it!!)" wrote Brunskill, a Bloomington Lincoln High grad who left the University of Minnesota needing "eight credits to graduate. I had to take leave to be on Star Search!"
Q: Comedy icon Tommy Chong was your first choice to play the talk show-hosting deity in "It's Gawd!" because …?
A: He wasn't. I mean, he would have been, had I thought of him early on, but I just didn't. I wrote the first draft of the movie with Bill Murray in mind, with a little Jack Nicholson thrown in. I hassled Jack's daughter, who I knew socially but found out quick that he had forbidden his children to bring scripts, most likely to prevent them from being exploited. I actually managed to get the script to Bill and heard he liked it, but came to find he was very hard to pin down and commit. Then one day I read Tommy's book, "The iChong, Meditations from the Joint." From that day on, I knew he was the guy. He's so cool, wise, spiritual and funny as all hell. He also has this childlike wonderment about the world, and that was exactly the spirit I wanted this character to embody.
Q: I hear you really let Melinda Jacobs show her acting chops?
A: Sure did. She came out for our "Boardroom scene" where Gawd tries to convince Luke Perry, president of a TV network, that Gawd should be allowed on television. Melinda plays one of the TV network mucky-mucks. She was fantastic!
Q: How many years have you avoided being married?