MAGIC SCHMUCK! - 2nd BEST Magician, in the Whole-Wide World
A young woman discovers long lost films from 100 years ago of her not so famous great-grandfather vaudeville magician Magic Schmuck.
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Adam SteinfeldSeries Creator
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Adam SteinfeldProducer, director, camera, editor
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Rita RitvinKey Cast"Zarina van Schmuck (TV Hostess)"
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Adam SteinfeldKey Cast"Magician in 1920s flashback scenes"
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Todd RiceCasting
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AudioBlock.comMUSIC
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AudioJungle.netMUSIC
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Dayle KrallHoudini Girl Water Torture Escape
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Richard SherryHoudini Water Torture Cell fabrication
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Project Type:Short, Television, Web / New Media
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Genres:comedy, satire, performing arts, reality-TV
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Runtime:9 minutes 54 seconds
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Completion Date:May 12, 2018
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Production Budget:299 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:1080p / 1920×1080 / 16X9
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Aspect Ratio:16X9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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FILMED IN BROWARD - Ft. Lauderdale International Film FestivalFt Lauderdale, Florida
United States
July 14, 2018
Premiere, at Savor Cinema -
INDEPENDENT SHORTS AWARDSLos Angeles, California
United States
September 16, 2018
BEST COMEDY SHORT - Official Selection
Short Bio
South FLORIDA FILMMAKER:
Adam Steinfeld, a director and comedy magician, under his banner Magic Live!®, studied to be a filmmaker at the Univ. of Miami, earning a BA in Film, other media projects; Houdini Lives!, Ask Madame Wonder? a twisted-tales series, Yo Houdini supernatural series and the micro-film thriller; CREEZY, Where are you?, and many more.
Main Bio
South FLORIDA FILMMAKER:
Adam Steinfeld studied to be a filmmaker, at the Univ. of Miami, directing, writing and creating mini-versions of the Tonight show, and his final senior thesis short film "the Box" on iconic Houdini, he went to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Film, all while performing as a skilled street-style magician that put himself through college.
Soon after graduation, Steinfeld's travels focused on his magic skills, presenting at; Comedy Clubs and Mega-Cruise Ship around the Caribbean and the World, to performing and producing in one of the longest running permanent Magic Illusion shows in, over 2,400 LIVE shows; MAGIC LIVE!...comedy on the beach, at two mega island casino resorts in Aruba, that ran over a decade at one location from 2001 to 2013, named Best International Magic show by Premious Magica in Buenos Aires.
Now back in South Florida, Adam Steinfeld is mixing his talents of magic and grand Illusions with storytelling, from supernatural series; Ask Madame Wonder, horror, Yo Houdini, Houdini Lives! novel/filmscript a period story set in 1966 Miami Beach, and dramatic mico-film thriller; Creezy, Where are you?
No doubt, magicians played, an early key role, in the development of feature films, from Georges Méliès , to Harry Houdini , to Orson Welles, I'm still much involved in shooting, writing & editing my own self-produced projects.
On Aruba Island, "I shot many many shorts, said Steinfeld, working with my long time magic assistants, that doubled as star actors, and each time, I increased my directing and editing skills."
My short experimental film, 'Houdini, talks Houdini' screened at the 16th annual Coney Island film festival, and short deli-documentary; 'Hold the Schmaltz: the final hours of RASCAL HOUSE', premiered in 2017, at the 31st Annual Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival, and supernatural, Yo Houdini web series nominated for; Best Web Series and Editing by the 2018 Independent Horror Awards.
"You have to remember, I studied to be a filmmaker years ago, but this new digital film technology, has allowed me to experiment with various stories, on an ultra low, no budget projects.
This is one of my pet projects, that blends together three of my passions, Magic, Comedy and Filmmaking .
I shot Zarina's host segments with hilarious deadpan comedy improv actress, Rita Ritvin, in front of my warehouse in South Florida, and the flashback 1920s magic theater scenes were filmed at my long-running Magic Live! casino theater shows, in Aruba.
I color-corrected these B/W segments, to give it an aged, 1920s film-look, that adds to the believably of Zarina's fictional great-grandfather magician, she never met.
This is a hostess driven proof-of-concept TV series, similar to; campy, late-night TV horror movie queen 'Elvira, Mistress of the Dark' is to Horror, and one of the funniest movies ever made 'This is Spinal Tap' band spoof is to heavy metal music and now Zarina in 'Magic Schmuck' is to Magic...it's real, it's funny, it's highly repeatable TV.
'Magic Schmuck' is a catchy title and the brand works in every medium from network-TV, on-line social media to feature films, it's funny and hokey and shamelessly camp.
Enjoy the short.
Adam Steinfeld
series creator