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Timing is Everything…
On the Friday before the long-weekend I was handed a DVD from a friend at Move with only a basic overview. (He said something to the effect of “just watch it… it was produced by homestore in the dot com days and a bunch of office decorations and inside jokes will make a lot more sense…”)
Well, back in the dot com days when I was an engineer in a relatively boring industry, the people at Move (then known as HomeStore) were obviously having a lot more fun… Seriously, having a lot more fun is the only way to explain the “Chris Smith” movie that Stuart Wolff produced called home movie. This is one seriously weird (and fun) documentary that should make both Hanan Levin and Marlow Harris proud thanks to its odd-ball nature.
The Amazon plot synopsis:
Director Smith visits five unusual homes and talks to the people who built or adapted them. His subjects include an alligator wrangler who lives on a houseboat in a Louisiana bayou; an American actress who made her fortune on Japanese TV and then built a treehouse getaway in Hawaii; an inventor who automated his entire home; a family who converted an abandoned missile silo into an underground abode; and a pair of cat-lovers who renovated their house with dozens of feline-friendly features.
If odd-ball homes and the people that create them is a topic that peaks your interest, then definitely check out Home Movie (I just ordered my own copy!). Personally, I’m just glad to have finally been initiated at Move. 
Posted: July 5th, 2006 under General Real Estate.
Tags: Diversions, homes, HomeStore, houses, movie, Moving to Seattle, real-estate, review, unusual
About the Author: Dustin Luther
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Comments
2.
Comment
from rich siegel
Time July 7, 2006 at 8:46 am
While it might be easy to write off Home Movie as a Stuart Wolff ego trip, the purpose of the film was something altogether different. The idea was born out of an advertising campaign that my partner and I developed for homestore in 1999. There were actually 6 TV commercials (included on the DVD, but never aired nationally) that were meant to market the homestore.com brand. The film came about as a natural extension of the documentary-type TV spots.
I wish I had seen Wolff in courtroom that day. It’s good to see he will pay a price for his legendary arrogance.
3.
Comment
from Dustin
Time July 7, 2006 at 8:57 am
Rich,
Since you didn’t plug your new book, Tuesdays with Mantu, I thought I’d do it for you! It looks great and I just added it to my Amazon list!
4.
Comment
from Thogek
Time July 30, 2006 at 12:48 am
Those six television commercials that Rich mentions were shown to the company’s employees-at-large at the time (with quite a bit of pep-rally fanfare), and it’s a shame they never saw national air time, as they were actually quite quirkily engaging, and it was said that quite a lot of money and effort was spent to construct them.
But at least their cinematic caveman commercial saw some ad-time in early 2000, eh?
5.
Comment
from Dustin
Time July 30, 2006 at 8:46 am
Thogek,
Those six commercials are included on the DVD and are definitely a lot of fun.
1. Comment from Allen Benson
Time July 6, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Dustin,
I was there when the movie debuted at Inman. I met the alligator guy that night (forgot his name). The movie was interesting I think this was made at the height of Wolff’s ego ride. I remember him sitting on stage in a director’s chair rubbing his hands together with his “I’m king of the world grin”.
I saw a picture of him going into the courtroom a couple weeks ago for the verdict in his trial a much different man then at Inman in 2000.
During the hurricane that hit Louisiana I actually wondered if the alligator man and his house made it.