short films from the eclectic
STEVE KARP
Ten years into a modest acting career, primarily in theater, a desire to make his own dramatic statements emerged. Facilitated by a strong entrepreneurial instinct, Karp formed an independent production company – Perk Productions – to produce three, short, fictional films which he wrote and directed, and which achieved significant commercial success through their world-wide distribution by Columbia Pictures.
The Tennis Lesson
8 1/2 minutes
THE TENNIS LESSON, ahead of its time in 1976, Artificial Intelligence has nothing on this comedic tale about a woman who has an affair with a tennis ball machine. Initially released domestically by Columbia Pictures with Neil Simon’s Murder by Death, it subsequently appeared internationally with numerous feature films over the next few years – Obsession, The Front, The Deep, Silent Movie, and Rocky – and became the most widely distributed live-action short-subject in the history of Columbia Pictures. The film was a film festival favorite in Chicago, the Virgin Islands, and New York City.
The Jogger
10 minutes
THE JOGGER, about a man who literally runs through his life, from novice businessman to aging executive, was initially released by Columbia Pictures with Neil Simon’s Cheap Detective in 1977. Financed by a grant from the American Film Institute, the short’s cinematic distinctiveness contributed to its Gold Medal selection by the Virgin Islands International Film Festival and AFI’s screening of the film in honor of National Film Day at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Included among its most prestigious appearances are the 1978 Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and the famous Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood, where it appeared with Heaven Can Wait. Abroad, the film was honored by the Melbourne Film Festival, and was dubbed for theatrical release in Germany, France, and Sweden.
The Tennis Match
14 minutes
THE TENNIS MATCH is about four grown men who regress to childlike behavior during their weekend doubles tennis match. On the surface, a spoof on tennis, but underneath, a comedic character study of some of the more colorful male participants who play the game. The film was initially released by Columbia Pictures in 1978 in movie theaters across the country with Somebody Killed Her Husband (Jeff Bridges, Farrah Fawcett), but soon re-combined with Neil Simon’s more popular, California Suite. Honored at the Chicago Film Festival and New York’s American Film Festival, the film has been sub-titled for Swedish television, and has appeared theatrically around the world, particularly in Australia, where tennis is virtually a national sport.
Both THE TENNIS MATCH and THE JOGGER reside permanently with the National Film Collection of the Library of Congress.
Each of the films are available for DVD and Digital purchase: contact steve.
