LIFE GOES SWIMMINGLY FOR THE GRUBER BROTHERS

with new projects ahead and hit "indie crossover" hit flick out.

We are on the roof of their Foley Street headquarters.

C= cherrybomb r=richard homes, producer s=stefan schwartz, director

c: whose name is gruber anyway?

r: neither of ours. we decided on it together. there is a yiddisher term groBer (bigger). also, there is a kind of fish called a gruper which is quite amusing.

s: we chose it late at night 15 years ago and donít know exactly why. it sounded good at the and we went to bed. that's what it was.

c: the surroundings for that insulation installing scene seems awfully familiar. where is that?

s: it was a street in Nottinghill, but the interiors were actually at Shepherton Studios.

c: and where is the stately home?

s: just outside the M25 in south london at colesden lacey.

c: until now, i didn't know people could live in gasometers.

s: they can't. since the release of the film, we've had problems with gasometer death. the gas authorities have been quite pissed off with us.

s and r: snicker, snicker, ha ha

c: there are some things that might not come across to american audiences such as during a segment of the movie where all the characters in the frame pull out little electronic devices and start pushing buttons.

s: those are PDA's- personal organizers. i've got one- see?

c: it's odd what's made it here and not over there like the excessive use of mobile phones. in the u.s., some people are still on pagers, yet we're more advanced on the internet and what not. and the term "Shooting Fish" is not commonly used.

r: it's ripping someone off easily like shooting fish in a barrel.

c: how was it working with Stuart Townsend (now starring in Resurrection Man), Kate Beckinsdale, and Dan Futterman? i don't know much about Dan, but it seems like the other two are defying typecasts.

s: (about Stuart) he is Irish. he is handsome. so, we tried to bury that naturally really charming, confident, charismatic person and had to boil that down. he is really that psychotic so he found Resurrection Man an easy character to get into. i was really shocked at how crude, sharp, and funny Kate can be because she was always playing women in bustles. she was keen to have her hair cut and get into the '90s.

c: so, who was your main consultant on the American character?

s: him (Dan). we rehearsed for 3 weeks and anything that wasn't American, he changed. he worked really hard. sometimes he'd advise and we didn't want to hear.

r: i am half American by birth and go there a lot.

c: would you cast them again?

s and r: oh, yes. absolutely. they were all amazingly good.

s: so you use the net alot? who's the big fat guy in Texas that reviews all the screenings of new movies?

c: i don't know. i heard that the guys actually went out and tried their hands at scamming. tell me about it.

s: after trying to sell cheap cologne on Oxford Street for practice, we really had to train them up. so we asked them to make up an unrealistic product and try to sell it to companies. the first couple of times they got on the phone, they would just burst into laughter. it was an exercise to see if they could talk to the head buyer at certain places. it involved a pretend car alrm that would electrocute you and hold your hands to the vehicle while your screams were amplified.

c: who chose the music?

s: Neil Peplow, our co-producer whittled down EMI suggestions and he and i picked out songs we liked.

c: which groups have you gone to see?

s: i've seen the Divine Comedy and uh, the Supernaturals.

c: how long did it take you to find funding to make Shooting Fish?

r: a very long time, a couple of years. we made another movie together before- Soft up my Shoulder. Stef did something for the BBC and i did something for another director. we had to push the script. it was different and not seen as a British film. there was no agenda. it is just a piece of entertainment. there is no natural home for that in the UK with a low budget. it was like a chicken and egg, catch 22. we needed a distributor. then the lottery came along to fill the gap.

c: that's great there is this kind of arts sponsorship.

s: the lottery's been going on for about 4 years and has changed the face of British film making. it's now a subsidy culture.

c: are you having a U.S. premiere?

r: there will probably be one in LA which Stef and the actors will go to. i don't know if the Americans will go for the sugary ending.

c: would you ever move to LA?

s: no, but i would do movies there.

r: it's easier for us in England because some people already know us here.

c: when did you start in with the film making?

s: we tried just as we left university.

r: Stef hadn't even started watching films until about the '80s.

s: yeah

c: that was a good time with John Hughes and all.

c: you were film students?

s: no, we were turned down- very bitter.

c: think about those who did get in, what are they doing now?

s: making films with bigger budgets than weíll ever make. well, i am snobbishly pleased that our film has done well. it's fresh. it didn't expect a major success, just having a good time. we were bored with films coming out that were heavy and misery filled. we wanted an obscenely happy ending and stupidly happy characters.

c: what did you draw upon besides the Kray twins (infamous East London mobsters)?

r: stef/s dad is a shrink and we used urban myths that we had perverted. we had no money after uni and lived by our wits. we based it on ourselves a bit. it's like a beach movie in London. there were no deliberate cultural references, although we do enjoy Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

c: what new things are you working on or are you allowed to disclose this?

s: i'm going to do a film based on a James Hawes novel A White Merc with Fins out at the end of this year. he also wrote Rancid Aluminum.

r: we co-wrote a thriller together and i'm also working on making a Martin Ames novel Dead Babies.

c: do we hear a sequel?

s: the Germans are remaking it in German.

c: who are the actors going to be then?

s: rich and i. we've been studying phonetic German.

s: rich has lots of ideas like SHOOTING MORE FISH.

r: stef won't shoot it.