As Is: A Downsized Life

Official Selection at the MassBay Film Festival, November 2005

Official Selection of The St. Louis International Film Festival on Nov. 18, 2005

Award of Excellence in Documentary - Berkeley Video and Film Festival, Berkeley CA October 2005

Official Selection at The Boston International Film Festival, June 2005

Official Selection at The Rhode Island International Film Festival, August 14, 2005

Life comes without guarantees or warrantees. Life comes to us "As Is". Still, we are all immersed in a culture where the primary, if not primordial, message is: "more, more, more." Earn more, spend more, consume more and possess more of everything - the implicit promise is that happiness and fulfillment will be yours if only you have more.

"As Is" explores that fundamental premise through the stories of nine divergent people from the USA and abroad who must re-examine the value of their lives as they encounter economic simplicity. Earning less and spending less runs contrary to everything they've been taught. All were once distinctively upwardly mobile.

While "As Is" presents four grittily real accounts of the fallout of unemployment, displacement and deprivation, it is saved from utter bleakness by the earthy and hope-infused accounts of five other people who embraced voluntary economic simplicity for reasons ranging from the spiritual and environmental to personal development and artistic growth. Former Disney artists, entertainers, physicians, monastic nuns, educators all dispossessed and challenging the axiomatic "more, more, more" with the idea that a well lived life has less to do with more and more to do with better.

Intimate and exclusive interviews, behind the scenes footage, original artwork, animation and archival footage are infused with original music (contributed by several of the interviewees) yielding an amalgam of "the moment."

Narrator and professional auctioneer Marie Keep imparts provenance (the known source of origin or background of an auction item), her unique cadence providing the thrill of the unknown, and illuminating life's unpredictability at each turn.

"As Is: A Downsized Life" delves into themes of self-respect, honor and freedom, attainable for some through total disengagement from consumer society and others by losing everything and starting over. The intricate and often paradoxical journey away from materialistic society emerges for each as in an epiphany uncovering man's relationship with nature and self-sufficiency. For some, it's the bitter realization that from destruction comes renewal. For others, it's not living large singularly but instead with largesse toward the world. "As Is" offers a roller-coaster ride through the guilelessness and vulnerability as well as the scrappy, stubborn and naturally funny dimensions of these lives on the downside.

Interviewees

Kathy Schoeppner
Dominic Avant
Merry Citoli
Veronica Paje-Rafael
Brian Quint
Johanna Kaputanffy
Sr. Monica Burt
Joyce Johnson
Bob Corbett

Cast and Crew

Written, Directed, Produced, Shot and Edited by Maryanne Galvin
Additional Camera Operation by Laura Asselin
Production Assistance by Laura Asselin, Joe Mulligan, Jeff Dale
Narrated by Marie Keep
Original Music by Andrea Gillis, Tom Herbert, Eric McDonough, Roger Salloom, Taproot, Mt. St. Mary's Abbey, Merry Citoli
Sound Mix by Jason Jordan, Chris Engles, Brian Iacobucci
Press Kit design by Donna deAlmeida
Publicity by Ellen Gitelman/American Graphiti
AVID consultant Franco Sacchi

News and Reviews

Looking for greener pastures?
D2E Boston's Sustainability Living Event and Video Forum explores solutions closer to home
March 28-30, 2008 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston's Back Bay
DUTV (Drexel University Television) is an educational cable station operated as a service of Drexel University. Operating as part of the Paul F. Harron Studios, DUTV reaches over 400,000 homes within the metropolitan Philadelphia area. DUTV is broadcast over channel 54 or 62 for Comcast subscribers.

As Is: A Downsized Life will air on DUTV on Tuesday Oct.30, Nov.27, and Dec.25 2007 at 9pm repeating the following Fridays at 10pm and over the weekends at 5pm and midnight.
As Is: A Downsized Life The Boston Globe (2/22/2007)

Excerpts from the Film

Purchasing

Galvin's films have screened at various high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, community organizations and are available for purchase at Forward in Time. To purchase copies for personal home use, please visit CreateSpace for DVDs or Dovetail.tv for downloadable versions.

Before you purchase, please read: Public Performance Rights