The Ann Arbor News
Friday, October 20, 2006

Brighton Woman co-stars in new movie about offshoring

by Tom Tolen

A new movie with a Brighton woman in a co-starring role may be coming to a theater near you.

It all depends on obtaining a distributor for the independent film, which co-starts Deb Tunis, wife of Brighton City Council Member John Tunis.

Deb Tunis is the main American character in the international cast of the movie “Offshore,” which was shot in the metro Detroit area and halfway around the world, in Bombay, India.

Although a work of fiction, much of the movie rings with truth, says director and co-writer of the screenplay Diane Cheklich, who lives in the Detroit area.

“There are some nuggets based on reality we hope will resonate with people,” Cheklich says. “I’m very excited about it; I think it’s a very good story.” It is the first directorial role for Cheklich in a full-length feature film. She has done a previous film as a producer. The other co-writers of “Offshore” were Peg Bogema and Chetana Kowshik. The latter doubled as translator for the cast from English into Hindi and back, and made sure the Indian aspects of the movie were authentic with her first-hand knowledge of that nation’s culture.

The movie is about a group of American workers whose jobs are being outsourced to a call center in India. Rather than taking their loss meekly, the displaced Americans plan a scheme to sabotage their former company’s efforts. The result is a sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant portrayal of what is happening in today’s global economy. Deb Tunis portrays a 50-something woman who is within a year of being able to retire from her company when she learns she and her co-workers are losing their jobs.

“(Tunis’ character) becomes desperate and fights to save their jobs; they become Carol and her merry band of saboteurs,” Cheklich says.

For Deb Tunis, it was a case of art imitating life. “My(real-life) business is At Home Professions, and we train people to be medical transcriptionists,” she says. “I am trying to find people a new career, and many have had their jobs outsourced. Friends of mine in all walks of life can relate to (the movie).”

Tunis says it was both interesting and fun getting to know the Indian acting and support crew. “The cast from India was just marvelous, just very talented actors,” she says. Although half of the movie was shot on the Indian sub-continent, Tunis says the film is entirely in English, with no subtitles.

Although, Americans may only see one side of the picture – losing jobs to foreigners and often having to settle for lower-paying jobs to pay the bills – there’s more to it than that, Tunis says.

“It’s survival for people in India,” she says. “(Taking American jobs away) is not something they gloat over.” Tunis who has done voice-over work and has been in some small, independent films, got the role by serendipity.

“My son heard about this and said, ‘Mom, you should audition for this,’ and he made me tape an audition and took it to the director,” she says. Her parts were shot over 19 days, coincidentally at the same time she and her husband were preparing their restored Brighton home for a home tour, leaving her exhausted but happy.

Cheklich and the Indian cast and crew had a few dicey moments when they got stuck in the biggest monsoon to hit India in decades, which flooded the set and briefly delayed production. The stateside portion was delayed by several months because the Indian cast and crew had difficulty getting visas.

The Indian lead character is played by Satish Shah, who plays the Indian running the call center. Shah is a prominent Indian movie star with about 80 motion pictures to his credit. A recent graduate of the University of Michigan Business School, Gaurang Vyas, with several previous acting credits, is a member of the supporting cast.

Cheklich is hoping for “global marketing” of the film, and is submitting the movie to various film festivals, including Sundance an Toronto. “We need to see how the movie plays,” she says.

A special screening for the cast and crew will be shown at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak on Monday.

Those interested in viewing a trailer of the movie can do so by going to www. youtube.com. Where it says “Select,” type in “Offshore,” go to page two and scroll down to “Offshore the movie.”

Tom Tolen can be reached at tolen@livingstoncommunitynews.com or at 810-844-2009.