Synopsis

Great World of Sound, which took the public by storm at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, is a film sharply critiquing the social uproar surrounding the hit show ‘American Idol’. Martin, who has the experience of working as an engineer at a radio broadcasting company, is hired as a producer at a record company called ‘Great World of Sound’. At a company seminar, he meets the middle-aged Clarence, an outgoing character, in contrast to him, who is shy in nature. They create a team that begins a tour to discover singing talents across the country through auditions. However, one of their key dilemmas is that, regardless of the talent, they have to pay 30% of the recording cost of ten thousand dollars. The duo, who was charged with the hope that they would be at the center of discovering stars, slowly realize that they were not only the victims of this web of deception, but the victimizers as well. The film’s director, Craig Zobel, says that he realized how much people wanted to be on TV while working on a reality TV show, which he incorporates into this debut feature film, reminding us of people’s desire to become a star overnight and the public’s adoration of stardom. All the audition scenes are secretly filmed, and the participants are unaware of the fact that they are being filmed. The director acquired permission afterward but had to deal with the controversy over unethical practices. On the other hand, such documentary scenes combined with fiction give the film a stronger sense of reality. (Chung Woochung)

Director

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  • Craig Zobel
  • He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and studied film at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He co-produced David Gordon Green’s feature debut, George Washington (2000), and has since participated in his works. He is also a founding member of the cult cartoon website ‘Homestar Runner’. Currently living in New York, he has worked as a production manager and assistant director in many independent films. He also worked as a props manager during the final season of a TV series. Great World of Sound is his feature film debut.