“In a world of cutthroat tactics, the realty world is the most brutal.”
That’s the synopsis of a new satire film about a pushy real estate agent who will do just about anything to close a deal.
The short film, “The Realtor,” is an 8-minute-long dark comedy that depicts a couple and the real estate agent who is about to sell them a house. The film makes fun of the agent’s aggressive marketing tactics, specifically his slogan “More bang for your buck” and his offer to give clients free meal and drink coupons if he can’t find them their dream home.
Download the movie for Windows Media or Quicktime.
The movie is satire of the “in-your-face” salesmanship stereotypes of real estate agents who want nothing more than to sell homes.
The fictional Realtor has his own Web site, where he displays his latest deals, pictures of listings, a short biography and his first television commercial. One home, titled “The House of Your Dreams,” is a broken-down shack listed for $200. Another fictional listing is a mobile home advertised as “Just Take it for $650.”
The agent’s Web site boasts, “I give people happiness…only at 5 percent commission!”
See the real estate agent’s commercial spoof online.
Most of the film takes place at Zero One Realty, a fictitious real estate office where the real estate agent works. But it’s not just the agent who is cutthroat. The first scene shows a couple conspiring to throw the real estate deal so they can get the free meal coupons.
In his fictional bio, the Realtor talks about dropping out of college, his search for the meaning of life and his travels to China, where he met a wise man who “replenished” his soul.
“I traveled back to the U.S. and knew what I had to do. I have to sell homes! Thus my journey as a Realtor has only begun,” he wrote.
The film will be shown during the CU 2 Video and Film Festival, an event for independent filmmakers, May 14-16, at Loews Theatre in New York City. Producer Ryan Spevack will attend the event.
Spevack is a student at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Ariz. His production company, Zero One Entertainment, is behind the film. Edward Anthony Mendoza directed the movie, which was written by and stars Dean St. Louis as the real estate agent.
St. Louis said the film was inspired by an experience he’d had with a car salesman a few years ago who had an emotional meltdown and started yelling at him to get out of his sales office. Not long after that, he heard a radio commercial in which a real estate agent was advertising giving away free meal coupons.
“So I started thinking, what would happen if this guy didn’t get any business?” he said.
St. Louis hasn’t had any bad experiences with realty agents. In fact, he’s only ever worked with an agent once in his lifetime. He said the agent was helpful and very nice.
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