Standing on Fishes  (1999)

Theatrical Release Information:
Standing on Fishes

An artist struggles against the vulgarity of the film industry and the eccentricities of his friends and loved ones in this independent comedy. Caleb (Bradford Tatum) is a promising sculptor who is contacted by noted filmmaker Richard Verk (Kelsey Grammer) with an unusual assignment -- he needs someone to construct a prosthesis of a woman's genitals for an upcoming project. This is the last sort of job Caleb is looking for, but the pay is good and with a house payment due, he swallows his pride and accepts the offer. Caleb's girlfriend Erica (Meredith Scott Lynn) is not at all pleased; an aspiring actress, she has serious issues with the film industry's sexual objectification of women, and prefers not to be confronted with a symbol of this when she comes home at night. It doesn't help that Caleb and Erica's sex life has been in something of a slump and they've been quarrelling about their physical needs -- or that their new neighbor Camille (Lauren Fox) is obviously infatuated with Caleb. Meanwhile, Caleb's friend Jason (Jason Priestly) has problems of his own; his significant other of all of two days is pregnant, and just when he decided he liked the idea of bringing up baby, she decides to have an abortion. Standing on Fishes was written and directed by its stars Bradford Tatum and Meredith Scott Lynn (Tatum also wrote the screenplay) and was shown at the 1999 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide