Written and Directed by Chris Murray
Starring Tyler Evans, Timmy Cassese, Daniel O’Brien, and Evan Neumann
Camera Fernando Cuestas and Mayur Deshmukh
Edited by Fernando Cuestas
Original Music “New Deal” by Alan Thicke Written by Murray and Evans
Opening Animation by Jeremy Minton
CREATED BY: CHRIS MURRAY
Music by: Vitalic “My Friend Dario.” OK Cowboy, Citizen Records, 2006.
Starring: Tyler Evans, Evan Neumann, Daniel O’Brien, Chris Murray, and Timmy Cassese
Shot by: Fernando Cuestas and Mayur Deshmukh
Edited by: Fernando Cuestas
Written and Directed by Chris Murray
Starring Tyler Evans, Chris Murray, and Evan Neumann
by Jonathan Hludzinski on August 30th, 2009ShareThis
Do you know what a Hedge Fund is? I don’t. And neither do the boys at the Claude S. Dutchy, LLC hedge fund. But, damnit, they’re determined to make it rich enough to race Lamborghinis, orbit earth in space, swim with their pet mako sharks and have orgies! Or so, Claude says in episode two of this uneven, yet satisfying web series, Hedge Fund.
Creator, writer and director Chris Murray conceived the idea a couple of years ago, ‘while the economy was strong and money was flowing’ about four slackers without a clue who decide for no good reason to start a hedge fund. The boys operate out of their one bedroom apartment in Manhattan concocting angles to success that include uber-skinny jeans, croissandwiches and one bogus ten million dollar promissory note.
The brains behind the operation, Claude Thornbush, played by Tyler Evans, gets the bright idea in the premise pilot after overhearing a couple of real hedge funders discussing space trips, orgies and Lamborghini’s in the bathroom at the restaurant where he waits tables. Evans, it should be noted is the bread, butter and the glue of this show. Without trying to be hyperbolic, I’ll liken him to Will Ferrell both in his portrayal of a character with unfounded, yet unbounded confidence, and his comedic delivery. This guy is hilarious and one of the main reasons to watch the show.
Murray’s writing is one of the other reasons. The asscrack revealing skinny jeans in episode five that are so tight you can sit without needing a chair is a thing of genius. Great sight gag, and a true comment on our culture’s youthism. There are a lot of priceless pieces of writing throughout. One of my faves is when Frenchy, Phillipe Rochambeau, played nicely by Evan Neumann, tells Claude that , “In France I was a homosexual, but here, no more, “ in ep 7, after lifting Claude out of despair with a poem. Every ep has its gems and they are pretty easy to come by.
Skip Murphy, played by Timmy Cassese, is a somewhat dull character, however, which I won’t fault Cassese for, it just seems like there isn’t a whole lot for him to do. Chris Murray plays Dutch Alison and has a few funny beats throughout and a little more to do, but frankly everyone seems to stand in the shadow of Evans’s Claude Thornbush. And that’s okay, because that character is so big, he kind of needs this mild ornamentation to play against.
The two best eps in the so far seven ep series are four and five. Claude’s fake meeting on a park bench with the no-show investor Larry Zatharian had me rolling in ep four. And five is the one with the Jackass and Johnson skinny jeans. This ep also has a couple of standout cameos from Jay Della Valle playing a ‘Bad Boy’ who represents to the boys what skinny jeans can do for a man’s sex life; and Violet Krumbein as ‘Fashion Girl’, the bi-sexual disaffected store clerk kept me smiling throughout.
As for the technical side of things, the production quality is okay, not great, but not distracting. The sound could use a little evening out sometimes, which can be a bit annoying. But overall there’s a heart to the whole enterprise, from the site itself, which is clean, simple and easy to navigate, to the charm of the characters, their camaraderie and subtly wacky stories.
The rollout of these very watchable five to seven minute eps is a little odd as far as I can tell. Starting with a couple in March, two in April, one in May, one in June and the last one in August, it’s all pretty uneven. A little regularity might help build a consistent fan base.
It’s definitely worth checking out. There is something to watch here for sure with some sharp writing and very funny performances, hopefully with time they can iron out the glitches and turn it into what it promises to be, a great, not just good, web series.
click here for more: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7,
Claude takes the fund down to Wall Street in hopes of sneaking onto the floor of the NYSE.
Starring Patrick Arnheim, Chris Murray, Tyler Evans, Timmy Cassese, and Evan Neumann
Music by New Numbers. thesenewnumbers.com
July 16th, 2009 | Written by: Heather J. Taylor 
Writer/creator Chris Murray is gaining some market share in the web series world by offering folks a clever approach to comedy, in Hedge Fund. Produced by the eponymous Hedge Fund Productions, the show introduces a new, blundering “boys club” whose members aspire to be Masters of the Universe under the banner of Claude S. Dutchy, LLC.
Most people don’t understand what a hedge fund is (including, sometimes, the SEC) and all the intricacies involved with this type of investment structure. Don’t worry. Neither do these guys. The white-collar crew sits cross-legged in the middle of the Great Recession and don’t rely on any actual managing. Instead, they put a heavy lean on management slogans like BSTPK (Blood, Sweat, Tears and Product Knowledge) and the most important assets an financial guru can have are tight investments of skinny jeans and croissan’wiches.
The show opens with actor Tyler Evans playing wannabe Claude Thornbush (CEO), who has just been fired from his job as a waiter. As he sits in the toilet stall contemplating his next move, “Claude” happens to overhear two hot-rod hedgies gloating about their glamorous lives. The powerful company prexies brag about their upcoming vacays, dueling over which is better: taking a trip to outer space with the Russians or swimming with actual Mako sharks. Claude decides that he deserves to live the dream too and this hedge fund thing just might be his ticket out of poverty.
Back at the one bedroom apartment he shares with two other grown men, he enlists the help of his roomies, Skip Murphy (Timmy Cassese) and Dutch Alison (Chris Murray) to hoist a new hedge fund company called Claude S. Dutchy LLC. The actors hold their own in the series, especially the rich talent of Tyler Evans whose quirky, comedic timing is like money in the bank. Chris Murray carves a clever niche for himself in the series as the “voice of unreasonable reason.”
Keeping his bored partners focused on the prize is never easy, but Claude manages to pump them up constantly. Their fearless leader holds his own, adding the right touch of improvisation into each scene, and managing to motivate his shareholders with packed promises of wealth, chicks and fast cars.
Hedge Fund Productions has taken the bull by the horns, driving the series straight into the bear market offering viewers a witty, no cubicles web show. I’ll definitely be stocking up on this hedge fund opportunity (sorry, only one more finance-related pun left) as those guys roll out another episode slated to appear sometime next week. It is well worth the time and investment (finished!).
Check it out at HedgeFundProductions.com.
Claude gets depressed and the rest of the partners try to figure out what the hell is going on.
Starring: Tyler Evans, Chris Murray, Timmy Cassese, Evan Neumann.
Written and Directed by Chris Murray
Music by State of Emergence. www.myspace.com/stateofemergence
click here for more: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 7, Episode 8.
Go back to summary page.
Starring Tyler Evans, Morgan Baker, Chris Murray, Timmy Cassese, and
Evan Neumann.
Written and Directed by Chris Murray
Music by The Shorebirds www.myspace.com/theshorebirds
Der MEATPACKER District, NYC-
Ich bin stehen in line for the electro-techno-pop club Pressure- auf der Meatpacker District- an uber cool place where the young und pretty faces have come all night the party to make! I have just arrived auf Berlin. I want to see Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp und drool am my silk blouse, but this line is sooo long. Inefficiency. Then I see them, suddenly, I am curious. Three gorgeous men auf fashions of home, hipsters from die Mitte am Berlin. They can’t be New Yorkers, are they? I am full of giggles. I approach, cautiously, I think I see Nicolas Cage, where I immediately almost faint, but he isn’t the movie star who races fast autos in movieland! “Hey, you, Nick Cage,” I scream, “What do you do in New York City?” He makes a turn around. It is not Nicholas Cage, “Listen, lady, the name’s Thornbush. Claude Thornbush. And we’re a Hedge Fund, but people mistaken us for models all the time. You’re not the first.” I giggles again. I am not a lady!
Zie other one, Dutch his name, he turns to me, “Do you like knockwurst?” But of course I do. I feel like having a Bavarian sausage now, mit mustard und sauerkraut! And then I see it, his sausage is inside of the pants! SO GEIL! I turn back quickly, rosey cheeks, and speak to them. Guys, I say, we can make millions of money auf these pants. Men in Berlin will line up along the FreidrichStrasse and buy diese! They will be in the Couture houses, Marc Jacobs will copy, even Hugo, Mr. Boss will want these pants for the Spring! Dann it happens. Skip, the really cute one, klein und beefy like ein Hungarian train conductor (secret crush), he turn to me and say, “They’re already in all those places, lady, we’re getting VIP service inside this hot club. That’s how we do at Claude S. Dutchy, LLC!” I have giggles about this, again. Was ist ein hedge fund?
Ich habe no idea what just happened! Claude S. Who? But for all my readers, I have finally found die cutting hedge fashions in New York CIty, auf Meatpacker. Tomorrow I go to MOMA, and then we eat at Freeman’s Alley where all zie models eat on rabbit shank and drink framboise! But what memory I will keep most? The men of Claude S. Dutchy standing in line of the Pressure Hot Club, of course, the one en diese fashions of der Fatherland! Watch out Berlin! Watch out Hamburg! Watch out Dusseldorf! Amerikan tight pants are coming to the streets! Und Karl, I have found new models for the Spring season!
Renni Hansel Ramstein
OG Deutsch Magazine
HEDGE FUND PRODUCTIONS | 303 East 4th Street, #4b, New York, NY 10009
Office: 646-279-7255 | Email: info@hedgefundproductions.com
