"A Little Stiff" was conceived during an acid trip as a film about reality, about accepting it and about seeing the higher order at work behind it. The premise behind the film was simple: that the problem is not with reality but with perception. Our self-appointed task was to eschew the usual "make-up" that most film-makers think they have to cover their subjects with, and to attain instead the irreducible nitty-gritty of reality instead. We believed (and still believe) that reality is stranger and ultimately more beautiful and compelling than fiction and we deliberately chose a style that would support this contention (even though the film is, essentially, a work of fiction).

We chose a real situation, we got the real people to play their own parts, and we re-enacted a simple story, trusting that reality itself would serve us well. But that time, Erin and Caveh had become pretty good friends and she readily agreed to play herself. Patrick was more difficult to convince but bribes and flattery got him involved as well. Caveh and Greg were already best friends and had made several short films together before. Arnold doubled on sound, Greg shot the film and carried all the equipment, and Caveh worried and tried to keep everybody happy. During the shoot, Arnold had an affair with Erin, Erin decided she actually preferred Caveh, but Caveh had a girlfriend at this point already so that was out of the question except as a spiritual kind of thing.

The film was shot in 10 days for $5,000. Every morning, Greg and Caveh consulted the I Ching to see which scenes to shoot and how. They split the bill and prayed for rain which they got. There was a strange this-is-a-miracle feeling on the set and there were unusually good vibes. Then it all ended precipitously.

The film took a year and a half to edit because Caveh kept changing his mind and him and Greg started fighting. Greg decided he didn't like film-making anymore and decided to quit for a while. He subsequently pursued a degree in transpersonal psychology before returning to film to make "A Sign From God," also featuring Caveh in the lead role.

What else can we say? The mushroom trip is real (it was supposed to be an acid trip but we couldn't find any acid). Caveh miscalculated the dosage however by a decimal point and so took ten times more than he had intended. The result was without a doubt the most interesting experience he's ever had. But he doesn't really recommend it to anyone else. But he does recommend the film (some people hate it but most people like it a lot). We hope you enjoy it.