Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller

by Michael Streeter

"Tom Schiller is a dangerous, whirling dervish of comedy, whom I both fear and adore. Read this book and you'll see what I mean." - Anjelica HustonTom Schiller was among the first to join the Saturday Night Live team in 1975. Recognized more for his work than his name, Schiller spent a total of eleven years with the show, writing sketches and directing short films. He directed John Belushi at age 90 in Don't Look Back in Anger; Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks lip-synced to Bing Crosby in the musical Love in a Dream; and Bill Murray played a homeless man who thinks he's a brilliant Shakespearean actor in Perchance to Dream. With his memorable short films, Schiller added an element of heart and style to Saturday Night Live.Many took notice of Schiller's unique filmmaking vision, including producer Lorne Michaels and MGM, who signed Schiller to write and direct his first feature film. Nothing Lasts Forever, a clever science fiction comedy with strong aspects of social satire, starred Zach Galligan and Bill Murray. Sadly, with MGM facing financial uncertainty, Schiller's forgotten masterpiece was never released. Nothing Lost Forever takes a thorough look into the films and career of Tom Schiller, through his own eyes and through those who have worked closely with him."Every SNL performer trust Schiller. We were all as in love with his visions as he was." - Dan Foreword by Tom Davis* Extensive new interviews with Tom Schiller, Dan Aykroyd, Peter Aykroyd, Judity Belushi Pisano, Chevy Chase, Zach Galligan, Teri Garr, Victoria Jackson, Lorne Michaels, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Laila Nabulsi, Lauren Tom and many others* Rare, never-before-seen photos - over 100 in total* Various annotated scripts of the short film Don't Look Back in Anger* The original Nothing Lasts Forever programand much, much more!"I hate it when throw around the word 'genius,' so I'll just say that Tom Schiller is an 'asshole.' Any true fan of Saturday Night Live should read this book - it's genius." - Jimmy Fallon

292 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars is stretching it. Obsessively detailed but poorly written examination of the work of Tom Schiller, best known for providing occasional short films on "Saturday Night Live".

[Jeremiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Tom Schiller's work, from the earliest days of SNL to his great "lost" film, and even his latter day SNL pieces. There is something about his tone that has always sucked me in, as well as his ability to get actors with indelible real-life personas, to disappear into roles that are right at home in this tonally unique presentations.

However...

Even though this book is written by someone who clearly loves Tom Schiller as much as I do, it is a book that is in desperate need of copy-editing...a full structural re-creation of its entire contents. To begin with, the Ebook is very poorly formatted. It was very poorly ported over to Kindle and there are numerous title headings and page numbers that show up in the middle of blobs of text that should not be there. There are misspelled words as well.

There are numerous examples of repetition or redundant sections of text. Ideas are presented multiple times as if they are only now being mentioned. These are all things that an editor can fix. Without the redundancies and without the padding, this book could be a pretty sharp presentation of a great artist and his work. As it stands, it's a puffy mess. I know that Streeter loves Tom Schiller as much if not more than I do, but I really wish it had all been conveyed in a more professional and streamlined manner.

[Googz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Streeter's a buddy of mine so perhaps I'm a tad biased, but his book is really an entertaining and interesting read, especially for the fan (casual or otherwise) of the early days of Saturday Night Live, when Tom Schiller was doing some of his best work for the show. The history of the making of one of the greatest lost films of all time, NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, is especially interesting to anyone interested in filmmaking or movies in general. Good job chum!

[Janet]

I haven't read it yet idiot! But Streeter is cool.