Eric Schaeffer

A pug-nosed New York performer turned independent filmmaker Eric Schaeffer began as an actor-writer-director in Off-Off-Broadway productions and also dabbled as a TV writer for the Fox "reality" series "America's Most Wanted" and the animated "Beverly Hills Teens" (syndicated). It was his work as NYC cab driver, however, that helped inspire "My Life's in Turnaround" (1993), the ultra low-budget, light romantic comedy he co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in with bartender-friend Donal Lardner Ward. Set amidst the NYC independent filmmaking community, the autobiographical story featured Schaeffer as a cabbie and Ward as a bartender, looking for girlfriends and financing for a first-movie, and real-life taxi encounters with Phoebe Cates and Martha Plimpton made their art-imitating-life way into the picture, as did cameos by Casey Siemaszko and John Sayles as sleazy industry types. Praise for its off-kilter humor helped the pair sell a series idea, enabling them to create, produce and star in the short-lived Fox sitcom "Too Something/New York Daze" (1995-96).