OUR MAN IN MADRAS is a short film directed by Kevin Hoffer based on a dark, one-act play from German novelist and playwright Gert Hofmann. The play was written in 1965 and first published in 1969. It was written fairly early in Mr. Hofmann's career, and he went on to become a prolific novelist later in life, receiving several literary awards during his lifetime. He died in 1993 at age 62.

German novelist Gert Hofmann

In the play, we meet Jim Seig, a soul-challenged corporate lackey working as a human resources manager for a large, multinational conglomerate. When a massive tragedy hits southern India, Jim realizes that he may be able to use this event as the one thing that will put him over the top in his career.

Producer Paul McKinney came across the play in college and was facscinated by the ethical and political questions that the play tackles. How can someone who considers him or herself to be an otherwise ethical person purposely cause harm to someone else solely under the pursuit of profit? From knowingly selling tainted peanut butter, to big banks knowingly causing finanical markets to collapse, to mine companies who knowingly cover up safety violations, we sometimes see that the people who run big corporations behave unethically in a way that they would never behave in their personal lives. They have a set of ethics for their business life that differs from their personal ethics. The producers tracked down playwright Gert Hofmann's son, Michael, a notable poet himself, and obtained permission to use his father's work as the basis for the film. The producers held a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for production, and the film was shot over three days in Los Angeles. The film later had its world premiere at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.