Filmmaker Stuart Blumberg talks ‘Thanks for Sharing’

Writer/director Stuart Blumberg recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new romantic dramedy “Thanks for Sharing.”

In “Thanks for Sharing,” which opens Friday, Sept. 20 exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins and Josh Gad play three men dealing with different stages of sex addiction. As they navigate the rocky shores of recovery, they become a family that encourages, infuriates and applauds each other on the journey toward a new life. Gwyneth Paltrow, Joely Richardson and Alecia Moore also star.

Listen to “Breakthrough Entertainment’s” full interview with Blumberg by clicking HERE. The following is an excerpt from the interview in which the writer/director discusses what he hopes that audiences take away from “Thanks for Sharing” and what he took away from the film himself.

Sex addiction was a topic that had not really been explored when I was first thinking about it. Of course, ‘Shame’ came out a couple of years ago but I came up with the idea during the whole Tiger Woods scandal. I had been researching addictions for many years and I had always thought that 12-step groups were fascinating. When that addiction broke, I thought, ‘This is a fascinating addiction because, unlike drugs or alcohol, healthy people should have sex in their lives.’

So what do you do with you develop an unhealthy relationship with this behavior? That was sort of the germ of the idea – exploring how people take an unhealthy relationship to sex and transform it, hopefully, into a healthy one. It may sound kind of cheesy – some of the best things in life are – but it is sort of the idea that we may all be broken inside but if we are broken together we just might have a chance at putting the pieces back together. We can really only heal together.

I learned that the best stuff happens when you really surrender to a flow that takes place. You really have to put in the work and you really have to surround yourself with great people – which is the same thing like if you are trying to heal from an addiction. I am not trying to compare the two but at a certain point in both things you have to let go; surrender to the work that you have done and to the power that is greater than yourself, which is the team that you have around you.” – Stuart Blumberg

Joseph J. Airdo

Joseph J. Airdo is a film critic, producer and on-air personality for Breakthrough Entertainment, a talk radio show airing 10-11 a.m. Saturdays on KPHX 1480 AM and BreakRadioShow.com that shines a spotlight on the practical perspectives of the topics and themes explored in movies. He has a pet duck named Frozen who is as opinionated about movies as he is. E-mail him at [email protected].

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