Rob Christopher

Author Barry Gifford's gritty autobiographical stories of growing up in 1950s Chicago provide the backdrop for an impressionistic documentary portrait of a vanished time and place.

One evening at an elegant cocktail lounge, a frustrated writer impulsively breaks a self-imposed rule and decides to have a third martini. Moments later, he is joined by a mysterious woman who drifts over from the next booth, looking for a good listener.

This documentary short profiles John Carruthers' Crust Fund Pizza project, which slings alley pizzas for the benefit of the people who make Chicago a better place to live. Benefiting a variety of local nonprofits, since August 2020 Crust Fund Pizza has raised more than $115,000–fueled by word of mouth, social media FOMO, and Chicagoans’ obsession with all things pizza.