Guy Shalem emigrated to the US from Israel in 1993 after establishing himself as an award-winning commercial and music video director by the age of 19. He spent eight years as an editor on various independent films, commercials, and TV projects. He got his first break directing on a reality show pilot called Aphrodite Jones Investigates.

Since then, Shalem has found a niche directing semi-scripted comedies such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Reno 911.In the process he became friends, and in fact roommates, with actress Jane Lynch, of Glee. When he found out his close friend was to be honored at Outfest 2010 with a career achievement award, he felt compelled to create something to honor her.

The result is a wildly funny short entitled GaySharkTank.com, a compilation of semi-scripted online video chats.

I recently spoke with Shalem about the film, his career, and his friendship with Lynch.

Can you tell me a little about the genesis of this film?

I’ve had a relationship with Outfest for many years, given my background in comedy. I’ve done a lot of pilots, I’ve put a couple of shows on the air, and I’ve done a lot of edgy comedy. I created the first TV show that Jane [Lynch] starred in, which later on led to her role on Glee, and now she’s one of my best friends. When Outfest told me they were giving her a lifetime achievement award, I decided to do an homage for Jane, kind of a thank you for being such an important part of my life.

You must have worked fairly quickly to pull this together in time for the festival?

We actually shot the entire movie in 2 ½ hours. I remembered seeing something about [roulette-style video chat] being the new big phenomenon online and I thought that would be perfect. All I had to do was get a bunch of actors, give them characters, loose scenarios – a lot of this was improvised – and sit them next to each other in front of a green screen simulating conversations they were having from their own apartment or house. So it was basically playing musical chairs for 2 ½ hours, making sure all of the actors got to meet all of the other actors at some point. We came back with tons of very funny footage.

Did you give the actors storylines, or did they create their own?

I definitely gave them storylines. I had an extensive conversation with every person on the phone about their characters and the fact that I wanted honesty. I wanted truth. Even when you have the black character, played by Jordan Black, who actually loves doing that character, it’s a very stereotypical kind of angry black person, but later in the movie the sadness comes out, the fact that he’s a victim, at least in his head, of white America. The goal was to bring out the honesty, the genuine side of all these characters.

Has Jane seen the film?

She has. What’s interesting is that I showed her a rough cut, and I forgot that you should never, ever show Jane Lynch a rough cut. She did not get what I was going for. But then when she saw the final product she loved it.

So you shot with the green screen and then added backgrounds. Did you add the website, the foreground, last?

Yes. A friend of mine, Paul Manchester, who is an absolute genius, saw a rough cut with the temp web design and thought, We’ve got to upgrade this. So everything on the website, from the design of the shark to the design of the logo, he came up with. The only thing I came up with was the tagline: The Catch of the Day is You. Everything else, even the advertising on the bottom of the screen – Avatar: The Musical – was his idea. He is the one responsible for the look of the site, and my hat is off to him, he was absolutely brilliant.

What did you enjoy most about making the film?

The fun part about it was we met at around noon and everybody got drunk. We had a mimosa brunch. We provided food and liquor, and it was basically an order that everybody drink champagne. So half of the actors in the movie are a little tipsy, which I think is what allowed some of them, Like Coco and Michael Seratto, which is one of my favorite scenes, to interact in such an honest way.

What else are you working on?

We’re actually turning GaySharkTank.com into a real site. Come July 10 you’ll be able to log on and not only meet some of the actors but meet other people. We’re making a deal with the actors where they’ll be there either in character or being themselves. We’re starting a new way of looking at social networks. So GaySharkTank will become a real website.

On the TV front I just sold a pilot that I did with Michael McDonald from Mad TV and Eric McCormack. And then I’m shooting another one in the coming months, with Michael Seratto, who plays the fat guy in GaySharkTank, as the lead.

GaySharkTank.com plays as part of the “Boys Shorts” program, 11 a.m. Sunday June 10 and 9:30 p.m. Monday July 12. For more information and a complete listing of Outfest 2010 films, log on to Outfest.org or call 213-480-7065. Special ticket packages are available.