INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION (IDA)
In July 2008, Eddie was selected by the Board of Directors of the IDA (International Documentary Association) to serve as the organization's interim Executive Director and Publisher. Previously, Eddie had been on the Board of Directors since January 2006. IDA is a nonprofit that supports and promotes the art of nonfiction film and video, hosting a range of screenings, seminars, awards and programs all year long. The org also publishes a magazine, Documentary, and maintains a hub for All Things Documentary in the digital realm at documentary.org.
After six months at the helm, Eddie segued out of this temporary post, ending on a high note with a very successful IDA Documentary Awards shows hosted by Morgan Spurlock and honoring Werner Herzog. He returned to the Board of Directors, and was elected President for a three year term which began in January 2009. Various writings, news reports and embarrassing photos of Schmidt from the world of IDA can be found on the website and in its magazine.
THIS AMERICAN LIFE
In 2004 (rerun in 2005), Eddie, along with his mom and dad, appeared with Ira Glass to tell the story of his crazy Aunt Mary, a piece of cheese, and her last will and testament. The episode, beloved by many fans of the show, is called "Family Legend".
THE FINGER
It's a perennial holiday favorite: the one-of-a-kind book, “The Finger: A Comprehensive Guide To Flipping Off,” a definitive look at the middle finger gesture, written by Eddie along with MJ Loheed and Matt Patterson (with photographs by Stephanie Hernstadt). Buy it here.
At the height of Fingermania, the authors appeared on more than 30 radio shows, graced the pages of MAXIM and High Times, and propelled the book to #75 on amazon.com. (It was later named “Pick of the Week” by the LA Weekly and nominated for an American Library Association Award).
TV
*In the fall of 2009, Eddie directed reality stars Trista & Ryan Sutter, Alana Stewart and psychic extraordinaire James Van Praagh for the E! hourlong doc/reality special, "Psychic Hollywood: The Search for Truth."
Eddie also served as the show's supervising producer, and braved the wilds of Vail, Colorado and the charred Angeles National Forest, among other situations, all in the very same show. The show opening, and a bootlegged cut of one sequence, can be seen here.
*Eddie recently directed a pilot for a reality/dating show for GSN.
* Mr. Schmidt has frequently found himself 'out in the wild' at E! Entertainment, directing and producing the comedy special "Wildest TV Commercial Moments" in 2008, and returning as supervising producer for 2009's comedy series "Wildest TV Show Moments," featuring across the board wild-osity. To view a sketch from the show uploaded by a fan, you can go here.
*Eddie directed the pilot "Mortified" for HBO & Lionsgate in winter 2008 and a pilot for "The Finger," based on his book, for IFC in 2006.
* During its third season (2001-2002), Eddie was a senior segment producer for the syndicated TV series “Blind Date.” This basically meant that he took a mound of raw footage and from that, wrote and produced the resulting “date” top-to-bottom: thought bubbles, wacky graphics, and all.
IN THE GUTTER
Irreverent film-lover and master documentarian Jeffrey Schwarz (SPINE TINGLER: THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY; WRANGLER) directs this smart and savage look at the birth, rise, and ubiquitous influence of so-called "grossout" humor. Eddie is a featured interviewee, alongside John Waters, Jason Biggs, David Ansen, Chris Gore, Peter Riegert, Stephen Furst, Lin Shaye and Adam Rifkin. Eddie's personal high point is the direct cut from one of his comments to one of Waters'. A cinematic journey is now complete.
Produced for the Starz anthology series "Inside," GUTTER debuted to critical praise in July 2008 and will be released on DVD by Anchor Bay on December 2, 2008. Because there's nothing like copious bodily fluid gags to make the holiday season a little brighter.
SEX AND THE CINEMA
*2009 (and the multitalented Jeffrey Schwarz) brought Eddie back to the Starz/Encore family, to yak about nasty thangs and dirty movies in the hourlong special "Sex And The Cinema," alongside Jennifer Tilly, Paul Verhoeven, Ron Shelton, and Jason Mewes of Kevin Smith fame. SEX premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival in October 2009, and on the Starz channel in November 2009.
In early 2010, it began streaming at Netflix.
HOME VIDEO
* The DVD release of “Born Into Brothels” features the bonus extra of watching Eddie and Kirby Dick lose the Oscar to “Brothels” directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffmann. Delight in watching others' misery – and awards given out to films about others' misery.
* You can hear Eddie on the DVD commentary tracks for “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” ,“Twist of Faith”, and “Chain Camera”.
* DVD releases of Se7en, Boogie Nights, and many other popular films contain bonus features produced and often edited by Eddie and pal/fellow producer MJ Loheed.
Notable are the gag reel of “Love & Basketball,” which Eddie had about 6 hours to create, the deleted scene reel of “Boiler Room,” and the unique picture-in-picture layer for the film “15 Minutes” starring Robert DeNiro. Eddie particularly enjoyed putting together a “lost” bonus scene for “Boogie Nights” with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson himself.
Sadly, Eddie gets no residuals from these, so find them yourself.
* Though he didn't produce Kirby Dick's 1997 landmark film, “Sick” (he was its Post Production Supervisor), Eddie did produce the plethora of new DVD bonus features with MJ Loheed. This treasure trove includes the interview “Dick on Sick,” the short film sequel “Sarah's Sick Too,” and an amazing array of deleted scenes.
* Eddie served as Post Production Supervisor for Tommy O'Haver's acclaimed indie film Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss. If you listen very closely, you can also hear him doing Foley and ADR work, particularly in the wordless scene where Billy meets Gabriel for the first time. Yep, that's Eddie doing the heavy cigarette puffing.
* Eddie also served as Post Production Supervisor for the James Garner/Kathleen Turner TV movie Legalese and produced video playback segments used in the film. Memorably, co-star Gina Gershon really liked Eddie's shoes.
* See Eddie's motion picture debut, in the end credit sequence of the way cool, star- studded indie flick “Floundering”. Eddie is visible at the very end, when the cast and the crew of the film sing “What's So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding.” In a few shots, you will see Eddie (in sunglasses) standing next to John Cusack and a dog.
OTHER BOOKS/MAGAZINES
* For the 2006 “Humor” issue of Documentary Magazine, Eddie wrote two essays satirizing trends in nonfiction filmmaking: "You Too Can Make A Hit Doc!" and "The Five Obstructions-Revisted"
* In 2001, Eddie and his “Finger” cohorts got a high-powered literary agent to rep their intended follow-up book, about famous French cabaret performer “Le Petomane” who could fart musical notes. Their proposed book garnered some of the world's greatest rejection letters from the world's biggest publishers. Out of sheer frustration, the authors published their sample chapter here.
* In the long (and perhaps deservedly) out of print book, “Internet Insider”, Eddie and fellow “Finger” cohort Matt Patterson contributed two humor pieces which had previously appeared in the online zine OOZE. Yes, hark back to the days of 1995 when the interweb was a cute novelty. Schmidt was there first! On AOL, with dial-up.
* For several years, OOZE published like a “regular” magazine. Now, it's a repository for infamous and terrific prank videos and other weird stuff.
But if you're feeling like reading, check out Eddie's pieces, including “Comic Genius Or Budding Retard?”, “It's Porning In America” , “Teen Idols Throughout The Ages”, “Fame Is Just A Name Away”, “Unknown Cultural Exports” , and “Mis Impressiones Internationale” .