RobMakesMovies.com

I’ll start off with a little description of what I am talking about. Tucker Max, a D-List celebrity, entirely of internet and his NY Times Bestseller fame, is in production of a movie based on “The Austin Road Trip Story” in his NY Times Bestseller I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

The casting has been complete and one of the biggest problems they had, aside from casting the character Slingblade, was finding the right person that could embody the narcissistic, womanizing, alcohol-driven arrogance of Tucker Max. This wasn’t another Van Wilder character, although that is what it sounds like and what many critics will probably compare it to, this was a fictionalized younger Tucker at his prime. According to the production blog, link below, they found him a few weeks back.

http://www.ihopetheyservebeerinhell.com

Recently Tucker released pictures of himself during the pre-production process, posting them all on a Flickr account and providing his fans with a link to them all. Although they have not released the names of the cast in the trades(official announcements through industry-specific news sources for those unfamiliar with the Hollywood lingo), but I have some news: I found him. I have found evidence of who is to be Tucker Max in the Indy $7 Million Film.

The guy you see from behind is Tucker. He’s discussing something in the production office with the Director, costume designer, and the other screenwriter/friend. The picture is cropped, but I have the link below.

If you look behind Tucker on the tack board you see a picture with the name “Tucker” on it. You can’t really make out the name that well, but I did some investigation and figured out who that is. I know who is playing Tucker Max in I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. His name is Matt Czuchry, last name pronounced zoo-crie. He has most recently been on the show Gilmore Girls as well as Friday Night Lights. I remember seeing him in part of one episode of something(can’t remember what), and he came off as a jackass on that, so I trust that he can be a jerk on film too.

That’s all I’ve got for now. More when I find it.

IMDB link here:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0194516/

Full size, un-cropped picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudiusmedia/2615846665/sizes/l/in/set-72157605851243289/

UPDATE: Tucker posted the cast, and guess what? I was right!

- Robert

Guillermo promised us an official announcement this week – and now here it is. Late Thursday afternoon it was 100% confirmed – the soon-to-be legendary director Guillermo del Toro is officially attached to direct The Hobbit. Variety confirms the announcement today from executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich, and MGM president Mary Parent. Guillermo will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and WETA in order to produce the new two Hobbit films back-to-back – which will be released in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

This is definitely a glorious day in the world of Middle Earth! Production is now moving forward and all contracts have been signed to finally start work on The Hobbit. Warner Brothers will be distributing the film in the US and MGM will be distributing it internationally. As was announced previously, the first film will be an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s entire book, and the second will be a newly imagined story focusing on the 60-year period between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

The Hobbit is set in a time “between the dawn of Faerie and the Dominion of Men,” and follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins to win his share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. His journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings and into darker, deeper territory, meeting various denizens of the Wilderland along the way. By accepting the disreputable, romantic, fey and adventurous side of his nature and utilizing both his wits and common sense during the quest, Bilbo develops a new level of maturity, competence and wisdom. – Synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia

Now that it’s been officially confirmed, it sounds like Guillermo won’t be doing At the Mountains of Madness for a very long time and won’t be doing Hellboy III at least until he finishes both Hobbit movies in 2011. I’d say this is a very promising future for del Toro and I can’t wait to see his interpretation of the beloved Tolkien universe. Now I’m even more excited for Hellboy II: The Golden Army this summer. What are your thoughts on Guillermo del Toro officially directing The Hobbit? Is he the next best replacement for Peter Jackson?

I’m excited about this. Old news to some, but exciting to any Guillermo or LOTR fans.

– Robert

Papers are signed, money is allocated, dates are set, and I am ready. This has been about two years in the works, with the brief stint of me thinking that engineering was the right path removed. I found Full Sail while still in high school, Vess can attest to that, chose a different path for a stupid reason, and corrected my error by following what my heart told me was right. Some people are never lucky enough to get that feeling and work meaningless jobs through their entire life to pay off their cars and mortgages.

I begin my program on the 7th of July with the standard Registration and Orientation. This will last a few hours and I get to go back home. The next day I get my Film-Specific laptop(about $10,000 worth of hardware and software for $2,620; Thanks Apple!). The 9th of July I begin my classes and my career as a Filmmaker. No, to some of you that I know will ask, I will not be making porn. At this point I would like to set myself up to be a Writer/Director, Editor, or Producer, but I won’t decide for sure for a while. There is a lot of learning that I need to do before I can plan my exact career path. The ‘for sure’ plan is that I will be in the Hollywood Filmmaking arena. I will do Music Videos or Commercial shoots to pay the bills if needed, but I want to be onset for the real Hollywood action.

Let me take a second here to brag/explain this ‘Full Sail’ thing to you. Full Sail is an Entertainment Media college that has an excellent repertoire with the industries of Film, Music, Game Design, and Show Production and Touring. There are other majors, but those are the industries they fit into mainly.

The Film program is ranked in the top 5 in the country next to UCLA and NYU (the best, and for a heavy co$t too). The school runs like the industry, develops its program around the industry standards, and trains the students with the same programs and equipment that will be used after graduation. Classes run ~40 hours a week with both Lectures and Labs and a Bachelor of Science degree is completed in only 21 months. The graduation rate for 2003 to now in the film program… 88%(the national average is about 40%). The school is perfect. I’ve been on a tour of campus twice, and it just felt right. The students are all creative, passionate, goal-oriented people with the same passions to make movies, music, or games the absolute best that they can.

Back to the main topic:

Either I am now, or will be a Film Student. I haven’t quite decided when I want to take that title on. I’ve used it on occasion, but when the girls ask for money as they put their clothes on, it’s hard to explain that I actually am a film student, not a hardened industry professional with a one-liner that gets their clothes off. Just because I film it doesn’t mean I’m willing to jumpstart their career as a cheap slut — Okay, not really. That was a joke. No offense to aspiring cheap sluts/pornstars.

I am a film student, with aspirations to make it big, but the desire to only do the best that I can. I leave the final destination of my career to God or fate(pick one based on your own religious beliefs).

I have about three solid ideas for films I would like to make, with a couple more as skeletons that need to be fleshed. I don’t know if I’ll get to make any of them, but I will try my hardest. Getting a production team and financing will be the hard part, especially being a first-time filmmaker. Who knows, I may have to work in mediocre production crew positions before my name is out there enough. We shall see.

I’m rambling rather than discussing… But hey, you’re still reading it. Up, down. Zig, zag. Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. Purple. Horseshoe. DurkaDurkaDurka.

My apologies, it’s late. Thanks for reading. I’ll write some more of these as my education kicks off.

–Robert