IFP and Filmmaker have asked a few of the Independent Film Week participants to write about their experiences over the course of the next week. I’ve been asked to host us through my journey in the EMERGING NARRATIVES section of the Market.

Here is a run-down of who I is, who I be, and who I being doing.

My name is Todd Rohal. I participated in IFP’s first Rough Cuts Lab in 2005 with my film The Guatemalan Handshake. I’ve since participated on IFP and IFW panels over the last few years. Now that The Guatemalan Handshake is complete and widely available at KBToys and Detroit-area CVS stores, I’m marching forward with two brand-new movies-to-be.

The first film, currently titled Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’, is about my experience as a Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts of America. Sophia Lin, who has come on as a producer, was selected to participate with the film at the Sundance Producer’s Lab last month.

The other film, which I co-wrote with Craig Moorhead, (pictured above, right) is (un?)titled The Untitled Buttock Adventure Movie (at least for the time being. Our original title was freaking people out). We wrote this together after birthing an idea that wouldn’t go away. The script, which we wrote to be a comedy brother of The Jerk, Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak, Duck Soup and The Little Rascals, was sent around to some friends who all responded with incredible enthusiasm (Ronnie Bronstein described it as a movie version of MAD magazine). But, being the admittedly depressed and disillusioned people we are, Craig and I set the script aside, unsure of how to talk about it to anyone outside of our group of friends and unsure if we could raise money for a comedy.

Months later, Amy Dotson asked me to submit something for the upcoming Independent Film Week. I obliged and sent in the script. Weeks later, I was questioning the decision. I dreaded running into Amy down the road for fear that she’d have to explain why our script wasn’t the kind of material that was appropriate for a venue like IFP. Of course, it’s been this kind of thinking that’s gotten me to such great heights in my life.

I ended up getting a call from Amy telling us that not only was the script accepted, but that the readers had been cracking up and were all now supporters of our submission...and that there would be a staged reading of a portion of the film. The readers had also discovered the “sweetness” that had somehow managed to find its way into a script with a title that defined itself as a “Buttock Adventure” film. Did I mention our target audience was 12 year olds? What is a Buttock Adventure? What are we doing? In the grand scheme of things, our movie isn’t a strange bet at all…Will Ferrell made over $100 million dollars this summer rubbing his testicles on a drum set…and I paid to see that movie…twice.

Regardless, the IFP selecting the script has given us a huge boost of confidence and we’re now very serious about making this movie happen. That’s all it took…and as far as I’m concerned, even if nothing else comes out of the next week, the IFP has done a significant show of support for us already just by slapping us around and shoving us onto the floor (yes, figuratively and literally).

The Emerging Narratives section of IFP is for U.S. scripts that are coming to the market with no funding in place. Craig and I have set up some goals for the week, and we are being very realistic about what we hope to achieve within the run of the event. We hope to meet some people looking to invest in an independent comedy, which seems (to us) to be a rarity these days. I’m certainly not out of touch about the state of independent distribution these days, having spent 2 years on the road with my film taking it from city to city. Because of what I experienced during that time, I’ve built up an entire distribution plan for this film, which (for good or bad) takes even longer to explain than the film itself. I’m equally as excited about both aspects of the movie…creating it and distributing it.

So, here we are…staring down a week of meetings, screenings and a 10-page live reading from our script that’s been cast by a wonderful person named Amelia Rasche. I’m sweaty, nervous and excited.

I’ll do my best to pass on useful information from my own experiences and hope that it can be of some use to someone, somewhere, somehow…

# posted by Todd Rohal @ 9/13/2008 10:10:00 AM

Comments (4)

 
u going to shoot on film or video this time out?
# posted by  Anonymous @ 9/13/2008 11:19 AM  

 
It's certainly the best butt adventure I've ever read. Hope you guys find a home (body?) for it.
# posted by  Harwell @ 9/13/2008 6:27 PM  

 
We're not cemented on the shooting format just yet...as this movie could be made for very to little to very not little.
The movie stars two 9-year-olds, so shooting film will be a big factor to consider...
# posted by  Todd Rohal @ 9/16/2008 9:18 AM  

 
I like butts.
# posted by  Anonymous @ 9/19/2008 9:20 AM  

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