Thursday, November 13, 2008

HANDS UP! The Fairy Tale Police are coming!

By now, most of you have heard that XBOX LIVE is about to start bringing it's 10 million or so users new original content to watch on their game consoles. As part of that endeavor, XBOX LIVE has teamed up with Safran Digital and one of my favorite filmmakers and friends James Gunn and together they are launching a series of webisodes called "Horror To Comedy". Essentially, they asked a select group of directors who are known in the horror genre, to write and direct original pilot episodes of their own web comedy series. Some of the guys included are James Wan (SAW), Marcus Nispel (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), Lucky McKee (MAY), and of course James Gunn (SLITHER) just to name a few. I was fortunate enough to be asked, and I of course couldn't say "yes" fast enough.

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My pilot is called FAIRY TALE POLICE and it will be available to watch for free on XBOX LIVE starting this Christmas Eve. Don't have an XBOX yet, you say? You don't even know the art of teabagging a noob in Halo, you say? Well- don't fear. After awhile these shorts will be available absolutely everywhere.

So what's FAIRY TALE POLICE all about? It's a COPS inspired reality show where two human police officers maintain peace and order in a land full of comical villains and cartoonish monsters. One night I was driving behind a car with a bumper sticker that said "HUMPTY DUMPTY WAS PUSHED." And while on the outside my first reaction was to start talking to myself and saying "What idiot would put THAT on their new car?" on the inside... my mind instantly went to the place where I wondered how exactly anyone thinks they could PROVE that Humpty Dumpty was pushed. I mean, in the rhyme- do you remember any witnesses listed? A police report? It's not all that clear when all of the king's horses and all of the king's men actually GOT there, only that they couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I arrived at my destination (a LOVE/HATE concert- yes!) and told my partners in crime at ArieScope Pictures what my idea was. We all agreed right then and there that we would just shoot it on our own someday. Kind of like the Halloween shorts that we do every year. But (I shit you not), the very next day James Gunn called me to see if I had any ideas for an XBOX series. "Um... as a matter of fact, I do." So I went over to see him, pitched him my idea- and 48 hours later I was green-lit. That's less than a WEEK from coming up with the idea to being green-lit to shoot. If only the major movies and TV shows could move that fast!

My two main police officers are being played by two of my very good friends, Rachael Leigh Cook and Parry Shen. Rachael and I have come dangerously close to working together on a variety of projects over the past 3 years, so it was awesome that schedules worked out and the timing clicked for this one. Forget the fact that we're friends, I've gone on the record in numerous interviews where I've said she is one of my favorite actresses and that her innocence and grace remind me of a new generation's Audrey Hepburn. The sheer fact that she's willing to come and play with us on such a fun little side project and argue with silly puppets on camera is a testament to just how awesome and down to earth she really is. And Parry Shen, as you all know, was not only one of my stars in HATCHET but the star of this year's Halloween short film "THE TiVO". He's another who I've often raved about over the years. After watching him kick his own ass on the floor while fighting that giant foam TiVO last month, I knew I had to work with him again as soon as possible. Both Parry and Rachael have big hearts and very good senses of humor- so they were the perfect actors for this project.

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Rachael Leigh Cook

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Parry Shen

And I don't want to ruin any surprises, but yes, both of my better halves (my plutonic life partner in film Joel David Moore and my beautiful girlfriend Rileah Vanderbilt) have roles, too.

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Joel David Moore

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Rileah Vanderbilt

But with only a month to wait and see it... you can wait for the details!

Tomorrow night we begin our actual shoot for FAIRY TALE POLICE. Stay tuned for more info about it over the next month. This is gonna be a HELL of a lot of fun!

-Adam