Friday
Jul242009
Movie (Mutt) News!
Friday, July 24, 2009 at 05:30PM
Valencia dads Todd Tucker and Harvey Lowry might be the practical special-effects brains behind such grownup cinematic fare as Trailer Park of Terror, Van Helsing and Passion of the Christ. But these days they're hoping to steer their production company toward creating their own family comedies that they can enjoy with their kids.
Tucker and Lowry own Drac Studios (see L.A. Parent, October 2008), a make-up effects, animatronics and specialty costume studio based in Burbank. The studio has an impressive list of films that have used their "practical effects" (non-computer-generated special effects): Watchmen (2009), The Mask (1993), Night at the Museum 2 (2009), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) were all made believable and outrageous with the help of Drac's talents with makeup, latex and fake hair.
This week the Grahams ventured out to Valencia to visit the set of Drac Studios' first original venture (with Green Pictures, helmed by Lowry) that is all their own: Monster Mutt. The screenplay is based on Tucker's idea (he's also directing) – a family dog gets kidnapped by a mega-corporation, which uses the pup as a test subject for a new energy drink. The test goes awry, and Monster Mutt creates comedy and chaos.
The film stars young actor Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, who made her big debut in The Last Mimzy, as well as Billy Unger, who appeared in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Kids will recognize (as Kate did) Brian Stepanek, who plays Arwin the inventor on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
So, why are these two dedicated horror, monster and zombie buffs turning to the family genre for their first movie?
"We want to make movies our kids can watch," Tucker says, but also shooting for keeping it smart and funny so that parents are engaged, too. "But we're being very careful not to cross boundaries," he adds.
"We want it to be like the movies that inspired us," he continues. "E.T., Gremlins ...," he says. "We're going for the same look as those Spielberg movies of the ’80s."
Tucker is the dad of two girls, ages 9 and 14, and Harvey is dad to a girl and a boy, 4 and 7 (so both were really great with Jack's hard-hitting interview questions, such as, "Do your monsters go out at night?").
Kate and Jack really loved the "mad scientist lab" set, and Jack was fascinated by the Monster Mutt costume. I think they'll both be sold when the movie comes out in theaters in 2010. Stay tuned – more updates to come!
Tucker and Lowry own Drac Studios (see L.A. Parent, October 2008), a make-up effects, animatronics and specialty costume studio based in Burbank. The studio has an impressive list of films that have used their "practical effects" (non-computer-generated special effects): Watchmen (2009), The Mask (1993), Night at the Museum 2 (2009), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) were all made believable and outrageous with the help of Drac's talents with makeup, latex and fake hair.
This week the Grahams ventured out to Valencia to visit the set of Drac Studios' first original venture (with Green Pictures, helmed by Lowry) that is all their own: Monster Mutt. The screenplay is based on Tucker's idea (he's also directing) – a family dog gets kidnapped by a mega-corporation, which uses the pup as a test subject for a new energy drink. The test goes awry, and Monster Mutt creates comedy and chaos.
The film stars young actor Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, who made her big debut in The Last Mimzy, as well as Billy Unger, who appeared in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Kids will recognize (as Kate did) Brian Stepanek, who plays Arwin the inventor on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
So, why are these two dedicated horror, monster and zombie buffs turning to the family genre for their first movie?"We want to make movies our kids can watch," Tucker says, but also shooting for keeping it smart and funny so that parents are engaged, too. "But we're being very careful not to cross boundaries," he adds.
"We want it to be like the movies that inspired us," he continues. "E.T., Gremlins ...," he says. "We're going for the same look as those Spielberg movies of the ’80s."
Tucker is the dad of two girls, ages 9 and 14, and Harvey is dad to a girl and a boy, 4 and 7 (so both were really great with Jack's hard-hitting interview questions, such as, "Do your monsters go out at night?").
Kate and Jack really loved the "mad scientist lab" set, and Jack was fascinated by the Monster Mutt costume. I think they'll both be sold when the movie comes out in theaters in 2010. Stay tuned – more updates to come!