Friday's paper has an interview with director John Schultz, done by my colleague Craig Lindsey, talking about the Raleigh expatriate's new movie "Aliens in the Attic." But that story doesn't answer one of the big questions for folks around here: Did Connells singer Doug MacMillan score a part in the movie? The answer is yes, sort of.
"We did get him in this one, just barely," Schultz says with a laugh. "It was shot in New Zealand, so there were really no extras -- and you hear Doug as the voice of a radio dispatcher in a sheriff's car for just a second. It's about two syllables, pretty minimal. And it's kind of ridiculous. Thomas Hayden Church, Josh Peck and some other pretty well-known people are the voices of the aliens, but Doug's name somehow wound up on top of theirs in the credits."
So MacMillan's rather Hitchcock-ian streak of appearing in every Schultz movie continues. For more on that, see the story below about his role in Schultz's last big feature; and check here for a piece about Schultz's big-screen debut from way back in 1997.
Also, MacMillan's kids-music group Mommie plays at 6:30 tonight at Seaboard Station in downtown Raleigh. For more on that, check here.
Behind "Honeymooners": Movie director John Schultz lets his Raleigh roots hang out
By David Menconi, News & Observer
June 12, 2005
The first time Raleigh singer Doug MacMillan appeared in a John Schultz movie, his payment was the 1974 Chevrolet Nova used in the film.
The movie was "Bandwagon," the rock 'n' roll road comedy Schultz made in 1994. "Bandwagon," filmed on the cheap in the Triangle, didn't make a fortune, but it earned praise for MacMillan and major credibility for Schultz.
Schultz orbits in higher reaches these days, but he always finds a juicy part for MacMillan. His latest is "The Honeymooners," the high-profile remake of the classic Jackie Gleason-Art Carney series. It stars Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps with MacMillan playing a New York City health inspector.
"He's mentioned all throughout the movie, and he shows up in the climactic scene," Schultz reports, calling from his Los Angeles home. "It's a cameo part, but he does have a line: 'That's no good.'"
MacMillan has been in all the movies directed by Schultz, including "Like Mike" and "Drive Me Crazy." Schultz, who grew up in Raleigh, was the first drummer for the Connells, and MacMillan is the band's lead singer.
"People used to think it was strange when I told them about this guy I need to have in there, but I think they're used to it by now," Schultz said. "There's a precedent -- 'He's been in all my other movies' -- so it's easy. The hard part is scheduling, because Doug also has his whole life to deal with."
"The Honeymooners" stars Cedric "The Entertainer" Kyles as Ralph Kramden, the part made famous by Jackie Gleason in the 1950s-vintage series. It's set in New York and New Jersey, but most of the film was shot on soundstages in Ireland. Tax breaks from the Irish government made it financially advantageous to shoot overseas.
The film's final budget came in at $30 million, about half the average for studio movies nowadays. But that's still the biggest budget Schultz has had for any of his five films. He would be nervous about the opening grosses if he weren't so wiped out from the final push to finish it on a deadline that kept changing.
"It was supposed to come out in July," Schultz says. "Then we had a good preview, and Paramount pushed the date up. So I thought I'd have until the Fourth of July to work on it, but I had to have everything done by the end of May. I've worked so much to get it done on time, I'm just exhausted right now. It will be important how this does, the money it makes. That will say a lot about what I get to do next. I'm reading stuff now, so we'll see what comes up."
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Set in the Triangle
"The Honeymooners" is a long way from "Bandwagon." After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1985, Schultz went to Hollywood at the urging of fellow Raleigh expatriate Peyton Reed (best known for the 2000 cheerleader comedy "Bring It On"). They paid their dues with behind-the-scenes documentaries. Schultz, apprenticing with Steven Spielberg, did "Making Of" videos for "Arachnophobia," "Hook" and the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park."
Meanwhile, Schultz had also written a script about a struggling rock band, inspired by his time with the Connells. He raised $350,000 from investors and filmed "Bandwagon" in the Triangle. It had a theatrical release in 1997 after a successful run on the festival circuit.
"Bandwagon" drew good reviews, especially McMillan's turn as a mystic road manager (he played his part "to distracted, deadpan perfection," the Chicago Sun-Times said). And it was enough of a calling card to get Schultz some bigger movies.
Melissa Joan Hart of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" fame starred in "Drive Me Crazy" in 1999. He also directed rapper Lil' Bow Wow's 2002 basketball comedy, "Like Mike," which grossed $51 million. It was Schultz's biggest hit to date, but a figure that "The Honeymooners" should eclipse.
MacMillan, who spent three days in New York, saw the difference money made in his scene.
"It was pouring rain, but it wasn't supposed to be," he said. With the flood of high-priced lights, the filmmakers worked magic and made the rain vanish.
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Going big-budget
By now, Schultz spends most of his time "working on developing movies that never happen." But he's still balancing the bigger movies with more personal projects such as "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town," a small-budget dark comedy starring Eric Stoltz and child actor Jonathan Lipnicki ("Stuart Little," "Jerry Maguire"). MacMillan played a tow truck driver.
"When you're hired by a studio to shoot something you didn't write, it's definitely a different job and you've got a lot of partners," Schultz says. "The smaller movies are definitely much more fun and fulfilling, because you think of something and take the idea from conception to reality. But the reason movies are like they are is they're so expensive to make, so they have to appeal to a lot of people. It's hard to sell something to hundreds of millions of people."
That said, there's still satisfaction in high-profile movies, which involve working with well-known people. They also pay very, very well. And big pictures make the smaller ones easier to do. After Schultz and composer Richard Gibbs worked together on "Like Mike," Gibbs did the "Zachary Beaver" score for free.
"We had almost no money and finally got the producer to pay for four hours of orchestra time to do the score," Schultz says. "Richard did it because he loved the project -- and because he knew I'd do another big movie sometime that he could get paid for. Same with the editor, the cameraman. Little movies like that, you need to call in a lot of favors to get them done. If people know you'll be coming around later with something that will keep the economy chugging, that certainly helps."
Sure enough, Gibbs also did the score for "The Honeymooners" and will probably turn up in Schultz's next project.
If Schultz has his way, it will be a film about the NASCAR racing circuit's roots in the moonshine wars. But he keeps running up against studio executives who are more interested in "Herbie the Lovebug Goes to NASCAR."
"When I was trying to sell 'Zachary Beaver,' the quote I heard from Universal's marketing department was, 'Where's the McDonald's toy? How can we sell this?' " Schultz recalls. "That's the difference between little movies and big movies. Little movies, you can do what you want and you don't have to worry about McDonald's toys. But you'll never have a wide audience.
"It's fun when your big movie is finished and you see TV commercials for it and all that. Then you want to go back and do another little movie where you have more control -- and you're frustrated afterward when there are no TV commercials."
