Garrett Brawith is the producer/director of the upcoming film “FDR: American Badass!”. It is a hysterical comedy starring Barry Bostwick as FDR, as his battles Nazi werewolves. Sounds crazy right? Well it is! Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Garrett about this film and what we can expect from the Blu-ray/DVD release this Fall.
Mike Gencarelli: What was the craziest experience you had working on “FDR: American Badass!”?
Garrett Brawith: The whole shoot was crazy! But there was a day where Bruce McGill and William Mapother had to play an entire dramatic scene standing over a naked man with a squirrel sticking out of his rectum. We’d all agreed not to look because frankly, dead rodents and back balls in your face can be distracting. They pulled it off like pros, but I hear they’re both in therapy now. Talk about dedicated.
MG: How did you get such an amazing cast lined up for this film like Barry Bostwick, Lin Shaye, Bruce McGill, Ray Wise and Kevin Sorbo?
GB: Our amazing casting directors, Dean Fronk and Don Pemrick helped talk them in to it, but with our movies “Poolboy, Drowning Out The Fury” and “Darnell Dawkins, Mouth Guitar Legend” coming out, they knew what they were getting in to; no-holds-barred insanity. And to their credit, they were all for it. Even actors of their caliber enjoy coming to set and just letting loose.
MG: So we got werewolves, Nazis and over-the-top racism is anything safe in this movie?
GB: No. On purpose. But I did wear a condom the entire time. Does that count?
MG: The film crosses over onto Jim Abraham/David Zucker ground via “Airplane!”, tell us about your decision to take the film that way?
GB: It often feels like everything has been done. “The Airplane” and “Naked Gun” series changed all of that by taking normal comedy and going way too far with it. I wanted to go even further. No apologies, no pulled punches, I’d like to kick the planet in the nuts and make them salute the flag at the same time. God bless America.
MG: How did this experience differ for you than your film “Poolboy”?
GB: “Poolboy, Drowning Out the Fury” was an experiment in mass comedy. We wanted to fill every second with something to make you laugh and honestly, I think we did it. FDR is a classier, stylized version, but without the class. The film looks great but it’s anything goes. We took the same philosophy as “Poolboy” and just went bigger.
MG: Tell us what we can expect from the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release?
GB: We wanted to do something nice for the audience so there’s a special feature, 26 minute music video of me peanut butter wrestling the cast in lifesaver thongs. Because we care. Comes out September 25th, so look for it!
