Andy Dick

Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanielPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com

Notorious for his wild and at times inappropriate sense of humor, Andy Dick has a difficult time going unnoticed. Though he has acted on television and in feature films, Andy does not limit himself to mainstream Hollywood. Just recently he starred in the short film Ad. Corp. Inc. directed by one of Hollywood's big up and coming director's Marshall Cook, which took the Grand Prize at The Cinema Source's First Annual Emerging Filmmakers Screening Series on Thursday, August 11, 2005.

We got a chance to talk to Andy on his cell phone as he helplessly drove around L.A. searching for the restaurant he called for take out. You may not think it typical of Andy Dick to have a soft spot for the short film industry, but contrary to that assumption he is in fact a huge advocate of short films, especially for those where he plays the lead!

For Andy, doing films with his friends is something that he finds most enjoyable. When he signed on to do a short film with his friend Marshall, he knew it was going to be a blast. 'For me it's hanging out with friends, laughing with friends, hopefully there's gonna be a good product at the end of the tunnel.' And in the case of Ad Corp. Inc. there definitely was. Unbeknownst to Andy, Marshall decided to enter this short film into festivals. 'We really did it [the film] for fun and then Marshall started entering it in film festivals and the first festival it's in, it won, which is incredible, and hopefully that's a sign for all the festivals to come.'

There's a good chance that this film will continue to do well. The movie was shown to an audience of 600 at a promotional screening of Four Brothers in the heart of Manhattan. Members of the audience who only expected to see a feature film were pleasantly surprised by the showing of AdCorp. Inc., as the film received an extremely positive response.

The inspiration for the film came to Marshall and Andy on day just like any other while the two were out wandering the streets of L.A. 'We were hanging out, we saw Bed, Bath and Beyond' we started going into a rant and started ripping on what the heck does that mean' 'Bed, Bath and Beyond' and then I think I started doing a monologue'we started improvising because Marshall is also an improviser and an actor, and we said 'lets just make a short film.'' And that was that. Marshall became the director and Andy the lead and executive producer. 'This story here is just a simple story about coming up with a name for a store,' Andy says as if there was nothing to it. 'This film was extremely inexpensive to make.' The final product was an eleven minute short film that dished out side splitting laughs left and right.

A moment's pause in the interview once Andy finds out that his food order was cancelled. Disappointed and famished, he hits the road on his way to another downtown eatery. But lucky for us, this means more talk with Andy, whose reputation and personality as a funnyman on and off screen makes our conversation with him that much more entertaining.

'Everyone wants to make a good movie; every one imagines themselves at some podium accepting an award.' That's the dream, and Marshall's and Andy's film has helped them realize that dream by winning the first short film festival they entered. The best part for Andy, besides the recognition that is, is that he gets to have a ball on the set because he is surrounded with friends and a promising project. 'People have a lot of fun on sets, then they make crappy movies, and this is one of those rare instances where we had fun, we were all laughing, but the product is also super funny and awesome, and who knew''

Winning speaks for itself, and in a short film contest in which hundreds of films are entered, to win, you know you've got to be doing something right. And the laughs extend beyond the film itself. The wrap up of the film consists of outtakes that also pack a comedic punch. Andy laughs as he recalls the number of outtakes shown at the films close. 'And still under 11 minutes with the outtakes, we had so much fun doing it, man, we were laughin' and there were a lot more outtakes than that.' In some cases the outtakes are better than the film itself, but with AdCorp, Inc. the outtakes provide the icing on the cake for the grand prize winning short film.

These days Andy is pretty busy. In fact he just finished a feature film that he and Marshall put together. 'Marshall and I have stayed in business and actually completed a feature.' If you got a good thing, you got to roll with it. And with the success that AdCorp, Inc. is having, its no surprise that the two will continue their business relationship.

As for the film, its festival life is still going strong as it is entered in short film competitions throughout the country. And if you ask Andy what he thinks of the final product of the film, he'll reply proudly, 'I've seen it a thousand times and I still love it. It's a very layered, funny film that Marshall really did an excellent job on. He's a great director and a fantastic producer!'

So, you heard it here first folks, keep your eyes peeled for more great work from Marshall Cook and Andy Dick.