Interview: Tucker Max

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We kinda got lucky because Hollywood is like High School, a bunch of copycats, so everyone wants to do what the cool kids are doing. A couple studios got a hold of the script and Fox Searchlight made us an offer. A huge offer on the script. And Fox Searchlight is kinda like the hot girl in High School so whatever Fox Searchlight wants to do everyone else copies. Or whatever. Because they wanted to do this movie everyone else wanted to do it - so we had, basically, every independently financed production company in Hollywood wanting to do our movie; so we had our pick. We picked the guys who were going to give us the most freedom. Darko Entertainment, the guys who did Donnie Darko.

SM: What do you think fans of your book and blog will find the most surprising or interesting about the movie?

TM: I dunno. I mean, we have had a wide range of reactions from fans. I don’t think many people expect the movie to be a direct translation of the book, I mean that wouldn't make any sense. But i guess a lot of people who read my book are not necessarily people who read a lot or who are big book and movie buffs. " Well I don’t understand, why do you need a story?" Well you can't do that, a movie is a story medium and you have to have a great story. In film, whether it be special effects or anything, it has to derive from the story and so we kinda created, because we had to, additive to the book. Some people just want to see the book. You know how some people are, "I just want to see the same thing over and over." We didn't create that movie so those people don't like it. The smart people really love the movie because it adds that layer of depth and back-story to the book that isn't there.
 
SM: How accurate is the movie to true life?

TM: Well, it's a movie and not a documentary so it is not supposed to be a direct recount or retelling. It says it is based of true events because it is. Basically, every scene in the movie happened in real life in one way or another but it happened in a different time frame, or at a different time or whatever. But pretty much every single thing happened.
 
SM: How hard was this movie to make? What were some of the challenges of adapting your own work for this movie?

TM: Hahaha, oh man! That could be another book. There are little challenges on multiple levels. Dealing with Hollywood is like doing multivariable calculus. It is difficult on so many different planes and levels. There is the challenge of adapting a book to a screenplay. There are the challenges of just writing a screenplay. There are the challenges of casting a director, a producer, actors, editing, and distribution. I mean I could literally write an entire book on that because there are so many different ways it can be difficult.

SM: Well you did not have any sort of film background prior to this, what would you say your biggest challenge was?

TM: For me, at the end of the day, the biggest challenge was marketing and distribution. That was hard and challenging on a level that i didn't expect. I thought that making a great movie was all that mattered but it's actually one of the last things that matters.

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