Producer Brian Robbins helms new projects for Spike TV, the big screen
By Darrah Le Montre

Brian Robbins

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/22/09 — Brooklyn-native Brian Robbins, who has served as producer on seven hit shows, including “Smallville” and “One Tree Hill” recently wrapped filming the comedy-drama “A Thousand Words,” his third reteaming with Eddie Murphy. The Emmy-nominated director-producer and former teen star has several other projects underway; including a new brand of irreverence on Spike TV, and Ashton Kutcher’s forthcoming gig.
Robbins told Hollywood Today, “I love comedy. Norbit was the most fun I’ve ever had making a movie. It was…a broad, big comedy. But truthfully where my heart lies is in a movie like A Thousand Words, which are the toughest movies because they are hard movies to sell.”
Robbins and Murphy are a unique pairing. Their previous endeavors, “Norbit” and “Meet Dave” were both bold comedies, “Norbit” a huge hit with audiences. Those collaborations paved the way for “A Thousand Words,” which Robbins describes to Hollywood Today as, “a curse movie. Eddie plays a guy who is not a very evolved person. He has something in his soul that’s damaged that hasn’t allowed him to be a really whole, present, warm person.”
It is that superficiality which causes a curse to befall Murphy’s character. A Bodhi tree appears unexpectedly in his backyard and every time he says a word, a leaf falls off the tree. When every leaf has descended, he will die – that is unless he can solve the mystery of what is broken within him. .
“It’s a little bit of a thriller in a way,” Robbins says of the film, written by Steve Koren.
“A Thousand Words” is also a transformational exposition for Murphy’s character and for him as an actor.
Brian continues, “You have Eddie Murphy talking really fast and being really flip and really funny for the first 30 minutes and then he has to stop talking and he basically becomes Charlie Chaplin for the rest of the movie.”
Robbins is also plotting another football comedy, Ashton Kutcher-led Paramount feature “Traded.” Though a director hasn’t been secured yet, the deal is close to completion. The story centers on a superstar NFL quarterback and a less-than-cool 12-year-old who magically trade bodies. Robbins will co-produce with long-time partner, Mike Tollins.

Also in the works is “Blue Mountain State,” an irreverent half-hour comedy that was recently picked up by the small-screen male Mecca Spike TV.
“It’s extremely inappropriate,” Robbins says, without a hint of irony.
Shot in Canada, and directed by Robbins, “Blue Mountain State is about a fictional Division 1 college football team,” he synopsizes. “It’s basically pulling back the curtain on what goes on in big-time college football fraternity life. It’s sort of a way to do Animal House through sports.”
The series is written by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, the same pens behind The Sarah Silverman Program. Both are co-executive producers, while Romano will act too.
Aimed at Spike TV’s target male demographic, the show should be right at home. Robbins explains, “It’s from a real guy point of view. A real balls-out comedy. It’s smart-inappropriate, but very inappropriate and the most fun I’ve had in a long time doing anything.”
Developed by Varsity Pictures, “Blue Mountain State” stars Former NFL running back-turned-actor Ed Marinaro as the team’s coach. Darin Brooks (“Days of Our Lives”) plays Alex, a talented quarterback cool to warm the bench while partying with Romano’s character, his best friend Sammy, who dreams of being the school’s mascot.
A producer with the Midas touch, Robbins’ true bliss, however, lies in directing.
“Producing is really fun,” Robbins explains, “because you can bring ideas to life that you’re interested in and help other people get their ideas made and to the screen and tell stories that you want to tell, but not necessarily live. But directing for me is the most rewarding thing because it’s everything from beginning to end… It’s ultra, ultra-rewarding, it’s super-super hard, intense, grueling. But at the end of the day, it’s really fun.
In regard to his goals as a filmmaker, he offers, “I want to do the best work I can do and tell stories that I want to tell and then hope for the best. It’s hard in today’s world. These are big bets. It’s a lot of pressure. You want movies to succeed.”
And for those who wish the make movies while staying true to their art, he says don’t be discouraged.
“In the world that we live in today, unlike any other time, if you want to be a filmmaker, you can make movies… Write a script, make a movie. And if you are really talented, that will be your entrée, hopefully… If you’re a writer-director, write as many screenplays as you want. If you are truly talented, it’s gonna happen for you. But you gotta write. If you really wrote a great script, an agent’s gonna read it and know it’s a great script and that script’s gonna get out there. The ones who are ambitious will rise to the top.”