WHAT DO YOU get when you put a few people together who have been friends for a long time, create a film that took over ten years to make, mix in a lot of deception, death threats, stealing, and vandalizing?
You get an incredible story within a story that even those who were part of it, didn't have the foresight to predict the drama that would unravel right before them.
"Misfits Rule!" That's what you will be chanting when you hear the rest of this story!
"In the Land of Merry Misfits," is the title of an independent film which first debuted at New York's Tribeca Film Festival and then recently here in Las Vegas at the CineVegas Film Festival. It is a film created and directed by Keven Undergaro, and produced by Maria Menounos, a correspondent with Access Hollywood. The story of how this film came to fruition is the real story. It is not only a story of perseverance, but also a story of true friendship, commitment, and determination to make a dream come true! The real life version of what happened behind the scenes of creating this film has more dramatic twists and turns than the film itself!
Keven Undergaro worked summers in Boston as a "carnie." As he describes it—he was a glorified sausage vendor traveling to different carnivals. His winters would be spent in Los Angeles trying to make it in Hollywood. He did get a few jobs here and there making all the right connections until he landed a job as head writer for MTV's 'Singled Out.' But he always wanted to make a film based loosely on the crazy adventures he experienced working at the carnivals and the people he encountered along the way. He met Maria Menounos who was a student at Emerson College, and hired her as production assistant. Off they went working on the film. "We had the money to do a low budget film," says Keven, however, the film cost much more. "We had fifty-two actors, costumes, sets. It was an ambitious project to begin with, but we all thought it could be done!" Building all the sets, the props, even the costumes were an arduous task, but Keven Undergaro was determined to finish the project he started out to complete. He realized it would take more money to finish the film—a lot more money than they had! Keven felt that he owed the cast and crew a finished product and he was willing to do whatever it took to put the film on the big screen.
But what began as an Alice in Wonderland fairytale, "In the Land of Merry Misfits" quickly turned into 'The Nightmare on Elm Street'!"We put everything we had into that film, and then sent the negative to Los Angeles for postproduction. Then we got a call that our negative had been stolen," says Keven. "We went into this massive tailspin! We had a lot of people we owned money to. The fastest way to pay people back was to be a carnie again. I worked other jobs—in construction. I was a bartender. We lived in a basement and slept on the floor—it took us about two years to pay off all our debts."
"In the process more things were happening," says Maria. "The person who took our film moved the negative around so much it was damaged. Money was stolen out of our account and it was totally liquidated. Yet we were determined to go through with this," she says. "The theme from the last "Rocky" movie seemed to make more sense to us—"It's not how hard you can hit. It's how hard you get hit and still more forward."
Moving forward is what they did! Maria told Keven that he has been a great manager, mentor and friend. "You've made all my dreams come true. But in your heart of hearts, I know you're still a filmmaker. 'Misfits' is an amazing first film. You need to finish it, and I will help you do it," she said!
They took the high road, instilling a "NO REVENGE POLICY," and continued on their journey. Ironically, as soon as the decision was made, completing the film took a life of its own! "People came out of the woodwork to help us finish the project." The remaining misfits were reunited, Doug Sherin, Randal Malone and Orji Walflauer—all hadn't aged in ten years—recreated scenes! A new female lead was cast. Production designer AJ Lekowki, concept designer of the amusement park ride "Jurassic Park" hopped on board and created a fairy tale setting. Frank Toby Chi, creator of the legendary "Jackie Brown" poster series for Quentin Tarantino, provided a cartoon animation that is prominent throughout the film. The final and perhaps most fitting piece to the puzzle was legendary filmmaker, John Waters. After viewing the rough cut of the film, he commented on how "Misfits" reminded him of the films he used to make. He agreed to lend his talents as the film's Narrator!
"It was a long painful journey," says Keven. "It's not the film I originally wanted to make, but we didn't have any choices. What came out of it is a deep sense of family…some people don't realize it—we are bonded now." The bond of friendship between all those involved will never be broken. Call him crazy. Call him obsessive. Some may even think he's psychotic. But Keven Undergaro proved something to himself and to those around him: "If you believe in something so much, keep trying until you get it done. It will be then, that you reap the rewards."
Who says there are no fairytale endings?
"In the Land of Merry Misfits" TRAILER
Premier of Keven Undergaro and Maria Menounos's Movie "In the Land of Merry Misfits" at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC
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WHAT DO YOU get when you put a few people together who have been friends for a long time, create a film that took over ten years to make, mix in a lot of deception, death threats, stealing, and vandalizing?
Keven Undergaro worked summers in Boston as a "carnie." As he describes it—he was a glorified sausage vendor traveling to different carnivals. His winters would be spent in Los Angeles trying to make it in Hollywood. He did get a few jobs here and there making all the right connections until he landed a job as head writer for MTV's 'Singled Out.' But he always wanted to make a film based loosely on the crazy adventures he experienced working at the carnivals and the people he encountered along the way. He met Maria Menounos who was a student at Emerson College, and hired her as production assistant. Off they went working on the film. "We had the money to do a low budget film," says Keven, however, the film cost much more. "We had fifty-two actors, costumes, sets. It was an ambitious project to begin with, but we all thought it could be done!" Building all the sets, the props, even the costumes were an arduous task, but Keven Undergaro was determined to finish the project he started out to complete. He realized it would take more money to finish the film—a lot more money than they had! Keven felt that he owed the cast and crew a finished product and he was willing to do whatever it took to put the film on the big screen. 
