April 28, 2009 03:30PM EDT

Q&A:
Midgets Vs. Mascots

After the world premiere of Midgets Vs. Mascots on Saturday night, director Ron Carlson took a picture of the audience with his own camera. He said it was an "after" shot (he had also taken one before the movie started), "to prove that people stayed to the end." It seems a little odd to be proud of this fact, but MVM is no ordinary movie. Its gross-out factor is high, and star Gary Coleman has been ranting about how he's embarrassed for taking part in the flick. But its hilarity and raunch has struck a chord with TFF audiences, and it's currently ranked #3 (!) in the daily Heineken Audience Award standings.

Technically, Midgets is a mockumentary, tracking a contest dreamed up by a (late) little person-turned-mascot-turned-porn-star-mogul (you follow?) Big Red (Rick Howland). In the contest, a team of little people (the Midgets in the title, with Coleman playing his disgruntled self) square off against a team of Mascots, performers who wear costumes—for example, an alligator, a cowboy sheriff, a taco, etc.. They compete in a series of bizarre events, all with the goal of winning Big Red's inheritance. But enough about the plot. What really matters is jaw-dropping absurdity of it all, and the laugh-out-loud vulgarity. This is not a movie for the prudish!

After the screening, Carlson and his cast (minus Coleman, who was, however, on the red carpet before the screening) held a raucous Q&A. Carlson started off by saying that everyone had a great time on the shoot, and that they went into public locations without warning any of the people who were already there. That made for some excellent real-world reactions to the antics. "There was no way we could have scripted those moments." (Luckily, they were able to get releases afterwards from the people they wanted in the movie.) And, referring to his cast, Carlson said, "These guys rocked! [Wild applause from the audience.] I put them through a lot of stuff, and they mostly did everything they were asked."



Clearly delighted by the audience's reaction, Carlson said, "I'm so glad you guys laughed! There's a lot of truth behind the comedy. [The little people] are real people with real issues, and the film shows that they are fighting to not just be stereotyped as Santa's elves." When an audience member asked about the un-PC-ness of the "midgets" moniker, Terra Jole (who has the scene in the movie most destined for infamy) explained, "We do prefer to be called little people. Actually, I prefer to be called Terra. And [pointing to her castmates], he prefers to be called Joe, and he prefers to be called Nic... The movie wasn't originally called Midgets Vs. Mascots, and even though we don't like the title, we're really proud of this movie."

Carlson also explained that there are many more scenes that didn't make it into the movie. "My first cut was two hours and forty minutes. It was going to be my Scarface of comedy. It just proves you need a good editor. And you'll see a lot of the deleted scenes in the DVD extras." When asked if Coleman is "really that angry," Carlson explained, "I love Gary. He just loves to complain. At one point he threatened to kill the whole cast. But rather than the way he's portrayed in newsclips, we let him be himself every day when he was 'in character' on set. I hope you liked him. He's really, really funny."

After the Q&A, Carlson told me he was really pleased with the way things went. He was surprised to see an older audience than the teens and twenty-somethings he expected. "It makes me hopeful. People really have fun at this movie, and it's really exciting people can see it here at Tribeca!"

Back at the Q&A, one source of contention was how hot it got inside those costumes. When Carlson referenced one scene with, "It was 110 degrees that day," one of the mascots shot back, "That day?? Every day!" And without giving away a plot point, when one of the actors was asked, "That's not really your weiner, right?" he seemed about ready to expose himself to the audience before the moderator said, "We are a family festival." Not tonight, we weren't...
 

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Winner: Heineken Audience Award Third Place.
As a result, this film will screen two additional times on
Sunday, May 3: 4:30 pm and 9:00 pm.
For tickets, click here.