‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Producer Sean Covel to Make Directorial Debut (EXCLUSIVE)
“Napoleon Dynamite” producer Sean Covel is gearing up to shoot his directorial debut next summer.
Titled “Matt Epic,” the road trip wedding comedy penned by Covel is set in the same small town milieu as the 2004 breakout hit that grossed $41 million on a $400,000 budget. “Matt Epic,” which Covel describes as “My Best Friend’s Wedding” meets “The Hangover” meets “Little Miss Sunshine,” will even feature the same iconic van from “Napoleon Dynamite.”
The budget for “Matt Epic” is slightly higher, $4.1 million, with transportation costs taking up 10% of the budget as Covel is bent on shooting in the town he grew up in, Edgemont, S.D. (estimated population: 500) where crew and talent are close to nil.
“I’m going to have to bring in crew from L.A.,” said Covel. “I want to show the place where I grew up; show places that people have never seen.” Casting is underway for the comedy, which needs 300 extras.
Covel was participating as a mentor at the Bahamas International Film Festival’s four-day screenwriters residency program on Harbour Island.
“I thought the people in the Bahamas would be very nice, but I didn’t expect the quality of the scripts and the screenwriters behind them would be so exceptional,” he said. “These are scripts I’d be honored to produce and equally honored to pass on to colleagues who’d make a better fit for any particular project.”
Covel has produced up to nine films since “Napoleon Dynamite,” the latest being “Carter and June,” a $2.5 million bank heist comedy set in New Orleans, now in post-production.
He is currently developing three projects set in the black hills of South Dakota, and has written two children’s books, soon to be published: “Marlin McDoogle’s Magical Night” and “Porter the Hoarder.”
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