A Hoot of a Press Tour

I sit at a large round table with several other journalists. We are a willing audience for Wil Shriner, the brilliant director and writer of the new movie Hoot, produced by Jimmy Buffett. We sit around and talk about old TV shows, standup comedy, movies we’ve seen and movies we’d like to see. We joke we laugh and listen to some of what may end up being Wil Shriner’s next stand-up comedy routine.

Every school has a guy like him, a really smart kid that is a cut-up and still runs circles around the rest of the students mentally. But he’s also very approachable. We are at this meeting to talk about his new movie, but one thing leads to another, and we end up in a share-your-childhood kind of a conversation. We try to cut to the chase and learn a few interesting tidbits about the making of Hoot—things like how well everyone got along. The egos were kept in check. (May have been the heat.) Hoot was filmed in Florida. Wil is from Florida and is making his permanent home their again.

Two impressive things occur to me. Making this movie was like any other business idea. Some friends got together for lunch one day—namely, Jimmy Buffet and Carl Hiassen, the author of Hoot. Over lunch they decided they wanted to make a movie of this book. They thought ,who do we know that could direct it? “Say; I have a friend, Wil Shriner, he’s from Florida too. I’d bet he’d like to do it.� So another lunch was arranged. A chain reaction of seemingly innocuous lunches and dinners ensued and the remaining producers, actors and musicians were assembled. It wasn’t quite like that; the order may be a bit different. But as we heard Shriner tell it, forming the group was as effortless as forming a pickup basketball game.

But that is probably the way it is in his circles. That’s the way it is in mine. The outcomes are different in my circles. But it sounded familiar.

The other impressive thing: Besides Wil Shriner, we speak with talented actress and singer Brie Larson and her costar Cody Linley. They play brother and sister in the film, and are great friends in real life. Everyone involved in the making of this film speaks of the enthusiastic respect they have for the others, regardless of their role in the film. Cody claims he’ll always be involved in film in one way or another. He likes being behind the camera as well as in front of it. He was impressed by the professionalism of the set guys and make-up people, the people we never see. Perhaps it was rehearsed or planned, but Brie said the same things about this production. “Everyone seemed to be having a great time.�

Cody Linley is very candid about his role in the movie. He is happy he got to play this part. He also emphatically does not condone eco-terrorism. I thought the question about it was loaded, but he was ready for it. He said, “The overall theme of the film is protecting species when you can, and preserving the environment if possible.�

There are often options to building or expanding into certain areas that might be less obvious unless you have the attitude of preservation or love of God’s creation. All three hate to see the shrinking wildlands in Florida. It seems to them a foregone conclusion that much of what Florida was is gone. They hope to preserve its memory through Hoot. Who says you can’t have a little fun at the same time? But the environmental message is by no means mean-spirited or militant. Hoot seems to ask: “Any chance you could look before you leap on this project?�

Brie Larsen makes an additional appeal to her fans: She feels strongly, as evidenced in her music, that girls her age need encouragement to be themselves. It’s important to confide in their friends and parents to be all they can. She surprisingly doesn’t like to wear makeup. (Oh, to be sixteen and beautiful.) But she has a good point. She feels that an over-emphasis on personal beauty is hurtful to many of her friends and co-sixteeners.

She also has an interesting answer when she is asked about her career plans. She says she hates filming TV—even though that is where she first met Wil Shriner (Raising Dad, with Bob Saget), but she is no sentimental fool. She works hard but thinks the network sit-com game is not for her. She is in the middle of another movie but wants to be selective about what she does in the future. She wants to pursue her music and make some more films.

All in all, both Cody Linley and Brie Larson exhibit great maturity and high intelligence. I enjoy their company. We later share lunch in a hotel suite and these two sophisticated and talented kids start a pillow fight. Refreshingly, they are still sixteen, and none too stuffy either.