Smells like Space: Are you Ready to Get Awesome with the Indie “Super Zeroes?”

If you find humor in the idea of extremely imperfect super heroes, there is a film that’s right for you.

Super Zeroes is the story of a group of port-a-john technicians whose lives are changed after a space rock grants them super powers. As expected, their journey involves encountering bad guys while someone orchestrates a secret plan.

I’m a strong advocate of Indie films and after watching the Super Zeroes’ trailer, it jumped onto my must-watch list – I enjoy raunchy humor. I also reached out to first-time feature directors Potsy Ponciroli and screenwriter/producer Travis Nicholson (Country Strong, Nashville) to talk about their film.

Nicholson describes the film as a “redneck super hero origin story comedy,” while Ponciroli thinks of it as having a “‘Goonies’ grown-up feel mixed with the comedy of ‘The Hangover’ or ‘Knocked Up.’”

Travis Nicholson, who plays Teet, describes Super Zeroes as a “redneck super hero origin story comedy.”

These individual descriptions of the film further sparked my interest and I had to learn how the idea of making a film like Super Zeros came to fruition.

“Potsy had this idea about some guys who live in the middle of nowhere whose house gets hit by a meteorite,” Nicholson explained. “They’re unlikely super heroes; they get power from this rock but because they’re kind of stupid, they don’t really realize what potential these powers could give them.”

Ponciroli had been directing videos for Average Joe’s Entertainment and had a great working relationship with Shannon Houchins, the head of the Nashville-based record label. It turns out Houchins had been seeking to expand his record label’s brand and get into the movie business. Ponciroli pitched him Super Zeroes and Houchins loved it.

After getting a green light from Houchins, the first call Ponciroli made was to former directing partner Blake McClure to be the film’s director of photography. He called Nicholson next to work on the screenplay, and he admitted to initially remaining cautiously optimistic about the film’s prospects. “We’ve written so many movies and tried to get them off the ground. This was the first time somebody made good with their offer and was able to come through, bring a budget to the table to actually get the film made.”

They worked on the script together and as it happens with many Indies, Ponciroli explains it was a side project that moved forward as they completed other work. “The script took about six months because the whole thing was done after hours and in our spare time except for the actual shooting. All the pre-production and post-production was all done at ten o’clock to two o’clock at night.”

Potsy Ponciroli is an acclaimed country music video director. Super Zeroes is his first feature film.

Nicholson and Ponciroli are versatile media jack-of-all trades, and the contacts gained from their numerous film and video projects came in handy in getting Super Zeroes made, particularly when casting came up. The Nashville-based Ponciroli sought to work with friends so he cast locally for most of the film, except for the main roles. For the leads, they heavily leveraged Nicholson’s Los Angeles contacts and the roles of brothers Ty and Cody went to Reece Thompson (Daydream Nation, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and Blaise Miller (The Scenesters, It’s a Disaster).

“Thompson starred in a movie I produced, ‘Bloodworth,’ the year prior. He’s a really talented actor who is very much up-and-coming and we thought he’ll be a great person to carry the movie,” Nicholson said. “Miller is part of a group of actors/comedians called ‘The Vacationeers.’ He introduced me to the other members. I saw a bunch of videos they’ve made, seen some standup that some of their members had done. They’re really a funny group. We found roles for almost everyone in the group.”

Teet was the most challenging character to cast, and interestingly enough, the role ended up going to screenwriter Nicholson. According to Ponciroli, he was the hardest one to convince because the role had been written for someone who ended up having a scheduling conflict.

Ponciroli says Nicholson is an incredibly, funny actor who is a standout as Teet.

“Travis, Reece and Blaise were all sitting on a couch and I was in this other room; we were trying to figure out who should be Teet. I just kind of looked across, and seeing the three of them on a couch, said ‘alright, that’s it,’” Ponciroli shares. “I snapped a picture, showed it to them and said this is it. They said, alright, let’s do it.”

Nicholson has a slightly different perspective on the situation: “Potsy got in his head that I was going to play Teet. It was a bit daunting for me because I was producing the movie too, so there are a lot of responsibilities beyond acting I had to keep in mind. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to do it until I got on set and then it all just clicked together. It was really fun to write a character that I actually got to play. It ended up being really fun so it was kind of a happy accident.”

Ponciroli points out Nicholson’s characterization of Teet was one of the stand-out performances of the film. “He’s modest about himself but he’s an incredible actor. He’s very funny.”

The casting talk left me wondering about the heroes’ super powers and Nicholson shared the low-down. “Ty is the first one to touch the space rock so he’s the one who absorbs the majority of the powers of the rock. He’s able to run super-fast, has super strength and he can turn water into beer. Teet’s powers are developing, unbeknownst to him and anyone else. He reveals them to everyone else later on.”

Next, Nicholson reveals a major teaser. “At first, Ty is in denial of having powers but Teet really spurs him on to find out what powers he has. There’s a sort of ulterior motive that you find out later as to why Teet is so curious about Ty’s powers.”

Music plays a key role in films but in Super Zeroes, this relationship goes to a whole other level as it’s tied up to a tricky aspect in films: distribution. After evaluating their options and considering Houchins’ music marketing and distribution infrastructure, the team began considering the very creative alternative of doing it themselves.

Ty (Reece Thompson), a port-a-potty technician, is able to turn water into beer after touching a space rock.

“We’re taking this approach hoping the soundtrack will help push the movie and then the movie will catch on and become as popular as the soundtrack,” Nicholson explained.

Ponciroli added, “It’ didn’t change much to what he (Houchins) normally does; we just added a movie to it. We’re curious to see how it works out; it’s a new way to do it.”

The soundtrack will be released jointly with the film on February 19. It boasts a robust collection of artists, including Kottonmouth Kings, Bubba Sparxxx, Nappy Roots, Bonecrusher, Rehab, and The Lacs, among others. One of the singles will only be available through the soundtrack. It’s a John Anderson song called “Swiggin’” that was released years ago; another artist on Average Joe’s label named Colt Ford—a country rapper—remixed the song and had Anderson come back and re-sing it. Another soundtrack highlight includes a cast favorite: a rap song that comes with a particular name. Nicholson explains, “There’s actually a song me, Blaise, and Reece sing; it’s called ‘Shit.’ It’s about being port-a-john technicians.”

According to Ponciroli, the response to the film has been great so far. “It’s crazy the range of people that liked it. We’ve shown it a few times to cast and crew, family, and friends; a screening and a premiere here and there. I had 60-year-old people that came up to me and then 16-year-old and 30-year-old people, which we never expected.”

That is certainly a wide spectrum for a film audience so I had to ask to Nicholson who they would describe as the ideal audience for the movie. “We really made it for people who are as immature as we are, so probably like 13-year-old boys,” he joked without hiding his enthusiasm for the project. “It’s our first time out. We made it with very little money and it was such a wonderful experience. We can’t wait to do it again.”

Based on how refreshingly funny Super Zeroes is, I sincerely hope Ponciroli, Nicholson and Houchins go at it again.

Super Zeroes is available for pre-sale online at Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy and iTunes, and is slated for release on February 19. Those in the Los Angeles area can catch a screening on February 17 as a part of the New Filmmakers LA series with the director and cast in attendance.

For more information and to pre-order Super Zeroes, visit http://www.superzeroesmovie.com/.

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elleL

Soaker of life. I like to experience things and see the world. I consider myself a professional traveler. My love for movies and television goes way back but I'm a sucker for action-oriented films and shows. Oh, and I make excellent martinis! Follow me on twitter @LutzElle.