Movie
Facts
- Number of chickens used during production: 55*
- Average “set life” for a chicken: 5
hours
- Locations: San Angelo, Texas; Austin area; Tulsa,
Okla.
- High temperature in abandoned West Texas icehouse
in July: 120 degrees
- Number of fire ants in abandoned West Texas icehouse
in July: Approximately 17 billion
- Production time frame: 1989-2004
- Video release date: April 19,2005
- Genre: Comedy/Cult/B-movie
- MPAA Rating: Are you kidding? We’d have
to pay the MPAA more to rate the pluckin’ thing than we
spent for principal photography. See
parental guide.
- Production company: Tattered
Remnants Productions
- Director: Michael Green
- Producers: Michael Green and Boise X. Matthews
- Executive Producer: Judith A. Norwood
- Screenwriters: Michael Green, Boise X. Matthews,
Noel Hurst, Terry McManus
- Original Score: Steve Daniels
- Starring Actors: Terry McManus, Noel Hurst, Boise
X. Matthews, voice of Don Collier
- Distributor: self-distributed through CustomFlix.com
* No live chickens were harmed for the production of this movie.
We bought fryers from a store like everyone else.
Terry got pneumonia because Mr. Director made him go swimming
in November.
Boysenberry O. Payne endured many scratches and bruises from his
battle with Ninja Chicken.
Terry and Noel precariously puppeted from a 2"X12" lying
atop the motel room set, eight feet above a concrete floor. They
didn't fall.
Noel gagged a lot while on chicken carcass recon.
Mr. Director nearly died laughing at Noel.
Judy endured dirt, decaying fish, maggots, rotgut wine, grease
in her hair and hordes of insects at night under a bridge in the
middle of nowhere--for a scene that was cut.
For the same cut scene, Mr. Director positioned himself too close
to an open campfire for his cameo and had to endure two hours
of intense heat that melted his galoshes to his feet.
Everybody suffered from heat exhaustion and fire ant stings in
that damned warehouse.
Nearly everyone lost their appetite for chicken. Mr. Director
ate more.
A number of folks were exposed to raw poultry for hours in high
summer. (Don't try it.)
But nobody got salmonella.
And no live chickens got hurt.
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Cast
& Crew Bios
Michael Green: director, editor, co-producer, etc.
Michael Green cataloged his music collection during the fall
of 1988. He decided if he could complete such a daunting project,
he could make a movie. Thus, Plucked! was born.
Flashing a giant headless chicken signal on the lone, seeded
cloud hanging listlessly over San Angelo, Texas, he summoned a
boredom-fighting team of chili thespians to a small trailer on
the banks of Lake Nasworthy. There, they hatched an ambitious
plan to make a video feature with almost no money.
Principle photography wrapped within the year, but Plucked!
was far from complete. The Emmy-nominated Green worked in television
production over the next 15 years for major-market network affiliates
and TV Guide Channel. Through his day jobs, he continually talked
other highly talented people into working for free as he fulfilled
his dream of making a real movie.
Noel Hurst, Terry McManus, Boise Matthews: actors, co-writers
Aficionados of both drama and gut-incinerating cuisine, Hurst,
McManus and Matthews entered chili contests throughout West Texas
as the “Parts is Parts” team. Soon realizing their
theatrical skills exceeded their culinary abilities, the team
concentrated on showmanship contests at the cook offs, winning
several “chili show” awards. The team later regrouped
and joined with Michael Green to form Tattered Remnants Productions,
a company that produced the Mangled Tales television
show in San Angelo, Texas, before moving on to Plucked!
Hurst and Matthews did free-lance video production work in Tulsa,
Okla. All three continue to support the marketing efforts of Plucked!
Teri McClure: set designer
Leaving behind her successful career as a stage manager and technical
director on Broadway and with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre,
Teri McClure moved back home for a quieter life in West Texas.
There, Michael Green persuaded her to work long, sweaty hours
in an old warehouse building sets for Plucked! McClure
has worked on stage productions with directors such as John Malkovich
and Garry Marshall.
Steve Daniels: composer
The Plucked! score marks Steve Daniels’ most ambitious
– and admittedly most bizarre – musical project. With
an eye for art and an ear for rooster crows, Daniels is an Emmy-winning
graphic designer for KDFW, the FOX affiliate in Dallas. A self-taught
keyboardist, he recorded his own album of techno music before
taking on Plucked!
Also contributing to the score are Oral Roberts University music
school graduates Justin Rice and David John.
Don Collier: the voice of Fred
Don Collier puts his bachelor’s degree in radio, television
and film from the University of Texas to work as a sound engineer
for KEYE-TV in Austin. More importantly, he applies his education
and talents to personal creative labors of love, such as Plucked!
Collier is a founding member and lead singer of Bob, co-creator
and star of Aw, Shaddup! He played Detective Popeil in
The Wiggly Affair and Lois in Empty Pockets 2.
He also is the author of several short stories and the novel Six
Second Jesus.
Chad Miller: assistant director
Chad Miller did four years in Huntsville – luckily for
us at Sam Houston State University instead of the state penitentiary.
He possesses the energy, creativity and persuasive abilities to
do just about anything – from taping summer camp videos
to producing TV commercials for an Austin television station.
For the past several years, Chad has worked all over the hemisphere
as a free-lance videographer and photographer. Always game to
help a Plucked! friend in need, Chad blew up eggs and
set chicken models on fire. His lighting skills and camera work
came in handy, too.
Miles Baker: audio engineer
The proprietor of MilesTone Productions in Owasso, Okla., Miles
Baker spent many hours making Plucked! sound great. Formerly
an audio engineer for TV Guide Channel, Miles also has written
songs and recorded, mixed and edited for musical albums and television
commercials. He even managed to make Sherri Green’s guitar
playing sound good for the Plucked! soundtrack. We’re
not worthy!
Greg and Jeannine Rochon-Burkart: voice actors
This quintessentially creative couple became involved in Plucked!
during the project’s “Tulsa period.” Greg’s
screenplay, Thanatos,
won the Best Feature Screenplay award at Creepfest 2002 in Los
Angeles and was a top-100 finalist in 2004’s Project Greenlight.
His résumé includes experience as a writer and producer
for TV Guide Channel and as a movie reviewer and columnist for
Monsters
at Play.com. Ever the Renaissance man, Greg also applies his
unique creative vision to the visual
arts.
The acting bug bit Jeannine in second grade, when she was cast
in the Milwaukee Florentine Opera Children’s Chorus. Her
voice and theatrical bent serve her well professionally, as she
continues to act whenever and wherever possible. Currently, the
Burkarts are collaborating on a series of shorts: Planet
9 Productions.
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Tattered
Remnants Productions
Tattered Remnants Productions is a creative partnership originally
formed to produce Mangled Tales, a late-night comedy
series that aired in 1988 on KIDY, an independent television station
in San Angelo, Texas, and affiliate of the fledgling Fox Network.
Founding partners Michael Green and Noel Hurst then worked as
the station’s news producer/technical director and master
control chief, respectively. Mangled Tales was born of
the pair’s successful collaboration on Halloween promotions
of horror movies and Fox’s Werewolf series.
Inspired by Elvira and USA Up All Night, Green, Hurst
and partners Terry McManus and Boise X. Matthews wrote and produced
sketch comedy segments that wrapped around the commercial breaks
of syndicated horror movies. Each episode carried a plot line
throughout the film, engaging viewers to stay tuned. Although
Mangled Tales lasted only one season due to lack of financial
support from the station, it became one of KIDY’s highest-rated
programs.
Encouraged by their success, the Tattered Remnants partners set
their sites on bigger things. Expanding on a concept that originated
with the Mangled Tales “Poultrygeist” episode,
the team wrote and completed principal photography on Plucked!
in 1989.
Subsequent years and career moves scattered the Tattered Remnants
partners across the Southwest, but the project never stopped pecking
at director Michael Green. The advent of affordable, professional
quality video editing products allowed Green to finish the movie
in 2004 while working as a senior editor for TV Guide Channel
in Tulsa, Okla. The other Tattered Remnant partners remain active
in promoting Plucked!
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