The Rumperbutts

Plot

Financially struggling, a married indie band duo regretfully takes a job on a children's show, The Rumperbutts. Despite the money and success, they are miserable. However, on one magical evening, a mysterious man appears and gives them a second chance at happiness.

Cast

Production

The Rumperbutts started as a Kickstarter project in 2013. Shooting took place in October 2013.

The Rumperbutts was shot in various locations in Connecticut during the fall of 2013 over the course of 14 days. This film is director Marc Brener's first feature, which he began to write just after the success of his short film Say It Ain't Solo (Best of Fest and Best Direction 2012 LA Comedy Festival).

During production, the Metro North line between New York and Connecticut broke down. Since most of the cast was New York based, this quickly became the production's biggest challenge. One crew member was pulled off all other duties to spend all their time figuring out what trains were running when, and to where, and how to get Vanessa Ray back to the city to shoot an episode of Blue Bloods at 7 AM when she had been on set until midnight.

Sending Kori and Jason down the street in full costume inevitably drew a crowd, which then had to be dispersed by the crew in order to shoot. Especially in downtown Bridgeport where hundreds of people wanted to jump into the scene, all curious as to the colorful furry creatures running around with most asking, "What is a Rumperbutt?" The film quickly realized that question should be part of the promotional campaign, since everyone wanted to know.

In New Haven, at a famous Yale hangout - Toad's, the promised number of extras didn't show up, giving the club a barren look. Everyone in production started frantically making calls, trying to recruit anyone they knew in the area, as the club needed to be packed in order for the scene to work. As if by magic, a group of 60-70 student huggers appeared outside, and the first Assistant Director spent 20 minutes convincing them to come inside and see a free Mates of State show for a couple of hours. He neglected to tell them it would simply be the same song played over and over, but he managed to wrangle them inside for an hour so that the scene could be filled with people.

Soundtrack

The Rumperbutts Soundtrack, written by Marc Brener and Mates of State, was released in May 2015. Mates of State had previously worked with Brener on a short film, and he contacted them to score his film, before ultimately casting them as the stars of the film.

1. "Hope" – Mates of State
2. "I Know I Knew" – Mates of State
3. "Someone Like You" – Mates of State
4. "Rock Bottom" – Mates of State
5. "You Can't Undo" – Mates of State
6. "Chemistry Attack" – Mates of State
7. "Not Sure What We Needed" – Mates of State
8. "I'm Sorry" – Mates of State
9. "Going for Gold" – Music by Mates of State; Performed by Arian Moayed and Vanessa Ray
10. "Rumperbutts Theme Song" – Mates of State
11. "When Mommy Says No" – Mates of State
12. "Hope" (Live @ Toad's Place) – Live Performance by Mates of State, Josh Brener, John Panos and Nancy Matlack

Release

Rumperbutts was released on May 22, 2015.