Triple Trouble (film)

Triple Trouble is a feature film directed and written by Homer Flynn and The Residents. The film premiered at the 29th Chicago Underground Film Festival on July 29th 2022. It stars Dustin York as Randall Rose, Jr., the estranged son of Randy Rose, lead singer of The Residents. 
The film began production in Autumn 2016 under the title Double Trouble, with some footage shot at that time with collaborator Don Hardy; however delays in funding and the January 2019 death of actress Gerri Lawlor meant that the film could not be completed as originally written. 
The reconfigured Triple Trouble was shot in ten days in October 2020 during the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes footage from the group's abandoned film project Vileness Fats (originally filmed between 1972 and 1976). 
The film features original music (and some "familiar themes") by The Residents with Eric Drew Feldman; a soundtrack album of the same name, featuring seven suites of film music and dialogue, was released by MVD Audio and Cherry Red Records in November 2022."There was ten days of production a year ago this past October, and then it's been in post production ever since. And you know, I am right now finalizing graphics on the soundtrack, that will probably be coming out in June. (It will be called) Triple Trouble, yeah, right. And the film, it's like ninety-eight to ninety-nine percent done, there are a few little tiny post production things still left to do..." - Homer Flynn, Industry Tactics with Friendly Rich, "Ep. 145 - Homer Flynn", February 13th 2022"Fifty Minus Four", The Residents' Cherry Red mailing list newsletter, August 23rd 2022 The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24th 2023. 
== History==
===Background===
Triple Trouble has a fifty-year history, originating in the troubled production of The Residents' unfinished musical feature film, Vileness Fats, which was shot on "industrial grade" open-reel videotape between 1972 and 1976."More Info" at the Triple Trouble official websiteOver the years, The Residents had often considered restoring the hours of film and tape they had shot for Vileness Fats and completing the film. Following one such discussion in the mid-to-late 2000s, The Residents concluded that while they considered the footage "charming", they felt that most of the project's appeal derived from its inherent naivety, which could not be effectively recreated thirty to forty years later.Homer Flynn, "Homer Flynn (Spokesperson for The Residents) on WZRD Chicago 88.3FM" on Mixcloud, August 5th 2021 
However, still liking most of the ideas they had developed for the film, they instead chose to develop a new feature film project, writing a screenplay titled Double Trouble which re-contextualized scenes from Vileness Fats into an entirely new plot. Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation began efforts to raise money for the project shortly after the screenplay was completed. 
===Early production===
Double Trouble was first announced in November 2016 with the release of a video directed by Don Hardy starring the group's lead vocalist Randy Rose, titled "Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare". In this short teaser, Rose appears to his son (the unseen Randall Rose, Jr.) in a dream, and explains the plot of the film. 
A pre-production trailer, containing footage from the film and introducing Dustin York as Junior, Gerri Lawlor as Junior's Mom and Mark "Spoonman" Petrakis as Father Reilly, followed in September 2017. The footage seen in this trailer is excerpted from 25 minutes of footage shot by The Residents with Don Hardy in 2017. 
===COVID-19 pandemic and return to production===
The Cryptic Corporation continued to seek funding for the film throughout 2016 and 2017 and onwards, with no further shooting being completed. During this time, actress Gerri Lawlor passed away on January 29th 2019. The finished film would be dedicated to her memory. 
By early 2020, Cryptic had funded approximately 10 percent of the overall planned budget for the film when the COVID-19 novel coronavirus became a global pandemic in March, necessitating lockdowns and social distancing worldwide. While in lockdown, Homer Flynn and The Residents took the opportunity to rework the Double Trouble screenplay, rewriting large portions of it to take place five years after the events seen in the 25 minutes of footage shot with Don Hardy in 2016. 
The new version of the script was retitled Triple Trouble, in light of the fact that the film represents three distinct periods of The Residents' filmmaking; Vileness Fats from 1972 to 1976, Double Trouble between 2016 and 2017, and Triple Trouble from 2020. With this new script, The Residents shot the rest of the film over a ten day schedule in October with their frequent collaborator, video artist John Sanborn, completing production by December. The new footage is presented in black-and-white, with "intentional splashes of color" appearing throughout, in an attempt to create a modern style of film noir.
===Post-production===
In December 2020 the film's updated title was revealed in the liner notes which accompanied The Residents' live album, In Between Dreams Live In San Francisco. Homer Flynn further announced in a podcast interview on December 15th that The Residents were then in post-production on the film. At that time The Residents expected post-production on Triple Trouble to be finished by Spring 2021.Anomany Podcast Episode 67: The Residents"Homer Flynn Interview 12/17/20", Esoterica the Podcast on Youtube 
The Residents' email newsletter in March 2021 alluded to a second feature film also being "in the can",The Residents mailing list newsletter, March 27th 2021 but Flynn explained in May that there is only one feature film in production, and that he was not sure where the information about a second film had originated.Homer Flynn, Discord Q&A, May 10th 2021
In August 2021 The Residents had been aiming for a September completion date, in order to submit the finished film to the Sundance Film Festival, with further screenings on the festival circuit to follow thereafter. However, post-production on the film continued into 2022, with the film being "ninety-eight to ninety-nine percent done" with only "a few little tiny post-production things still left to do" as of February.
In May 2022 it was announced that both Triple Trouble and its soundtrack were "in the can"."(The Residents Spend Six Minutes) Searching For Satisfaction!", Cherry Red mailing list newsletter, May 21st 2022 The soundtrack album was tentatively announced for release in June. That month, a trading card released as part of The Residents' 50th Anniversary celebrations revealed the film's tag line to be "Priest, Plumber, God... Fungus".
== Release ==
=== Premiere ===
Triple Trouble premiered at the Logan Theater in Chicago, Illinois on July 29th 2022, as part of the 29th Chicago Underground Film Festival. The title of the film was incorrectly entered into the festival's ticketing system; as a result, ticket stubs from the premiere screening read "Triple Double".Dean Beck, post in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, July 30th 2022 
The premiere had been announced earlier in the month, accompanied by the launch of the film's official website and the film's trailer. A "rumour" was reported in the July 22nd issue of Cherry Red Records' Residents mailing list newsletter that The Residents themselves would be in attendance at the premiere, "chaperoned as ever" by the film's director Homer Flynn."Triple Trouble Teaser Titillation", The Residents' Cherry Red mailing list newsletter, July 22nd 2022 
On the day of the premiere, a mannequin dressed as Mr. Green could be seen in the theater lounge;Comment by Dean Beck in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, July 31st 2022Post by Tim Cridland, The Residents unofficial Facebook group, July 29th 2022 a similarly costumed mannequin had previously appeared at the premiere of the 2016 documentary film Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents.
=== Other screenings ===
Between September 12th and 25th 2022, Triple Trouble was streamed online in a virtual screening as part of the Sydney Underground Film Festival in Australia. A technical error on September 12th meant that the film did not become available to stream until around 11:00pm AEST."Hello, thanks for reaching out. After investigating, it appears this title has not fully been uploaded. I am reaching out to the festival and will let them know of the issue. I would suggest checking back later to see if the content becomes available. Thanks for bringing this to our attention." Eventive live chat operator to a Mysterious Antipodean Lady, September 12th 2022 The stream could ostensibly only be accessed by fans within Australia, however a small number of fans overseas were able to find an obscure VPN server which was not blocked by the host service, allowing them to view the film.
The film was screened at the Arizona Underground Film Festival on September 17th.Triple Trouble at the Arizona Underground Film Festival The film's San Francisco premiere took place at the Roxie Theater for the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 15th; this screening followed a live performance by The Residents, previewing their 50th Anniversary tour Faceless Forever, on the 13th.
By November, the film had been added to the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in Australia and the Berlin Art Film Festival in Germany."Free Gifts For Eyeball Observers!", Cherry Red Records Residents mailing list newsletter, November 11th 2022 The film's New York premiere will take place on March 7th 2023 at the Museum of Modern Art; this screening will feature an introduction from actress Isabelle Barbier (who appears in the film as Amy and provides the voice of Cherry).Post on The Residents' official Facebook page, March 6th 2023"MoMA Presents: Triple Trouble" at Museum of Modern Art
=== Home video ===
In the November 11th issue of the Cherry Red Residents newsletter, it was announced that "discussions are ongoing" for a Blu-ray release of Triple Trouble. The film became available for pre-order on Amazon on DVD and Blu-ray shortly thereafter, with the release date announced as March 24th 2023.
==Official synopsis==
Dive deep into the psyche of Randall “Junior” Rose (Dustin York), son of a recently deceased rock star and a former priest who has lost faith in the church. Convinced that a fungus is a threat to humanity, and accompanied by his only friend Cherry, an AI-enhanced drone (voiced by Isabelle Barbier), Junior slowly gathers evidence to support his bizarre theory, spiralling out of control in the process… 
==Cast and characters==
*Dustin York as Randall "Junior" Rose
*Gerri Lawlor as Junior's Mom
*Isabelle Ellingson as Suzi
*Mark Petrakis as Father Reilly
*Randy Rose as himself
*Isabelle Barbier as Amy and the voice of Cherry
*Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr. as newsreader
*James and Matt Heckman as Al and Ollie Gump
=== Archival footage and images from Vileness Fats ===
*Marge Howard as Steve's Mother
*Jay Clem as Saint Steven/Lonesome Jack
*Palmer Eiland as Arf Berry (uncredited)
*George Ewart as Omega Berry
*Sally Lewis as Weescoosa
*Hardy Fox as Uncle Willy
*Margaret Swaton as Peggy Honeydew (uncredited)
*The Mysterious N. Senada as himself (uncredited)
== Production credits ==
* Homer Flynn and The Residents - direction and screenplay
* Starr Sutherland - producer
* Lynda Weinman, Carlotta Fontaine and The Cryptic Corporation - executive producers
*David Lawrence - editor, online editor
*Frazer Bradshaw - director of photography
* The Residents with Eric Drew Feldman - music
* Jim McKee - sound design
* John Sanborn - dream sequence creator
*Sharon Ludtke, Josh Keppel and Matt Heckman - associate producers
*Jason Sinclair Long - script consultant
*Frank Simeone - production supervisor
*Dan Juanemann - gaffer
*Henrik Kam and Meta4matt - drone operators
*Alex Zajicek - first assistant camera, DIT, online editor
*Shawn Doyle - location sound
*Hugo Fat - art direction
*Jerry McDaniel - art assistant
*Danielle Bacanskas - art and production assistant
*Leigh Barbier - props and inspiration
*Jamielyn Duggan - costume, featured (dream sequence unit)
*Andrea Pino and Bethaney Deal - make-up
*Tony Vella - stunt coordinator
*Joby Pritzker and Joe Wittenbrook - locations
*Henrik Kam and Elizabeth Gohr - location photographers
*Jesse Spencer and Rick LeCompte - additional editors
*Frazer Bradshaw - colorist
*Nathan Moody - Cherry animation
*Casey Stockdon - particle animation, fungus wrangler
*Poor Know Graphics - kitchen backgrounds, additional photography (color sequence unit)
*Emma Jackson - apprentice sound designer
*Beth Custer - additional instrumentalist; bass clarinet and clarinet
*Mark Malmberg - baritone saxophone and Moog
*Laurie Amat - vocalist
*Roger Jones - director of photography (dream sequence unit)
*Peter Strietmann and Stephen Buckingham - directors of photography (color sequence unit)
*Don Hardy - additional photography (color sequence unit)
*Paul Marbury and Albert Strietmann - first assistants camera (color sequence unit)
*David DeJong - DIT (color sequence unit)
*Dick Favaro - gaffer (color sequence unit)
*Ernie Kunze - grip (color sequence unit)
*David Norfleet - location sound (color sequence unit)
*Susie Alegria and Michael Goldman - art direction (color sequence unit)
*M. Urban, Elena Nommensen, Rachael Groat and Jen Bail - art assistants (color sequence unit)
*Giada Diano - production assistant (color sequence unit)
*Elisa Polimemi - production assistant, clapper (color sequence unit)
*George Rush - legal services
*Guido Randzio, MVD, Cherry Red, Natasha V, Doug Blush, Daniel Lawrence, NA Craig, Merle Kessler - special thanks
*"Gumpmobile" portrayed by Betsey, thanks to Jerry Gainor
*In memory of the talented and brilliant Gerri Lawlor
*© 2022 Eternal Flame Productions
==Soundtrack==
Triple Trouble features an original score by The Residents with Eric Drew Feldman. 
A soundtrack album of the same name, consisting of "seven collaged suites" composed of extended music cues, dialogue, and some "familiar themes", was released on November 18th 2022 through MVD Audio and Cherry Red Records, with three vinyl variants being distributed by Psychofon Records.
== Cover Art Gallery ==
File:Triple Trouble Cover.jpg|Case art
File:Triple Trouble DVD.jpg|Disc art
== See also ==
*Triple Trouble (soundtrack album)
*Randall Rose, Jr.
*Randy Rose
*Vileness Fats
*Double Trouble
*"Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare"
*"Double Trouble Trailer"
*Eternal Flame Productions
== Buy Or Die! ==
* Triple Trouble DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon
==External links and references==
*Triple Trouble official website
*Triple Trouble premiere at 29th Chicago Underground Film Festival
*"Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare" via YouTube
*Double Trouble trailer via Youtube
*Triple Trouble at IMDb
Category:Film and video
Category:Vileness Fats
Category:Randy, Chuck and Bob
Category:Triple Trouble
Category:COVID-19
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