As this year’s annual Vans Warped Tours comes to an end Aug. 25 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., tour founder and producer Kevin Lyman will soon have his hands full with another project: the upcoming teen comedy flick “Endless Bummer.”
Lyman, who also founded the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour, serves as executive producer/co-writer of the movie, which begins filming this week in Southern California and is slated for a June 2008 release. Matthew Lillard (“Scream”) is among the first actors confirmed to appear. Based on the real-life experiences of screenwriter John “J.D.” Drury, the early 1980s-era story follows a group of Ventura, Calif., beach buddies who are in search of a stolen surfboard. “Endless Bummer” is being made on an approximately $2.5 million budget, Lyman tells Billboard.com.
Early ’80s punk music will be featured throughout the film, which is one reason Lyman got involved with the project. “It lends so much to the music history that I grew up with,” says Lyman, who grew up working in the ’80s L.A. punk scene.
As such, the Web sites and MySpace pages for Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos are being used as promotional tools for “Endless Bummer.” A recent posting on warpedtour.com leads visitors to the movie’s Web site, which is holding a contest for a fan walk-on part. “We’re going to bring a lot of the marketing to the table for this,” he says, adding that specific details are still being worked out.
Perhaps the largest marketing tool for “Endless Bummer” will be its soundtrack, which features current songs from such acts as Bad Religion, the Action Design, the Vandals, the Dollyrots and the Robbery U.S.A. (members of Rancid, Street Drum Corps, S.T.U.N. and Bathroom Murders). The soundtrack was still in production at press time, with additional acts and songs to be announced at a later date.
“As it has developed, we started thinking about getting bands from this era to cover punk songs from that time,” says Lyman, who is assisting in recruiting artists for the project. “We’re looking at the soundtrack as more of a marketing tool than actually a soundtrack.
That said, the plan is to have the soundtrack available prior to the movie’s summer 2008 launch date. “A lot of times, movies are made and then they put music to it,” Lyman explains. “We’ve been trying to do it during the process.”
He adds that musician Joan Jett (a featured act on the 2006 Warped Tour) and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris will have small acting roles in “Endless Bummer.” Asked if there will be any live music footage featured in the film, Lyman says, “There’s a couple of backyard scenes.”
So will Lyman take a break from his busy schedule to make a cameo in the film? Not likely. “I should just stick with producing concerts,” he says.
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