Review Fix Exclusive: Inside Mars Roberge’s ‘Scumbag’

Review Fix chats with filmmaker who discusses his latest film, “Scumbag,” which is coming off a highly successful run at this year’s Queens World Film Festival, where it won Best Ensemble Narrative Feature at Queens World Film Festival and was nominated for Best Director Narrative Feature.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Mars Roberge: I lived the movie and wanted to make something real. After 16 years of recovery (after “living the movie”) I was finally able to put all the pieces together and remember what happened, like self-therapy. At that point I realized I had gotten through a totally insane life that must be put on film as nobody could believe it if I told them. Today, I have people think I was trying to “shock” people but the truth was all I did was put my life on film. Didn’t change nothing. Now people in the Netherlands are saying I make “slap-in-the-face, take-it-or-leave-it comedy.” I can live with that, especially since I usually hate what is considered comedy today: shows like Friends, etc. In my world people don’t talk in a phony high-pitch like they are on a stage, punchlines aren’t spelled out for you with a muzak jingle and I don’t restrict my mouth when I speak. I wanted a movie that elevates the audience from mundane morons who laugh at Mighty Mouse or Hello Kitty cartoons to grown up adults who hate their jobs but really see the streets for what they are. I need to make movies that I live because nobody is else is talking about it. And as for my disdain with “fake” theatre, I do have a soft spot for John Osbourne because he spoke from a real point a view. In the end, people either love “Scumbag” or they walk out of the movie theater. It’s that simple. In fact, we had to slap on a disclaimer to our posters which is “Warning: May offend the Mundane. This ain’t Hollywood. This is the streets.”

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself while making?

Roberge: That I can play the role of “father,” listen to everyone’s bickering and try to make decisions based on facts while being responsible to the group’s whole. Before that I just assumed I was an immature 44-year old ex-telemarketing S&M DJ. I also realized I’m a bit of a control freak and sometimes paid for it in lack of sleep. I’ll definitely want to hand over more responsibilities on my next film.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Roberge: How am I going to make this with no money, 220 actors, no insurance, a ton of locations without permits, actors who disappear to rehab, crew members who go to jail, actors who aren’t allowed to film in the same state as the production because of their parole and the death of star cast members who haven’t been shot yet? I guess the real question is how do I make this film and not go to jail?

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Roberge: As a cult classic from a bunch of people in Hollywood who wanted to fuck up the system that wasn’t paying their livelihoods. The film that started it all…

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Roberge: Regarding Queens World Film Festival, it feels proper. Queens World Film Festival was the first festival to nominate my last film, a documentary on Sex & the City Stylist called “The Little House That Could” for an award: Best LGBT Documentary Feature in 2014. After that, it went on to win several awards. Queens World Film Festival hosted Scumbag’s North American Premiere. It was also nice because I lived in Queens, a few blocks from Museum of Moving Image, right before moving to Hollywood. Everything comes full circle.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Roberge: Right now, I’m concentrating on touring the festival circuit with Scumbag until the end of this year. We’ve already played International Film Festival Rotterdam, Queens World Film Festival, Too Drunk to Watch – Punkfilmfest Berlin and we will be playing Philadelphia Independent Film Festival next weekend (April 29th) where it has been nominated for Best Feature Film as well as Best Lead Actor. After that, we play in Toronto at Censured in Canada on May 27th. Both of these events have after-parties where I’ll be djing along with all the local legends. Other than touring with the film, I writing a whole bunch of other films that I plan to make within the next few years. My goal is to eventually cover every genre so that I’m never pigeonholed. Let’s just say I have Scumbag Part 2, as well as an urban drama, a children’s cartoon, a romantic comedy, and a horror film all ready to go. That and I’m in the middle of creating an entertainment iOS app that should hopefully hit the market around this time next year.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Roberge: I don’t like following formulas or base my decision on the masses. I’ve always been a loner. I wish more filmmakers would stop copying other people’s movies and go get their own life experiences so that they could write something that’s original with merit. Hollywood won’t change unless we do.

Scumbag Trailer 2017 from Mars Roberge on Vimeo.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13802 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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