DreamWorks' Roadside Attraction
Comedian Harland Williams Storyboards, Stars, Co-Directs Movie
Comedian/children's author Harland Williams will storyboard, star and co-direct Roadside Attraction for DreamWorks Animation.
Canadian-born comedian Harland Williams is planning to star, storyboard and co-direct the CGI animated film Roadside Attraction for DreamWorks Animation.
"I'll be one of the directors, a co-director alongside some seasoned guys that have done this before," he told the Toronto Sun newspaper (via BCDb.com). "It's certainly a debut for me for something of this scale. I've directed my own specials and stuff like that. The budget for this would be $140 million, and I'm up for the challenge."
Williams, whose voice acting resume includes Disney's Meet the Robinsons and Nelvana's Ned the Newt, will "start this week storyboarding the script and putting the pieces together to get the final green light from Mr. Katzenberg. If we have it, it's coming to life."
Prior to making his name in stand-up comedy and his debut in the 1994 live-action flick Dumb and Dumber, Williams dropped out of Sheridan College's acclaimed Media Arts program to spend 5 years as a forest ranger.
"I am doing some rough sketches, but I'm working with one of my best friends from college, a guy named Rej Bourdages who's the head storyboard artist at DreamWorks, and he's doing the final drawings," he said. "I'm just doing some inspirational sketches to help out. It's a very cool reunion."
What's Roadside Attraction About?
According to the 45-year-old comedian, the film's about a gigantic golf ball that falls in love with a massive blueberry.
"It's about all those kind of giant statues you see all along the highway across the country when you go driving -- y'know, giant chickens and cheeseburgers," Williams told the Sun. "I get into a certain mindset when I was doing kids' books and stuff, and whenever I see these giant characters, I'd always imagine what it would be like if they came to life."
Williams also wrote and illustrated the Lickety Split series of children's books, which followed the adventures of the titular brontosaurus.
"So I put a story together and pitched it to DreamWorks, and (DreamWorks animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg) bought it right there in the room after I pitched it," he revealed. "He's a feisty guy and it's really fun working with him."
Harland Williams Spending Two Years Developing Film
If greenlit, Williams will spend the next two years working on Roadside Attraction. There currently is no release date set.
"I actually had to give them that commitment," said Williams, who appeared in feature films like There's Something About Mary and Employee of the Month, as well as TV appearances in My Name is Earl and Gary & Mike. "I said if we get up and running and everything's greenlit, then I would commit to staying off the road. I've been on the road a long time, so it would be a good changing of gears for me.
"I mean, somebody's gotta do it. Might as well be an old Canadian boy from North York (a former suburb of Toronto), right?"
Fun Fact: Harland Williams' brother is director Steven 'Spaz' Williams (The Wild), and his cousin is Barenaked Ladies keyboard player Kevin Hearn.
