Set in the present day in Johnwaynesville, New Mexico, “The Karaoke Brothers” tells the story of brothers Terry and Vic Brandle and their manservant, Caribbean Bill. Vic decides that they will be “the world’s first professional karaoke superstars.” Unfortunately Terry doesn’t want to do it; he wants to play original music. Meanwhile, Laz Jones, a down-on-his-luck talent agent for Music America, the world’s largest music corporation, gets stuck in town while passing through and happens to see an amateur night at the local bar. With nothing to lose, Laz decides to hold a local audition for a new Powerpup Dog Food commercial; of course Powerpup is owned by Music America. Vic sees this as the Brandles’ big chance to get their feet in the door. However, Terry’s fascination with corporate women and the brothers’ crazy neighbor Ted Ruxpin, the town’s resident hack-comedian, threaten to ruin all of Vic’s plans for stardom.
I have always loved films, but it took skateboarding for me to really fall in love with the process of making them. I started making videos as a skateboarder with VHS camcorders. We would film each other skate, edit the footage from one VCR to another and then dupe the tapes and give them out to all of our friends and potential sponsors. After working at a lot of menial jobs, I finally decided that I needed to do what I loved for a living and that was making films. But how?
At the time I was in my mid-twenties and didn’t have the funds for a formal education in filmmaking. I formulated a plan; get into graphic design, and from there, back door my way into the industry. With time, that is exactly what happened. I’m now a freelance multimedia designer, editing films for local production companies, including a recent feature film.
This Karaoke Brothers mess started over two years ago when I opened an unassuming little Christmas present. Of course I knew it was in the CD/DVD family by the shape. Knowing the tastes of this particular gift-giving friend, I was expecting a copy of Elvira Vs. The Frogman of Utero, or something in that genre. However, when I tore into the wrapping paper, I found a gem beyond my comprehension! My trembling hands held a copy of the very first Terry & Vic Album called ‘Tis the Season. Two absurd looking men graced the cover of the CD. They were posed in front of a glowing Christmas tree, wearing grandma-loving sweaters and sporting brutish mustaches. I immediately ran to the ghetto blaster and jammed it in. I disregarded the pleading of my mother-in-law and the rest of my family as I curled into the fetal position and rocked to and fro with tears of laughter and pain. Hours passed and after three full times through the CD it finally hit me, right after my mother-in-law’s strudel; I would throw away the last two screenplays that my writing partner and I had finished. Our first feature film was here in the living room, blaring from a JC Penny boom box and threatening to knock the tin star off the Christmas tree.
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