Nordgren
—Have you ever seen the movie “Animal House?” You almost have to have heard of it, at least. It’s an American classic.
Now, 35 years after “Animal House” hit theaters, the go-to fraternity website Total Frat Move, or TFM, has set out to make what Colin Hanock, TFM campus representative at MSU, calls “Animal House 2.0.”
The idea is simple. TFM wants to put together a college movie for the new generation. “Animal House” is revered by the vast majority of the people who have seen it, but its successors have been much less successful.
“The last several attempts (to make a new ‘Animal House’) were not up to par because Hollywood was involved,” Hanock said. “This is an opportunity for our generation to have the best college movie possible.”
The trick this time is to bypass Hollywood entirely by raising the money elsewhere. Without Hollywood in the picture, the movie can be a more genuine interpretation of what college is like. The specifics of the movie are being kept quiet, but Hanock, who said he was given the full rundown of the movie, said it’s a great start.
“This movie will be amazing,” he said. “If someone told me (about a project like this one), I’d want to put my money in it.”
Hanock’s role is to drum up as much of the $300,000 TFM needs to get started filming from MSU and the surrounding area. Representatives like Hanock roam college campuses across the country in search of donations from students, local businesses, basically anyone who has a few bucks they can contribute.
All right, let’s think about this for a moment. TFM is pretty well-regarded for their humor and connection to college life. All indications are that they’ve got a solid premise in hand. Moviegoers tend to complain that Hollywood ruins everything, right? And TFM has completely cut Hollywood out of the equation.
So, what’s not to like about this?
The project sounds like fun. The organization is solid. Their only obstacle is finding money, and Hanock is working to fix that.
Donations, in addition to helping ensure the movie will exist, come with perks depending on how large the donation is. A contribution of $25 gets you an audition for the movie, while $500 gets you a guaranteed part as an extra, according to the official donations page. Hanock only gets personal credit toward meeting TFM’s goals if the code “MSU100” is entered along with the donation, but as he pointed out, “anything helps.”
Besides, “Animal House 2.0” sounds pretty freaking awesome.
Caleb Nordgren is a State News reporter. He can be reached at nordgren@msu.edu.
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