Here’s the deal, people, I have a very serious Rooster Teeth addiction so it shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone that I am losing my mind in anticipation for their first full-length feature film Lazer Team.

 

Last year Burnie Burns, Rooster Teeth’s Creative Director, announced plans for the film and in June the Indiegogo campaign went live. It was incredible. There was a 24-hour livestream, something the company has been known to do when trying to raise money for charity events but this time the focus was on them. It was amazing.  In less than 10 hours the original goal of 650k was reached. If you’re unfamiliar with the RT Community let me just tell you, we are a force to be reckoned with. When we want something we will support the goddamn living hell out of it (Ryan’s goddamn modeling pictures were proof of that, am I right?)

 

Lazer Team is toted as a sci-fi comedy about a group of idiots who find a battle suit built by aliens to help the human race protect Earth against the galaxies’ many dangers.  It all sounds very Rooster Teeth. And it was no shock that Achievement Hunter fan-favorites Gavin Free and Michael Jones, also of Rage Quit fame, were starring in the main cast along side Burnie Burns and Colton Dunn, comedy writer and Key and Peele regular.  The writing team consists of Burns, again I know he’s incredible isn’t he, Matt Hullum (RT CEO and directorial force), and Chris Demarais and Josh Flanagan.  While Demarais has been a huge part of RT’s live action department for years Flanagan is fairly new to the company, only getting involved in the last year however that doesn’t make them any less integral.

 

In the last few months as principal photography began backers were given glimpses into the process and behind the scenes clips which were later released publicly.  It gave us insight as to why Gavin was growing a disgusting mustache along with some cool pictures from the night shoots that had been keeping the cast up late tweeting excitedly.  It was amazing but still it didn’t quite feel real.  As someone who absorbs way too much from this company it seemed like any other project they work on.  That is until last weekend when they finally debuted the teaser trailer at the highly anticipated Let’s Play Live (which I talked about at the beginning of the year).

As a backer I got access to the trailer an hour before it went live at LPL and I couldn’t stop screaming. Patrick and I immediately watched it again. And then again. And again and again. It finally looked like a real movie, which of course it was, but if I pretended for a second that I didn’t already know highly personal details about the lives of half the cast then it just looked like a solid trailer for a movie I would still be interested in seeing as opposed to a fan film on YouTube. Makes sense since RT had the money to shoot the movie and then still raised close to 2.5 million in crowdfunding.  Either way it was a good trailer and even after a week I still get excited every time we watch it.

 

While both Colton and Gavin speak briefly in the teaser it’s really Michael Jones that steals the show, which I believe is a genius move. Jones is responsible for most of recent new viewership in the RT community. For those of us who didn’t watch Red vs Blue when it started back in 2003 it’s very likely that you have watched at least one or two Rage Quit videos most likely the Impossible Game series. Jones has a distinctive flair for profanity and spot-on comedic timing so if you’re going to put out a teaser trailer it’s not surprising you would use his lines to reel in skeptical naysayers.

Of course I’m biased, I’m a slave to this company and everything they do. However, I do genuinely believe this will be an enjoyable movie. It has a cast of lovable buffoons, it straddles the line between sci-fi and comedy without leaning too heavily or seriously on either side, and it’s a team story which are always a crowd favorite.  There is still no official release date however they have said that a full-length trailer will be debuted at SXSW on March 16th which is perfect since Austin is home to RT and the company has been frequenting for years.

 

Fangirling aside, this is just another step into the future of what the changing face of mass media looks like. We are now at a time where there is whole generation of kids who grew up with YouTube, who have actively followed the lives of vloggers and amateur content makers for years.  It was just announced that Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart will be starring in the remake of Electra Woman and Dyna-Gal on top of Grace’s new E! talk show. Many other vloggers have become professional correspondents and not to mention the countless number of musicians that have been discovered via covering popular songs. This is both inspiring and a tad terrifying that the old guidelines of how to break into the industry are starting to blur and now the power really is in our hands.  But enough of that whimsical crap, watch the damn teaser already!