Not Another McMovie

Two of Lafayette's own return to set the record straight.

Movies like The Waterboy and The Big Easy, which have as much cultural authenticity as a Cajun McChicken sandwich, left a bad taste in the mouths of Max Cusimano and Brandt Broussard. When they shoot Joie de Vivre, their first independent feature film, those cultural inaccuracies won't be on the menu.

Last Friday, the pair of former Lafayette residents opened a two-week window for submissions to audition for the movie, set to begin filming Jan. 9. They hope that their casting call will draw a variety of people capable of accurately representing the Cajun culture and people. According to them, Hollywood has failed at producing a fair portrayal of the area and populace.

"It (the movie) is just trying to capture this environment and the eccentricities of the culture without condescending on it like Waterboy does or some of these films," says director Cusimano. "These directors aren't from the area and know nothing of the area but what they see in a tourist brochure. They come and make fun of the culture, and they don't give it an honest and accurate chance. I really just want to bring an honest and positive portrayal of the culture."

The film's script, written by Maurice native Annie Kananack, closely mirrors the true story of her father, Willie Broussard, the Cajun musician who wrote "Brasse Donc, le Couche-Couche," as he attempts to hold his family together while his children seek opportunities in other states. It also deals with his battle with cancer and a risky surgery. To complicate matters, his pension is not secure and he must scrounge together money for his family in case he doesn't make it out of the operating room. The script, written in 2000, placed in the top 3 percent of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, an international scriptwriting contest that drew more than 5,500 Hollywood hopefuls.

Kananack says locals and outsiders alike will enjoy the movie for its rich characters, which could have been plucked from any Saturday night dance or Good Friday crawfish boil.

"I think the people in the area of southwestern Louisiana will love it because they'll watch it and they will go, 'Oh my goodness that is so right on. That's my father, my uncle.' These people will be very familiar to them," says Kananack. "I think people from other cultures will love it because it's such a fresh, different specific type of people that they are not used to."

Both Cusimano and Producer Broussard grew up in Lafayette aspiring to be filmmakers. In 2000, after a year and a half spent at Louisiana State University, Cusimano moved to California to study the craft at the University of Southern California's film school, which is regarded as one of the top schools in the world. Although he has studied filmmaking in Italy and canned various short films and music videos, this will be his feature film debut. Cusimano says he is ecstatic to make Louisiana a part of his feature maiden voyage.

"I am just really excited about coming home and showing this culture in a positive light and not in a nostalgic or glamorized fashion, but just in a honest fashion, almost an honest fly-on-the-wall-type deal."

Broussard, likewise, always dreamt of becoming a filmmaker - even taking performing art classes at University of Louisiana at Lafayette - but never acted on it until he moved to California three months ago.

Broussard says he was drawn to the script, originally titled Hey, Ch*re, and how it depicted life on this side of Interstate 10.

"It pictured the Cajuns in a positive light in how they truly are, not so much as making a spoof out of them or making fun of them. ... that is what really drew me to the story."

Cusimano and Broussard aren't limiting their community involvement to actors. The team seeks to include another important aspect of Cajun culture.

"We want the story to be driven by music. We are gonna involve a number of Cajun musicians," says Broussard. The team has even spoken with a musician who might just make an appearance in the movie and use music. "We want the music to be an integral part of the movie."