Independent filmmakers, take heed, for I am here to tell you the story of Troy Duffy – a director whose rise and fall has become almost as renowned as the film that made him famous. In 1996, Duffy completed his first screenplay – The Boondock Saints – and managed to get it into the hands of a producer’s assistant at New Line Cinema. The screenplay was passed around through various studios until 1997, when Miramax won the bidding war for the screenplay and brokered a huge deal for Duffy’s first movie, agreeing to Duffy directing, Duffy’s band (at the time called The Brood – now called The Boondock Saints) doing the soundtrack, and Duffy taking over ownership of the bar where he worked. However, during the pre-production phase of The Boondock Saints, Duffy’s ego began to alienate both his friends and the movie’s producers, who finally cancelled the whole thing (all of this was charted in the documentary Overnight). Duffy finally managed to obtain financing for The Boondock Saints from Franchise Pictures, and after its release the film began to gain a cult following. Duffy directed a follow-up – The Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day – in 2009, but it failed to live up to the success of the original. Troy Duffy turns 42 today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM7XrW_DYkE