I’m the co-founder of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com and screenwriter of Not Another Teen Movie. I’m joined by my illustrators, who come from Highlights and Mad Magazine. We are the creators of a new humorous search and find puzzle book for (immature) ad...

Upvote this if you want to see a NATM reunion movie.

I am constantly asked to put my two cents in and yet am only offered a penny for my thoughts. How can I stop this hemorrhaging of funds?

Offer people in-thought purchases.

What made you write Not another Teen Movie? I saw it as a kid when it came out but obviously didnt get it, and now it's one of my favorite movies to watch when I'm stoned. And who made the casting calls? Cause whoever's got chris Evan's to play that role deserves an award

Thank you so much. I was in casting with the director producer and casting director. Collectively decisions were made Chris was a no brainer and unanimous. And btw our search and find is perfect for being stoned as well :)))

So we have you to thank for starting the prepetual motion machine that keeps Lacey Chabert doing hallmark movies 4 times a year?

Thank you it is the thing that makes me most proud

Who came up with Jake Wyler's portrait of Jake Wyler looking at his portrait?

Thank you, whoever it was.

That was me as I recall. I came up with all of the prop jokes, a lot on set.

Did you ever complete a puzzle that took forever only to realize the solution was actually really easy?

PS: you co-wrote what is possibly the last great parody movie.

Thank you. I hope the genre returns someday.

I'm working on organizing a ESPN-8 The Ocho type of summer sports. I'm going to record all the "athletes" separately and then video it together so it looks like we're all together (working around that Covid).

One of the silly events I'm thinking about is Hotdog Catching. I think videoing in slow-mo of contestants opening their mouths wide and watching hotdogs splash off their faces will be comic gold. But I'm having trouble coming up with good rules for play, and the internet isn't helping.

You said to ask anything, so... What're some good rules for a Hotdog Catch, and the Catching Athletes?

Thank you for your anything question. Well, I think it has to be a clean grab and can’t bite through it. Immediate disqualify.

Did you come up with the line, I just jerked off in your French Toast?

No that was Ben folds! He wrote the music.

how did you come up with the idea of the naked exchange student? did you have any particular actress in mind when you wrote her?

I assume you’re speaking of NATM and not search and find!:) All of the foreign exchange students in teen movie were always portrayed as horny and so we decided to go all in. Only thing is she would be naked and not be phased by it at all. That was key. No actress in mind.. just knew they had to be brave. Serena was awesome.

were you involved in the casting at all? did you get to meet her and say "she's perfect to be naked"

Yes I was in the room when we cast everyone. We were very respectful of all the actresses who came in for that role. They were very brave!

Are you shocked and appalled that nobody would take a shit on your chest? Would you like to change that?

To this day I’m still shocked. It seems like such a no brainer.

Was Chris Evans as likeable as an unknown as he seems to have become as an adult superstar?

He truly was. Great guy all the way around. He was willing to take ideas for jokes on the spot. Very gracious.

Well, this is awkward :)

If I were to tell you

“Jakey Jakey about to make a big....”

What would your answer be?

Mistakey.

Which of your colleagues would you eat first and why, if stranded on an island without any food whatsoever?

I would eat Rich Powell. He appears to have the most protein.

Since you worked with captain america, doesn't that technically make you part of The Avengers?

Technically it does yes but I never seem to get invited to the events.

Not Another Teen Movie is such a gem! Who had the idea for Scott Weiland to cover that amazing Depeche Mode song for the soundtrack? How involved were you guys in the music selection?

Joel Gallen. Director. He is a musical genius.

Were there any gags you had in mind for NATM that didn't make the final cut because they were too over the top, ludicrous, etc?

As I recall we really wanted to push the limits and the producers let us. So I don’t remember a lot that we cut for going too far. We were given an NC 17 initially.

You said ask anything: What is the weirdest thing you have created?

My children.

I once had a job chewing gum for an artist in Soho. I’d have to chew the sugar out, then put the chewed gum as flat as possible on plexiglass. I probably chewed thousands of pieces of gum that summer. The sugar free gum was the worst.

Amazing.

The Child Birth puzzle I created for this book has to be way up there but I imagine there will be even more weird stuff once we get to do more.

Oh yeah that’s just the tip, Chuck.

Why do to think families take awkward photos or do awkward things like that?

I don’t think they think it’s awkward at the time. That’s what makes it awkward! :) I think they want to take the perfect family photo to show the world how unified their family is. And then reality sets in.

First, just gotta say that NATM is a perfect comedy and beyond the amazing casting, it's only perfect because it's perfectly written. I watch it about once a year and it still feels as fresh as the first time.

In regards to the acting vs writing making the movie great, I gotta know...how much improv, if any, is in this movie?

Quite a bit. All of the actors were open to it and it was encouraged. All of it was very scripted but we gave them room to experiment.

And thank you!

How big was that banana in Chris Evans' ass? Did anyone eat it?

Fairly big. It was rubber if I remember correctly. I only nibbled on it.

Oh, I’ve got some questions!!

1. What’s your favorite holiday song?

2. Who’s on your Mt. Rushmore of bands?

3. Are you fans of The Real Housewives, why or why not? And, if so, what’s your fave city?

1: Monster Mash 2: I only have a Statue of Liberty of Bands. 3: the faker the housewife, the better. Mary Tyler Moore in The Dick Van Dyke show

Dayenu. King Harvest. Nope but I love Kansas City.

So...

Best weekday dinner for a couple with too little time available in the kitchen? No diatery restraints.

Chicken tikka and kimchi.

My question has two parts: How old is the oldest tramp stamp by now? Has it aged well?

They never age well.

Has a submitter ever asked to remove an awkward photo after being posted because the family feelings about it being public made it awkward?

Yes occasionally. Usually someone in the same family. Like a brother and sister who disagree with how “funny” a pic is.

For me definitely in Highlights magazine at the Dentists office. When my daughter went to kindergarten the teacher would hand out search and finds first thing in the morning. I would look forward to those mornings and doing with her.

Hi Mike. I don't have a good question, I just want to say that NATM is far and away one of the greatest parody films ever made; I sincerely put it up there with the likes of Airplane. I was so disappointed to see it with an audience that missed the Better Off Dead references, but at least we all laughed at "I just jerked off in your French toast."

So since you said we could ask anything, I'd like to know why you only ended up doing that one feature. Bad experience? Just moved onto this (or other) projects?

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I wrote other movies. Bob The Musical is still at Disney with Channing Tatum :) All ended up in development unfortunately. Then in 2009 I started Awkward Family Photos and it changed my life. All of a sudden I was the master of my own destiny and I could pursue odd projects like this search and find. There was a freedom about it that I loved and never looked back.

How does your process for screen writing work? Do you go with a basic outline then flesh it out? Or does the story come to you and it's work through it chronologically? Or something else?

For parody or satire it’s really about building a structure that is classic to that genre and then layering with jokes. Not unlike parodying search and find to be honest. You identify the tropes and then twist them.

NATM is amazing and one of my all time favourite parody movies. What made you write it? Are you a Mel brooks fan? Also- what’s your favourite parody movie?

Thanks! Airplane inspired me to want to make a parody movie. My first script I ever sold was called Gigantic a parody of titanic about a ship that was 2.5 inches smaller so it never got press.

How was it working with Marilyn manson on not another teen movie?

Never got to meet him. He just covered songs for the soundtrack.

What is wrong with you?

So so so much.

Did you ever try to get Pierce Brosnan into NATM in any way? He's so fucking handsome and it would've been great to see him doing something wildly inappropriate at John Hughes High.

Also, i wanted to say i positively loved Highlights as a kid. There were so many cool things in the magazine and it really helped sharpen my curiosity and thirst for knowledge!

Ha. No he was too big at the time. but that’s why I had to use him as a hidden object now. He learned his lesson.

Is Paul Gleason as cool as I’ve always envisioned him being? His line “Cry me a river dickface” is in my top 5 favorite all time movie quotes

Beyond cool. A legend. And intimidating as you would expect.

So much creativity in one humorous snarky package...what makes you lol?

A lot. Steve Martins Born To Stand Up most recently.

What are the biggest struggles you overcame creating these ventures?

Just making mistakes as you go along. We ve made plenty but we always try follow thru on an idea even if it’s unsuccessful.

In today's overly political correctness climate, where even Cards Against Humanity is having to step back and address some atrocities in their past are there any changes on how you approach humor with certain subjects? Is there anything in your past you worry is going to catch up with you and cause controversy with your current work?

I lead a boring life. Nothing in my past but I do think through all of the jokes and make sure nothing is mean-spirited. We included a pimp hat as a hidden object and my wife told me, “take it out” I took it out.

Big fan Mike, but there’s a serious issue unrelated to you that needs to be addressed.

Around 7,000,000,000 male chicks are culled every year because they do not lay eggs. The chicks are placed into a large high-speed grinder or suffocated. This is what you are financiaIIy supporting when you purchase chicken and eggs.

We are the ones creating them and then putting them in grinders after birth. Don’t forget they are someone’s children.

Why question is, why is this a legal business practice? Thanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_culling

Agree. It’s totally f-Ed.

"Not Another Teen Movie" had quite the cast and some unexpected casting (Mia Kirshner, Chris Evans, Randy Quaid.) Mike Bender, how involved were you in the casting? Did the final casting jibe with what you had pictured in your head when writing the script?

Funny casting story. We saw Amy Adams for the role that went to Mia. She was actually really good as I recall.

I'd cut off my drawing hand to meet Amy Adams.

I’m going to arrange it then.

I was lucky to work with a director (Joel Gallen) who brought me into all of the casting. He is as collaborative as a director comes so I was lucky to have a voice in the process.