buzz
ON THE BILL: International Film Series screening of Tom Shadyac’s documentary I Am, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, Muenzinger Auditorium, University of Colorado Boulder campus, 303-492-1531. Admission is free.
SHADYAC’S TRAVELS
Boulder has a new face, CU has a new professor and a filmmaker has a new lease on life by Michael J. Casey
T
he artist’s life is one of constant searching. Theirs is a restless journey, one constantly straining to see over the next horizon — and filmmaker Tom Shadyac’s journey has taken some unexpected turns that have finally brought him to Boulder. The journey began decades ago when Shadyac left his home of Falls Church, Va., to pursue a career in entertainment in Los Angeles. There, Shadyac began writing jokes for Bob Hope at the age of 24, an early start, but by no means an overnight success, and Shadyac wandered the wasteland that is the entertainment business for 11 years until his directorial debut 1994, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, catapulted him to success. Shadyac followed Ace with seven feature films and one TV movie, but an unlikely plot shift placed Shadyac on another path, one that would lead him to make a documentary, write a book and enter the world of higher education. Shadyac made a name for himself as a comedic filmmaker to the very lucrative tune of $2 billion in box office grosses with movies like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), The Nutty Professor (1996), Liar Liar (1997) and Bruce Almighty (2003). Shadyac reaped the financial benefits of those hit films, but as many will attest, you can’t buy happiness, no matter how much you have to spend. In
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Couresy of Lifesoperatingmanual.com
2007, Shadyac sold his 17,000-square-foot mansion, moved into a mobile home park and divested his material wealth in search of a higher truth. But transitions like this don’t happen over night, and they certainly don’t happen simply. That same year, Shadyac was involved Boulder Weekly