Granny and Red each tell the story about a domestic disturbance from their perspective.

While they were finishing Wobots, Montgomery, who associate produced Chillicothe and had worked on a number of features such as The Shawshank Redemption and Air Force One, and was then working at Disney as manager of post-production in the feature animation division, tried to pave the way for them. Easier said then done. “I just couldn’t tell people enough about how talented they were and I tried to open doors all over town, but some people in very high circles didn’t want to hear it. In many ways, the studios where I worked were closed shops. I knew that the brothers would have to find their level on the independent side before anyone would pay attention.”

However, Montgomery had maintained her connections with investors who had put money into Chillicothe. One of those was her longtime friend, Maurice Kanbar, the inventor of Skyy Vodka and the elastic material used to make Spandex. In addition to his other ventures, Kanbar has long been associated with the motion picture industry. In 1971, he invented the concept of the multiplex theater when he opened the Quad Cinemas in New York. His Kanbar Film and Television Institute at NYU works with and supports upcoming filmmakers. So, Montgomery got the Edwards brothers a meeting with Kanbar.

Lesson #4: Go with the Flow
As a screenwriter, I can tell you there’s nothing deadlier than that long silence after you pitch your best idea and the executive asks, “So, what else do you have?” In this case, the other thing that the Edwards brothers had was Wobots. “When he [Kanbar] saw this computer animation [Wobots], we found out, lo and behold, he’s a big animation buff,” Cory recalled. “And he just took off on the idea of an animated feature.” Kanbar told them that he would love to do something that put a hip spin on a traditional story the way Walt Disney used to do. He gave them a month to come up with a concept.

A few nights later, Todd called his brother and asked him what he thought about Little Red Riding Hood told from multiple points of view like Rashomon. This multi-layered storytelling technique where you treat the fairy tale like a crime scene intrigued Cory. “You take each character’s view of the story, and the story gets more and more crazy and different.” So, Cory said, “OK, that’s a story I’m willing to invest two years of my life in. I can get excited about that.” From there, Cory and Todd bounced the story back and forth and developed a clever scenario.

Furry and feathered cops from the animal world investigate a domestic disturbance at Granny’s cottage, involving Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Granny and the Woodsman. The charges are many: breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, intent to eat and wielding an axe without a license. Not to mention, this case might be tied to the elusive “Goody Bandit” who has been stealing the recipes of goody shops everywhere. Investigator Nicky Flippers arrives to hear all four fours sides of the day’s events.

“I’m calling it 3D storytelling because, as one event is happening in one character’s day, we retell the day, and some of the paths will cross later in the movie,” Cory explained. “So, you’ll have something set up in one character’s day that gets paid off later in the movie at that same point in the day from another character’s perspective.”

Kanbar paid off the Edwards brothers, so to speak, when they walked back in his office and pitched him their new idea. He decided to finance the entire production without even asking to see a finished script. How much is that? “Way, way under the radar,” as Cory put it. The official company line is that it’s just under $15 million.

What does Cory think other filmmakers can learn from all this? “For anybody that is looking for financing or wanting to do something like this, it’s kind of like looking at who you know and who they know. It does take several years to find those opportunities.”