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Oncinema.com’s Ioncinephile of the Month feature focuses on an emerging filmmaker from the world of cinema. This November, we feature Sean Baker, an independent filmmaker whose fourth film, Starlet premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, then continued onwards to Locarno, BFI London and most recently AFI Film Fest before being released theatrically via Music Box Films on Friday November 9th. Below is our follow-up interview where we learn more about Baker’s process and about the films that have influenced the filmmaker. Here’s Sean Baker’s personal Top Ten films of all time.

Eric Lavallee: During your childhood…what films were important to you?

Sean Baker: When I was in first grade, my mother brought me to the local library where they were screening selected scenes from the Universal monster films on 16mm. I remember watching the burning windmill sequence from James Whale’s...

Filed under: Features, Celebrity Interviews

Way, way back in January, MTV introduced the nation's critics at the TCA press tour to Warren The Ape. But it was a re-introduction to many. Warren -- a failed actor / successful drunk named Warren Demontague who is a fuzzy ape with a soft helmet on his head -- is familiar to fans of the various 'Greg the Bunny' shows, which have appeared on IFC and Fox since the early 2000s.

This time, though, the focus is on Warren and his bumpy life. During the series, we see Warren trying out for roles, getting pulled over by the cops, and going to meetings. Lots of meetings. He's a fabricated American (PC for "puppet") with a lot of vices, and we tag along with him as he tries to work it out, including to his weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Drew Pinsky (yes, the real Dr.

Warren “The Ape” Demontague is a brash, cantankerous, out-of-work actor. Having had a brief taste of success on the former sitcom Greg the Bunny, Warren’s life has been in a downward spiral ever since the show got cancelled. Over the past few years, Warren has paid more attention to drugs, booze and women than his career, which as of late has mostly consisted of a series of seedy exploitation films, obscure industrials, low-rent theatre productions and a regrettable string of skin flicks.

A parody of “the life of a celebrity” reality show, Warren The Ape focuses on the trials and tribulations of the D-grade celebrity puppet who is attempting to clean up his act, patch up his relationships and scramble his way back into the Hollywood limelight with the help of his doctor, Dr. Drew Pinsky, as you can see in thsi clip:

Warren The Ape was created by Sean Baker,...

The first session of cable's second day yesterday was for MTV's new show Warren the Ape. Fans of Greg the Bunny know Warren; he's a "serious actor" who's got more vices than Artie Lange, and a nasty jealous streak for his bunny co-star, who used to get all the breaks.

In this series, Warren(whose last name is Demontague) is the star, as he tries to get himself on a reality show. That includes going through all sorts of rehab and recovery hoops, including weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Drew Pinsky.

The session put the many of the usually grouchy critics in stitches, especially when Warren criticized the Muppets, who are fellow "fabricated Americans."

"These Muppets on Sesame Street a lot of the monsters, you know, they've been defanged. They've been domesticated. But I tell ya, don't bring your kids to sets because those things will go for the eyes...

Fox's "Greg the Bunny" was one of the great short-lived comedies of the Aughts and I've taken great pleasure in many of the previous and subsequent iterations of the Fabricated Americans series from Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. So this is one critic looking forward to MTV's summer comedy "Warren the Ape," the first Baker, Chinoy and Milano comedy to focus Warren DeMontague, the substance abusing simian who played Professor Ape on "Sweetknuckle Junction." In "Warren the Ape," Warren plays himself, a washed up former TV star battling additions and getting therapy from none other than Dr. Drew....

MTV has given the greenlight to the puppet-populated project Warren the Ape, a spin-off of the Fox and IFC series Greg the Bunny, say the trades. The network has given the series, which will be a mock celeb-reality show, a 12-episode order. Bunny creators Spencer Chinoy, Sean Baker and Dan Milano will executive produce Warren, with Milano performing as the lead puppet character, a brash, out-of-work actor who is trying to revive his Hollywood career after Bunny was canceled. IFC aired a series of Bunny shorts before Fox ordered 13 episodes as a sitcom to air in 2002. Canceled after one season, Bunny returned to IFC in various formats. The show's creators broached the spin-off idea this year. The Fox series starred Seth Green, Sarah Silverman, Eugene Levy, Bob Gunton, Dina Waters, Drew Massey and Dan Milano. According to the trades, Seth Green might make cameo appearances in Warren but is not directly involved in the production.

MTV has ordered a scripted series about an unemployed actor who tries to reclaim fame by appearing on a celebrity reality show.

The show is "Warren the Ape," about a cankerous out-of-work actor -- who happens to be puppet -- who appeared on the sitcom "Greg the Bunny." Warren goes on a reality show (like those on MTV's sister network VH1) to improve his image.

MTV has ordered 12 episodes slated to air in 2010 from Spencer Chinoy, Sean Baker and Dan Milano (who also portrays Warren).

"Comedy consistently resonates with our audience and we are building a diverse slate that brings an MTV twist to the genre," said Tony Disanto, president of programming, MTV. "'Warren the Ape' is a live action scripted comedy that tells the tale of an ape trying to revive a career in Hollywood by any means necessary. This show truly has a unique visual style and tone...

If you're a true fan of Greg The Bunny, you've been clamoring for the return of the show ever since Fox took it off the air. As it turns out, so has at least one of the stars... and you'll now get to see his attempts to return to the big screen.

MTV has announced that Warren The Ape is now in development. The show focuses on Warren "The Ape" Demontague, a D-list celebrity puppet who attempts to change his ways to be back in the Hollywood spotlight. Think of him as a less furry Kathy Griffin.

Warren The Ape is produced by George Plamondon & Betsy Schechter for Picture Shack Entertainment, Kevin Chinoy & Francesca Silvestri for Freestyle, and Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy & Dan Milano, who between this, working on Robot Chicken, and writing the screenplay for the remake of Short Circuit, is trying to take the position of luckiest man...