Roy Eberhardt is the new kid in Florida and the first thing that gets his attention is a strange boy running at a fast pace with no shoes on. Roy is curious to know who he is and so he follows him to his secret spot. The kids name is Mullet Fingers and he has been trying sabotage this construction area in order to save a owl habitat. Mullet Finger's sister, Beatrice doesn’t take a liking to Roy at first, but she grows on him the more he hangs around her and Mullet and does what he can to help them save the owls.
Blaine: “Hoot” sends out a message and that is you can make a difference for the wildlife that lives in your neighborhood. Musician Jimmy Buffett was one of the producers of the film and this was the first time he ever produced a movie. Jimmy’s daughter read the book and thought it would make a great movie and that got him interested in reading it. He thought that it could be amusing to adults as well as kids. He bought the rights to the book and convinced New Line Cinema for “Hoot” to be made into a film. Everyone he went to like producer Frank Marshall and Wil Shriner wanted to make it.
Director Wil Shriner’s background is television and sitcoms and Jimmy Buffett asked him "how you make a film" and Wil’s reply was to find a script you like. Wil said he’ll write the script if he gets to direct it. They met a lot kids for Roy and when Logan Lerman came in he put the pages he was supposed to read down. He knew the part and knew the character and Wil didn’t want anyone else but him after that. Logan thought of Roy as this good kid and someone who fights for what is right. That’s what Logan really liked about the character and it was great for him to play Roy.
Brie Larson loved the book after stealing it from her sister and she was really excited when she found out it was going to be made into a movie. She didn’t think she was going to be able to get a part in “Hoot”, but lucky thing for her Wil Shriner was directing it. Wil directed a sitcom called “Raising Dad” with Brie Larson as the twelve year old daughter and Wil thought she was a great actress. Brie Larson was fourteen or fifteen at the time and Wil thought she was the right age for the character Beatrice. Brie wanted to make sure she was in shape and it was important that she looked athletic because her character is supposed to be a soccer jock. Brie liked Beatrice because she is someone who doesn’t care of how she looks, she is more of the tuff girl where as Brie says she is a lot more girly than her. Brie thinks it’s good for girls to see somebody who is just not so worried about her image. Brie also believes Beatrice is someone people listen to when she talks.
They saw Cody Lindley early on when he auditioned for Mullet Fingers and they liked him so much and thought that his looks were perfect for a kid who would live out in the wild. But he needed to look more athletic so he was given a personal trainer and some of the stuff was easy like push-ups, crunches and curls just so he could look a little more cut. His hair also had to be bleached because it was darker before. Wil thought that Luke Wilson was the perfect mumbler that David Delinko was written to be.
