Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Collectively Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny� to name a few) Resembling harmless post-college slackers in Nikes, T-shirts, and baggy shorts, Trey Parker, 27, and Matt Stone, 26, began making animated shorts together a few years ago at Colorado State University. Their early works were primitive videos, consisting of patched together construction paper cut-outs glued with Elmer's, and photographed frame-by-frame. These crude animations became part of their video resume, which the guys showed to talent scouts when they came to LA looking for TV-film work. In 1995, Brian Graden commissioned the two to make a holiday cartoon video for $3,000 to send out to pals on his Christmas card list. The final short "The Spirit of Christmas," featured a quartet of ill-behaved brats cursing each other and watching a kung-fu fight between Jesus and Santa Claus.
Within weeks of the video's "distribution," Parker and Stone found themselves in the midst of a whirlwind bidding war. Networks and production companies clamored to work with the duo. Even the Sundance Film Festival jumped in, offering to waive the entry fees so the short could be entered. Parker and Stone said yes to Sundance, but instead of signing on with a production company, they, along with Graden, started their own (called, arbitrarily, Braniff Airlines).
Stone and Parker are film school, not art school, graduates. But since "Christmas" was a hit with Parker drawing the characters and both creators writing and performing the dialogue, they plan to keep those chores on the series. Says Stone, "We come from a production background, which is like, 'We come up with funny stuff and then we go do it." If you don't make your own idea, then what is it?"
Parker hails from Conifer, Colorado. He is the youngest son of Randy, a government geologist and Sharon, and insurance broker. He has one older sister, Shelley. The family knew their son had made it big when they saw him in "People" magazine.
Stone, of Denver, CO, holds a mathematics degree. His dad, Gerald is a semi-retired economics professor and mom, Shelia, works as a homemaker. His younger sister, Rachel, is pictured in the framed photo next to Cartman while he eats Cheesy Poofs in the pilot. While Stone admits, "My parents think I'm completely warped," he does concede that "my dad is probably our biggest fan."
When the Stone-Parker duet is not animating and writing their new series, sleeping, or playing Nintendo, they play in a band called DVDA (negotiating with major labels). Stone pays the drums (by default) and Parker plays keyboards and sings. The two also recently completed their first feature film Orgazmo (about a wholesome guy who goes to L.A. and gets involved with adult films) to be shown this year's Toronto Film Festival.
Isaac Hayes (Chef) Isaac Hayes is the Oscar winner who composed the theme to Shaft ("Who's the black private dick, who's the sex machine to all the chicks�"). But WE all know him as the voice of Chef on South Park. In the show, Chef is, probably, the coolest guy in the world. That's a lot of pressure, but Isaac admits, "It's just the way I am. I don't try to be� anything but me, you know how long I've been in this business. I've been in this business about 30 years. So therefore, I'm comfortable with myself. So I don't have to try to be anything. Just be me."
About his great voice, well, he never stops using it. Whether ordering pizza from Dominos or co-writing the groovy "Soul Man" in '65 with David Porter. And if you think Chef is long-winded in his outbursts of song, check out Isaac's cover of Bobby Goldsboro's song "By The Time I Get To Phoenix:" Hayes' version was an extraordinary eighteen minutes and forty seconds long.
Isaac Hayes is a scientologist. His nickname is Black Moses. He's cool.
======================== If a billion people believe in a stupid idea, it is still stupid.
Yo soy El Gato Gordo