By Sunayana Prabhu
LINCROFT – The gods of gibberish, the yellow spuds, the BA-NA-NA devotees. Whatever moniker you prefer, the utterly unintelligible yet most endearing animated Minions have been international superstars since they burst onto the scene as the inept but willing sidekicks in “Despicable Me” in 2010. Since then, many of their continuing movie antics have grown from the imagination of Lincroft native Brian Lynch, who used his childhood in the Two River area as inspiration.
An acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter and comic book writer, Lynch wrote Universal Studio’s highest-grossing Minion movies – “Minions” (2015) and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” (2022) – both of which raked in billions at the box office. Lynch has also written other blockbusters, including “The Secret Life of Pets” (2016) and its 2019 sequel, “Puss In Boots” (2011), “Hop” (2011) and more.
The seeds of these stories that grew into global successes were planted during Lynch’s childhood. He grew up in Lincroft and attended Thompson Middle School and Middletown High School South. In a recent interview with The Two River Times, Lynch opened up about his experiences and memories of the area that have played a pivotal role in shaping his creative path as a screenwriter and continue to influence his storytelling decades later.
Lynch, 51, who moved to Los Angeles in 2004, lived in Lincroft all his life except for four early childhood years in Indiana. He first discovered his passion for screenwriting as a young boy after seeing movies and wanting to continue the stories. “I would see a movie and want to write the sequel before they made the sequel,” Lynch recalled.
Lynch had a breakthrough moment as a teenager during a trip to the Monmouth Mall. He purchased a copy of a movie script at a mall kiosk and, from that, he learned how to format a screenplay, he said.
Lynch studied film at William Paterson University in Wayne, “but it didn’t help in terms of getting my foot in the door,” he admitted. That came courtesy of a friend. Lynch said a high school friend worked at the Quick Stop in Leonardo with future Hollywood director Kevin Smith. The store became a launchpad for Smith’s break- through film “Clerks.”
Through his friend, Lynch had the opportunity to meet Smith. “And we became friends,” he said. He went on to work with Smith on the movie “Chasing Amy.” Smith passed Lynch’s spec script for a Muppet movie to his agent who liked it and sold it to the Jim Henson Company. That opened up a plethora of opportunities for him in the family-movie genre.
Lynch considers himself “very lucky” for the oppor- tunities, but he said it was all because he decided back in school to “hang out with my friend. That led to what I’m doing now.”
Flash forward to his success with the Minions franchise, where Lynch’s New Jersey upbringing continues to influence his storytelling. He drew inspiration for the characters from his childhood misadventures in school.
“Minions, at the heart of their personality and their characters, are just mischievous kids,” he said. “I have all these memories of misbehaving at Lincroft schools.”
He said the dynamic among the three main Minion characters – Kevin, Stuart and Bob – and their desire to prove themselves and gain respect “completely comes from elementary school.”
“What can I do to make an impact with the rest of the kids,” get attention and impress his peers, he always wondered.
Lynch related to the characters as kids declaring intentions but then realizing they don’t have the follow-through fully figured out, just like the Minions announcing plans but not knowing how to execute them. The characters trying to be “cool guys” among the other Minions were based on observing some of the adventurous kids who went to middle school with him.
The Minions are “just kids that want attention and want to be loved,” Lynch said. “They kind of gravitate towards the troublemakers, they follow villains. They, at heart, love each other and look out for each other because they’re family and friends, but they’re just kids.”
Lynch noted he wrote the movie when his son was almost 2 years old and a lot of his interaction with his son made it into the script.
He also relied heavily on collaboration to tackle the unique challenge of writing dialogue for characters who don’t really speak words but need to express themselves. Crafting their communication was an iterative process. “A lot of back-and-forth is needed to refine exactly how their noises, gestures and antics will convey what they are feeling and trying to say.”
“Luckily, I work with the director (Pierre Coffin) who also voices the Minions and he’s a genius. And the producers and the storyboard artists, we all work together,” Lynch said.
By working closely with the director and animation team, he was able to find creative solutions to advance the plot and show the Minions’ emotions without traditional dialogue. He said the experience is “really rewarding.”
Lynch’s latest work, the children’s book “Sixth Grade Superstar,” also directly draws from “the most dramatic part” of his time at Thompson Middle School that “helped build my character,” he said. The coming-of-age tale explores the ups and downs of sixth grade through the main character Ty Bogart. Lynch hopes it could someday be adapted into a John Hughes-esque movie.
While Lynch no longer lives full-time in Lincroft, he maintains deep connections to the area. “My parents are still in New Jersey and my sister and her kids. So, I definitely come back,” he said, even though his creative journey from page to screen and back puts his work in front of audiences worldwide.
“It all comes back to New Jersey,” he said.
The article originally appeared in the July 11 – July 17, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
