Roger Nygard
Encyclopedia
Roger Nygard is an American film and television director, editor, writer, and producer. His films include Trekkies, Trekkies 2
, and The Nature of Existence.
in charge of buying the trainloads of grain used to make Wheaties
and Cheerios
. Nygard graduated from Orono High School, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Communications from the University of Minnesota
in 1984.
Nygard has extensive credits in film and television as a director, writer, producer and editor. He made his foray into the movie world in 1991 when he directed the low budget indie feature, High Strung
, starring comedian/actor Steve Oedekerk
, Fred Willard
, Denise Crosby
, and a very young Kirsten Dunst
. The tagline reads: “The story of a guy with a few too many hang ups.” The movie has achieved cult status.
Lots of television and film directing and editing credits followed like Back to Back
, which may be best known for having blown Bobcat Goldthwait to bits. It was during this time he that he was developing a reputation for working on quirky and unique projects. He realized he could combine what intrigued him with his “day job” and so Nygard the documentarian emerged as part of the overall package.
Trekkies was the first project to allow Nygard to explore his interest in human nature
; people dressing up as fictional characters and extraterrestrials fascinated him. His partner in the project, Denise Crosby
, first pitched Nygard the idea. He said, “I couldn’t believe nobody had done it yet, it seemed so obvious.” Trekkies has been described as “affectionate, nonjudgmental” (Hollywood Reporter & Daily Variety), or “terrifying, unsettling” (National Post), depending on who you ask. He also produced and edited a compelling and offbeat look at UFO enthusiasts (which included writer Whitley Streiber, and nuclear-physicist & ufologist Stanton T. Friedman) called Six Days In Roswell. The film was called "...pants-peeing funny!" by Film Threat
magazine. The car salesman subculture also fascinated Nygard, and he co-wrote (with Joe Yannetty) and directed the outrageous cult favorite
, Suckers
. The movie stars Louis Mandylor
, Lori Loughlin
, and Daniel Benzali
as one scary sales manager from hell. Suckers
is often used as a training film at car dealership
s. The Minneapolis Star Tribune said, “…Roger Nygard’s exhilaratingly cynical car salesman film Suckers has the macho punch of a David Mamet drama.”
While tackling feature interests like Trekkies 2
, and sometimes lending support to a colleague’s project as an editor or producer, Nygard has directed or edited for an array of television series like: The Mind of the Married Man
, The Bernie Mac Show
, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm
, Zoey 101
, Zeke and Luther
, etc., as well as directing commercials for such companies as Kia, Boost Mobile, DisneyXD, CBS, TBS, and others. For Nygard it comes down to whether a project is intriguing, funny, or challenging. In the case of his latest film, The Nature of Existence, it’s all the above.
fans in the acclaimed documentary Trekkies
, Nygard took on The Nature of Existence, traveling the globe to the source of the world's philosophies, religions, and belief systems, interviewing spirituality
leaders, scholars, scientists, artists and others.
"I made a list of the eighty-five toughest questions I could think of," said Nygard, "starting with biggest one, 'why do we exist?' and then I began interrogating the widest cross-section of humanity possible." Here are a few more of the questions asked in the movie: What is man's purpose? What started the Universe
? Where was God during the Holocaust? What is Truth
? Should people have sex
before marriage
? What is the best way to find happiness? Where is the afterlife
? Where are the voices in my head coming from?
Profiled in the film are people like Indian holy man, Ravi Shankar (The Art of Living), who described his job as "dehusking" people: "stress is the husk, which covers the light, the joy within a person." Nygard spoke with Catholic Archbishop D'Ambrosio in Italy, who believed his is the true religion and said, "To believe in Christ is not easy. But it's not impossible."
In England, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins
, author of The God Delusion
, said, "Not only do you not need God, it's positively counterproductive, if you are trying to understand the nature of Existence."
In Palo Alto, California, Leonard Susskind
(co-discovered string theory
) explained that modern string theorists are coming to the conclusion that there is not just one Universe, but more likely trillions, if not an infinite number of Universes, all with laws of physics different from ours.
Professor Li Shaoqiang, in Confucius
's hometown of Qufu
, China, explained that, "Chinese people worship Mao Ze Tung
as god because he founded a country."
And over 100 others like Harvard psychologist and author Daniel Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness
), film director Irvin Kershner
(Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
), 7th Grader atheist neighbor of Nygard, Chloe Revery, novelist and Mormon Orson Scott Card
(Ender’s Game), and Stonehenge
Druids Rollo Maughfling and King Arthur Pendragon.
Interviewed for the Oh No, Ross and Carrie podcast Sept 2011, Nygard discusses his experience with acupuncture
while traveling in China. He states that he is skeptical about anything that can't be measured, saying "how do you measure a life force?" After the release of his movie "The Nature of Existence," he reported that people constantly ask about his personal belief in a God. He first asks for a definition of the term, saying people tend to have different meanings for God. He told Ross and Carrie that he is open to the evidence of a supreme being but has not seen it yet.
Trekkies 2
Trekkies 2 is the sequel to the 1997 documentary film Trekkies.In 2003, a sequel to Trekkies was launched, titled Trekkies 2. This documentary film travels throughout the world, mainly in Europe, to show fans of Star Trek, commonly known as Trekkies, who do not live in the United States...
, and The Nature of Existence.
Early life and work
Roger Nygard was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up along the shores of Lake Minnetonka. His father, Roger Nygard, Sr., was an executive at General MillsGeneral Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
in charge of buying the trainloads of grain used to make Wheaties
Wheaties
Wheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
and Cheerios
Cheerios
Cheerios is a brand of breakfast cereal by General Mills introduced on May 1, 1941 as the first oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal. Originally named CheeriOats, the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945 because of a trade name dispute with Quaker Oats. The name fit the "O" shape of the cereal pieces...
. Nygard graduated from Orono High School, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Communications from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in 1984.
Nygard has extensive credits in film and television as a director, writer, producer and editor. He made his foray into the movie world in 1991 when he directed the low budget indie feature, High Strung
High Strung
High Strung is an independent film created by Film Brigade International. It was produced by Vladimir Horunzhy and Sergei Zholobetsky. It stars Steve Oedekerk as Thane Furrows, an uptight children's author who rarely leaves his house, eats only cereal, and is irritated by everything around him. ...
, starring comedian/actor Steve Oedekerk
Steve Oedekerk
Stephen Brenton "Steve" Oedekerk is an American comedian, director, editor, producer, screenwriter and actor. Oedekerk is best known for his collaborations with actor Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac , his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist .-Life and...
, Fred Willard
Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
, Denise Crosby
Denise Crosby
Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, and a very young Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
. The tagline reads: “The story of a guy with a few too many hang ups.” The movie has achieved cult status.
Lots of television and film directing and editing credits followed like Back to Back
Back to Back (1996 film)
Back to Back, also known as American Yakuza 2, and Back to Back: American Yakuza 2, is a 1996 American action film directed by Roger Nygard and written by Nygard and Scott Nimerfro . The film was produced by W.K. Border, Thomas Calabrese, Takashige Ichise, Aki Komine, Michael Leahy, and Joel Soisson...
, which may be best known for having blown Bobcat Goldthwait to bits. It was during this time he that he was developing a reputation for working on quirky and unique projects. He realized he could combine what intrigued him with his “day job” and so Nygard the documentarian emerged as part of the overall package.
Trekkies was the first project to allow Nygard to explore his interest in human nature
Human nature
Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have naturally....
; people dressing up as fictional characters and extraterrestrials fascinated him. His partner in the project, Denise Crosby
Denise Crosby
Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, first pitched Nygard the idea. He said, “I couldn’t believe nobody had done it yet, it seemed so obvious.” Trekkies has been described as “affectionate, nonjudgmental” (Hollywood Reporter & Daily Variety), or “terrifying, unsettling” (National Post), depending on who you ask. He also produced and edited a compelling and offbeat look at UFO enthusiasts (which included writer Whitley Streiber, and nuclear-physicist & ufologist Stanton T. Friedman) called Six Days In Roswell. The film was called "...pants-peeing funny!" by Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
magazine. The car salesman subculture also fascinated Nygard, and he co-wrote (with Joe Yannetty) and directed the outrageous cult favorite
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, Suckers
Suckers (film)
Suckers is a 2001 film written by Roger Nygard and Joe Yanetty which revolves around events at a car dealership. Suckers stars Daniel Benzali, Lori Loughlin, and Louis Mandylor and co-stars Walter Emanuel Jones...
. The movie stars Louis Mandylor
Louis Mandylor
Louis Mandylor is an Australian film and television actor.-Life and career:Mandylor was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the son of Greek immigrants Louise and Yannis Theodosopoulos, a taxi driver...
, Lori Loughlin
Lori Loughlin
Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210...
, and Daniel Benzali
Daniel Benzali
Daniel Benzali is a Brazilian-American stage, television and film actor.-Biography:Benzali was born in Rio de Janeiro to Brazilian Jewish parents...
as one scary sales manager from hell. Suckers
Suckers (film)
Suckers is a 2001 film written by Roger Nygard and Joe Yanetty which revolves around events at a car dealership. Suckers stars Daniel Benzali, Lori Loughlin, and Louis Mandylor and co-stars Walter Emanuel Jones...
is often used as a training film at car dealership
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
s. The Minneapolis Star Tribune said, “…Roger Nygard’s exhilaratingly cynical car salesman film Suckers has the macho punch of a David Mamet drama.”
While tackling feature interests like Trekkies 2
Trekkies 2
Trekkies 2 is the sequel to the 1997 documentary film Trekkies.In 2003, a sequel to Trekkies was launched, titled Trekkies 2. This documentary film travels throughout the world, mainly in Europe, to show fans of Star Trek, commonly known as Trekkies, who do not live in the United States...
, and sometimes lending support to a colleague’s project as an editor or producer, Nygard has directed or edited for an array of television series like: The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man is a television series that ran on the HBO network for two seasons consisting of twenty episodes between September 2001 and November 2002. The story attempts to focus on the challenges of modern-day married life from a male perspective.The show drew mixed reviews from...
, The Bernie Mac Show
The Bernie Mac Show
The Bernie Mac Show is an American sitcom featuring comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister's three kids: Jordan, Bryana and Vanessa. The show aired for five seasons , concluding with a half-hour series finale on Fox....
, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Zoey 101
Zoey 101
Zoey 101 is an American television series that ran from January 9, 2005 to May 2, 2008 starring Jamie Lynn Spears as teenager Zoey Brooks, produced for Nickelodeon and syndicated worldwide. The show was initially filmed at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, then at stages in Valencia,...
, Zeke and Luther
Zeke and Luther
Zeke and Luther is an American Disney XD sitcom about two best friends setting their sights on becoming the world's greatest skateboarders. The show stars Hutch Dano, Adam Hicks, Daniel Curtis Lee and Ryan Newman ....
, etc., as well as directing commercials for such companies as Kia, Boost Mobile, DisneyXD, CBS, TBS, and others. For Nygard it comes down to whether a project is intriguing, funny, or challenging. In the case of his latest film, The Nature of Existence, it’s all the above.
The Nature Of Existence
After exploring the phenomenon of Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
fans in the acclaimed documentary Trekkies
Trekkies
Trekkies is a 1997 documentary film directed by Roger Nygard about the devoted fans of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise. Starring Denise Crosby , the movie contains interviews with Star Trek devotees, more commonly known as Trekkies...
, Nygard took on The Nature of Existence, traveling the globe to the source of the world's philosophies, religions, and belief systems, interviewing spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
leaders, scholars, scientists, artists and others.
"I made a list of the eighty-five toughest questions I could think of," said Nygard, "starting with biggest one, 'why do we exist?' and then I began interrogating the widest cross-section of humanity possible." Here are a few more of the questions asked in the movie: What is man's purpose? What started the Universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
? Where was God during the Holocaust? What is Truth
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
? Should people have sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
before marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
? What is the best way to find happiness? Where is the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
? Where are the voices in my head coming from?
Profiled in the film are people like Indian holy man, Ravi Shankar (The Art of Living), who described his job as "dehusking" people: "stress is the husk, which covers the light, the joy within a person." Nygard spoke with Catholic Archbishop D'Ambrosio in Italy, who believed his is the true religion and said, "To believe in Christ is not easy. But it's not impossible."
In England, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, author of The God Delusion
The God Delusion
The God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, professorial fellow of New College, Oxford, and inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that...
, said, "Not only do you not need God, it's positively counterproductive, if you are trying to understand the nature of Existence."
In Palo Alto, California, Leonard Susskind
Leonard Susskind
Leonard Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stanford University. His research interests include string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology...
(co-discovered string theory
String theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
) explained that modern string theorists are coming to the conclusion that there is not just one Universe, but more likely trillions, if not an infinite number of Universes, all with laws of physics different from ours.
Professor Li Shaoqiang, in Confucius
Confucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
's hometown of Qufu
Qufu
Qufu is a city in southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is located at 35° 36′ northern latitude and 117° 02′ east, about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefecture seat at Jining...
, China, explained that, "Chinese people worship Mao Ze Tung
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
as god because he founded a country."
And over 100 others like Harvard psychologist and author Daniel Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness is a non-fiction book by Daniel Gilbert. It was published in the United States and Canada in 2006 by Knopf, and has been translated into 20 languages. It is a New York Times bestseller.-Summary:...
), film director Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner
Irvin Kershner was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing quirky, independent films early in his career, and then Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. -Background:...
(Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
), 7th Grader atheist neighbor of Nygard, Chloe Revery, novelist and Mormon Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
(Ender’s Game), and Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
Druids Rollo Maughfling and King Arthur Pendragon.
In the media
November 2011, Nygard was awarded the grand prize from the Portland Humanist Film Festival for his movie The Nature of Existence.Interviewed for the Oh No, Ross and Carrie podcast Sept 2011, Nygard discusses his experience with acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
while traveling in China. He states that he is skeptical about anything that can't be measured, saying "how do you measure a life force?" After the release of his movie "The Nature of Existence," he reported that people constantly ask about his personal belief in a God. He first asks for a definition of the term, saying people tend to have different meanings for God. He told Ross and Carrie that he is open to the evidence of a supreme being but has not seen it yet.