AllMovie

The co-mastermind (along with partner in crime Dan Harmon) behind one of the most beloved failed television pilots never to make it to the small screen, admitted nerd and independent filmmaker Rob Schrab has a dream, to have the creative control over his projects that will allow him to buck the system and create the products that he himself would like to see. Whether producing a film, television show, or comic book, Schrab's desire to entertain in a variety of media is as genuine as it is inspiring. A longtime fan of comics who eventually decided to try his own hand at the popular art form, Schrab created Scud the Disposable Assassin before making the move to Los Angeles and joining forces with Harmon to create the outlandish television pilot Heat Vision and Jack for FOX. Though the half-hour episode, featuring Jack Black as a former astronaut whose brain swells with the rising sun and who fights crime alongside his former roommate-turned-motorcycle (voiced by Owen Wilson), ultimately failed to make the airwaves, underground copies began circulating heavily, making Heat Vision and Jack something of a cult hit among the cinema bizarre set. A second crack at filmmaking resulted in the equally bizarre Robot Bastard!, and, seeing the potential in their strange creations, Schrab and Harmon soon began expanding their filmmaking experiments to include submissions from outsiders as part of the so-called "Super Midnight Movie Show." The increasingly popular monthly film festival soon receiving more submissions than the overwhelmed pair were able to keep up with, it was next time to expand their creation to the Internet in the form of Channel 101 -- a web-based entertainment channel that allowed independent filmmakers to cut loose with their creativity in whatever manner they saw fit. In addition to appearing onscreen in such comedy shorts as Soul Mates and LaserFart, Shrab also turned in a memorable cameo in the indie flick spoof My Big Fat Independent Movie. In early 2006 Schrab would once again re-team with Harmon to write and direct a pilot for Comedy Central starring irreverent comedienne Sarah Silverman.