Growing up as the daughter of the legendary actor Lorne Greene created a sense of pride for Greene and while she said she really didn’t know any differently, she recalled, “He got a lot of attention. ... He was revered [and] that always made me feel good. I felt really proud of him.”
Greene married Raimi and began having children right away. Always connected to the film industry, Greene balanced work with her husband as a “silent producing partner” reading the scripts, assisting with casting, going on location, and watching “the dailies.” She explained, “I brought my kids on set. That was easy when they were younger ... I was there throughout the whole process of every movie so I learned a lot, but if the kids needed me, I would be with them.”
Greene’s interest for creating her own films was sparked when she made a short film to roast her husband at a birthday party. Including celebrities such as Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, Russell Crowe, Tobey McGuire, and more, Greene was hooked and said, “... then it inspired me to write the story (“Fanboy”). She then found writers Chester Hastings and R. Dean McCreary with whom she could collaborate, who understood her vision, and created the script.
The film’s roots, she shared, were awkwardly entangled as “Fanboy” is based on a real person by the same name in the film, Jeremiah Brennan. She explained, “He’s an actor and he’s my friend’s boyfriend. He’s a really funny guy and ... he was going to be in it.” However, when it came time to film, Greene knew that he wasn’t the right fit and went on a search for a new Jeremiah. She said, “I had to fire the real Jeremiah! He didn’t talk to me for a year [but] I had to do this for the movie.” Casting Fran Kranz, Greene had found the right Jeremiah for the lead, staying true to the movie and her vision.