[10] On March 11, 2001, the Price-directed documentary Caesar's Park premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas; that night, at a party for the film at Club Deville attended by Price and Smith, Schank performed songs by Black Sabbath and Metallica while Borchardt interacted with fans.

[10] The DVD release of American Movie, as well as a website created to promote the film, provided Schank's home phone number,[9] allowing fans from around the world to call him; among the notable people who reportedly called "The Mike Line" were filmmaker Edgar Wright, actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and musicians Steve Vai, Jason Newsted, and Angus Young.

[5] Schank went on to appear in the "Nonfiction" segment of the 2001 film Storytelling, as the cameraman of a hapless documentary filmmaker named Toby Oxman, played by Paul Giamatti.

[11] Alongside Borchardt, Schank appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, where he met one of his musical idols, Gene Simmons of the band Kiss.

[1] In a 2012 radio interview, Schank stated that he and Borchardt continued to stay in close contact following the release of American Movie, talking to each other every day.

[17] A former alcoholic and drug addict, Schank was a member of the Milwaukee Alano Club, a local sobriety and recovery group.

"[19] Schank shared his sobriety milestones on social media, and celebrated his "27 years clean and sober birthday" in August 2022.

"[7] The news of his death was met with statements of tribute from a number of actors, filmmakers, and other admirers, including Borchardt,[5][6][13] Mark Duplass,[5][13] Patton Oswalt,[5] Taika Waititi,[5] Rainn Wilson,[5] Elijah Wood,[5][13] and Edgar Wright.