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When we first wrote about the Lebowski Fest in mid-2003, they were coming off the initial high of their first tribute to one of cinema's crowning achievements. Over four years and ten fests later, the dudes behind the Fest have criss-crossed the country celebrating "The Big Lebowski."

From their headquarters in Louisville, Founding Dudes Will Russell and Scott Shuffit have turned their love of the Coen brothers film into a full-fledged phenomenon. Their empire continues to expand—the first overseas Fests are imminent and a book they penned about the movie is set to hit shelves in August. Mr. Russell was kind enough to talk with us on the phone about the Web, The Dude, and how the Lebowski Fest took off...

Hey Will, why do you think Lebowski resonates?

Good one. It's an important question. Lots of people have a lot of different answers. Part of it is that the Coen brothers packed so many characters into 117 minutes of movie. Another factor is that The Dude isn't greedy and he's not caught up in the rat race. He's just a guy who lives the laid-back life everyone wants to live. It boils down to really awesome characters and the insane quotability of the script.

How has the Web facilitated connections among Lebowski fans?

It's been everything. It's how it all took off. If there was no Web, we would have had one little party in 2002 with a few close friends and that would have been it. But the site allowed connections to grow. People e-mailed the site to friends. People found us when they searched on the movie's title.

When we started the fest, it was just a small subpage of another site. We got the domain lebowskifest.com and things started rolling. We added a discussion forum shortly after that. We've had people get married from meeting in our discussion area. The Web has been crucial and integral to what we do. The site usually blows people's mind when they first find it. Like, other people are out there that love this movie as much as I do.

Oh, we love Lebowski too. When did you know the fests had "made it"?

Well, the first one in 2002—we thought we'd get 20 people to show up—we got 150. We had folks come from as far away as Tucson. So we knew we had something going. But in 2003, Spin Magazine wrote about us in their Summer Events Guide. We were listed alongside Lollapolooza and other big time events. It was wild. We ended up having 1,200 people show up to the second annual event in 2003.

We know it's tough to pick one, but which fest has been your favorite?

Oh, that's tough. Well, the first one we had in L.A. in 2004—Jeff Bridges came—that was amazing. Also in 2004, we had My Morning Jacket play at the fest in Louisville. They're one of my favorite bands and they came and did the show in costume. That was awesome.

A big part of the Lebowski Fests is fans dressing up in costume. What's been the creepiest costume you've seen?

Last year, we had a kid came down from Ohio with his uncle's cremated ashes in a Folgers can. He entered his uncle in the costume contest as the post-mortem Donnie. He said he and his uncle both loved the movie. He came in second place.

What's the most obscure costume you've seen?

One year we had a guy come as a giant Creedence cassette tape. It was precisely painted like a Creedence tape with a UPC code and everything. All you could see were two feet. Everyone stopped bowling and couldn't stop checking out this guy's costume.

Besides the fact that this small local party turned into huge phenomenon, what's been the biggest surprise for you?

Well, it's all been a surprise. I guess if I had to pick one, one day I had Julianne Moore calling me on my cell phone. I was interviewing her for a Lebowski book we did.

You have a book coming out?

Yeah, it's called "I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski." It's coming out in August. We talked to most of the actors and people involved with the movie.

We just added it to our wish list. Have you ever talked with the Coen brothers?

Only through an intermediary—an assistant of theirs offered to loan us the marmot prop from the movie in exchange for two Achiever t-shirts and a Lebowski Fest poster. So we had the marmot for one event in Louisville. He came in a glass case and he was labeled Marmot on a stick.

We contacted the Coens about the book and they replied with a brief message you'll find as the book's epigraph. It's probably better that we haven't spoken with them. It helps to preserve some of the mystery of the movie.

How many times have you seen the movie?

Over a hundred. I stopped counting. The great thing is that it's still funny. It's like a great album. I still laugh out loud whenever I watch it.

Where do you see the Lebowski fests headed?

Well, we have the Louisville festival coming up in just over a week. Then were going to Scotland and England for a couple of Lebowski Fests over there. We're gonna try to do new cities every year. We wanna do Chicago, San Francisco, and so many more.

So do you have a day job or are you livin' like The Dude?

Ha, no. I have a store out here in Louisville. It's called Why Louisville. I started it a couple of years ago. It's an eclectic little local store.

Thanks, Will. Keep on achieving. We know the Lebowski Fests will keep on rollin'!