A few weeks from now, Black launches fire two: a DVD collection of parodistic folk-metal modestly titled ''Tenacious D The Complete Masterworks Volume One.'' It's a cultish, pea-shooter kind of thing, but Black wants to make it more than an inside joke for other comics and smart twentysomethings (he hopes the DVD will build an appetite for the movie he wants to make next, ''Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny) -- even though parents who've just discovered Black via the family-friendly ''School of Rock'' will likely freak out at its rawness. ''The D,'' as those in the know call it -- a name taken from sportscaster Marv Albert's shorthand for ''tenacious defense'' -- is the musical duo Black formed with actor Kyle Gass more than a decade ago, after the pair met in Tim Robbins' L.A.-based fringe-theater troupe, the Actors' Gang. What's their most popular tune? Probably ''F--- Her Gently,'' a good-natured paean to the glories of taking it easy when satisfying ''the ladies.''
As for the decidedly more family-friendly ''School of Rock,'' the basic premise -- little kids jamming classic metal tunes -- was partly inspired by a strange CD called The Langley Schools Music Project, a cult-fave mid-'70s recording of primary-school students chanting tunes like David Bowie's ''Space Oddity'' in moving, melancholy ways. Rudin and Black liked White's first draft and warmed immediately to sad-sack protagonist Dewey Finn. ''It wasn't a frat guy, and it wasn't a guy in a suit working at an office with love problems,'' says Black. ''This was right in my kitchen.''
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