Adam Carolla, 'Road Hard'

Over the years, you might have heard comedian Adam Carolla on the call-in radio show Loveline, or seen him onThe Man Show on Comedy Central, or downloaded his daily podcast. He's even got his own cocktail, which he sells under the name Mangria. Between several hirings and firings, Carolla's become the the king of the D.I.Y. career--which is fitting because he's also a carpenter.

Now he can add another title to his ever growing jobs list: director. Carolla co-wrote and directed the new comedy Road Hard with frequent collaborator Kevin Hench.

Carolla also stars in the movie -- he plays comedian Bruce Madsen, a former TV host who has since fallen on hard times and forced to go back on the road doing stand-up.

Carolla himself has had more success than the character he plays in Road Hard, but the film does have an autobiographical slant.

In the movie, Bruce's former co-host is now a late night TV star. In real life, Carolla's co-host on The Man Show was Jimmy Kimmel...now a late night TV star on ABC.

Even though Kimmel and Carolla have taken different career paths since their time hosting together, the two remain friends, and Carolla's determination to keep moving "onward, not necessarily upward," has paid off. He's a self-proclaimed millionaire, his podcast is one of the most downloaded in the world, and his blunt, tell-it-like-he-sees-it attitude has earned him a cadre of loyal fans.

Carolla's acted in movies before. He starred in the 2007 self-financed film The Hammer, which got decent reviews but bombed at the box office. When it came directing for the first time, Carolla's filmmaking aspirations were based not so much in achieving new levels of fame and fortune, but in the desire to try something new.

To get the money to make Road Hard, Carolla started a campaign on FundAnything, a crowd-funding platform launched in 2013 and backed by Donald Trump, the man who once fired Carolla on the reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice.

Carolla fans however, did not fire Carolla's movie idea. They responded to the crowd-funding call and contributed more than a million dollars in a month.

Road Hard is out now in theaters and available through VOD.