March 28, 2006 - Bob
Scottsdale, AZ
and the beat goes on...
My head is spinning a bit -- just to catch up with itself. I got up this morning and went to the excellent gym here at the Valley Ho (which I just can't say enough good things about -- the place rocks). I get a great workout in and, as I'm feeling the adrenaline rush and blood flow, the ideas come with.
I had thought, months ago, that adding some theatricality to the presentation could be in order. Specifically, I thought about adding vendors before the movie and having some baseball stadium themed music playing as people arrived. After seeing the space last night another thought came to mind that I really love -- let's have someone sing the Star Spangled Banner before the show. BAM! The massive curtains open, the Bro n 'Stine logo comes up and away we go.
I pitched it to some of the people involved here and got wonderful responses. The screening continues to grow. We've moved from the apathetic Buffalo Wild Wings to the classy-but-fun Abuelo's across the parking lot from the theater.
I walked into the theater tonight and saw big lines getting ready to go see the movies and I just about burst with excitement. I ran back and got my camera to shoot some of the pre-film buzz. I began to imagine what it will be like for Boys of Summer of Thursday. I get goose bumps even typing it.
We've been told 200 tickets have been sold (as of last night). We had a great day at the A's game today -- A's wiped out the Rangers 8-3. We got to sit up in the press booth in the box next to Ken Macha. Dad and I both met him and he was very nice. We also met an hysterical man who was the father of the groundskeeper at Phoenix Municipal. He had great stories and I was very happy to pass along a copy of the movie to him.
We met with the PR rep for the Phoenix Film Festival, Erica. She is lining up several interviews for us, including a TV spot tomorrow. She's working on the Sports Radio guys. We'll keep the phone on in case we get an early morning producer ready to give us some minutes.
We saw a great documentary at the fest tonight -- the Day After Tomorrow. It was a piece about the original cast kids from Annie and how they had dealt with post-star life. Funny, sad and a lot of great memories as Annie was the first musical I saw as an 8-year-old. How lucky to get to see Broadway at that age -- many thanks to my mom and dad.
We're back at the Valley Ho now -- I'm going to take a quick dip in the hot tub and wait to hear from Annamaria and Mom as to how the screening in Oakland went tonight.
More to come...
