Airplane Bloggin: On the Road Again

So I am sitting on a CRJ-700. I don’t know who makes it, probably McDon.-Douglas. Its got nineteen rows and four seats per row, so its just a little bigger than a puddle jumper. Im back in Row 17, and its bumpy. Bouncy. Thank god for the Valium I got from Dave before I left for Houston.

Ah, Houston. We were stars in Houston. Before we landed Sunday morning in Houston, we were on the ABC News affiliate and they showed the trailer. Over the next two days, we were on Fox and ABC probably four or five times, including movie clips, interviews with the cast and with Tony Lover, the writer-director, and behind the scenes stuff from our documentary. We did at least four radio shows, including Mix 96, the most popular radio show in Houston, and Wash Allen, who hosted the premiere and is very popular with the African American family audience in Houston. A Congresswomen presented Chris Scott with a certificate from the US Congress and National Black Caucus at a family party Sunday nite, and on Monday, the red carpet premiere seemed to go off very well, with people being into the movie and wanting to spread the word. And at this point, boys and girls, its all about spreading the word.

See, the way the movie biz works these days is that when a picture like My Brother is released in theaters, it has to earn its keep to hold the theaters or to add more theaters. Ultimately, My Brother is opening in about thirty two or thirty three screens on its first weekend, this Friday. If the movie makes money for the theater owners, they will leave it up on the screen for an additional week or more. If it doesn’t make them enough money, then they’ll pull it and replace it with another movie. If it does very well, like I’m hoping we’ll do, they may add screens in those theaters, so that it could be playing two or even three screens in the same movie theater.

So it really is all about that opening weekend, and about momentum. And for a movie like My Brother, which is an inspirational audience movie, a lot about word of mouth as well. What my last three months have been spent doing is trying to generate as big an audience as possible for the opening weekend, and then to hope that those people would spread the word to their communities, whether those be churches, or groups for people with developmental disabilities, or schools, etc., and that those friends and neighbors will turn out for the movie,

When the box office numbers become available on Sunday mid morning, they are posted online and exhibitors (the theater owners) from all over North America look at them and if they see a movie doing nice business, they will call up the distributor to try to order a print. Why? Because if the movie is bringing in audiences, then they can make money off of it. Its really that simple.

Speaking of spreading the word, despite an incredibly tight shooting schedule on Ugly Betty, I know Vanessa is doing a bunch of press today, including a satellite tour for national and local morning shows, a bunch of radio shows, CNN’s Showbiz tonite, and Extra. I also heard from people that they had seen several commercials for the movie on BET or TV One, but I haven’t had a chance to see one myself yet.

And now I am on this bumpy-ass flight to Atlanta, on the way to Chicago (I know, shitty connection, basically two hours east to head back to hours northwest, but it was late notice). We are doing a screening for agencies for people with developmental disabilities in Chicago, for Rainbow-Push and for anyone else who might be interested in spreading the word.

And even beyond Houston, it does seem to be spreading, with people taking it upon themselves to do so. Yesterday I got word that an email was being sent to the 175,000 people on the list for the National Human Resources Council, mostly of those people being in the NY Metro Area. Why? Because a woman who attended the NY Premiere, a local radio DJ, loved the movie and told people at NHRC about it,and they were interested.

We are still chasing, in various ways, the queen of daytime talk shows. I don’t have any expectations, and its getting very very late. But they’ve expressed a bit of interest and we can see where it goes from here. Its been a long road, and I am almost at the end, at least with respect to North America for the movie (famous last words, I know, and I will probably end up being wrong, although I am definitely ready to move on).

Chicago is the last stop on the tour. Val has compared it to a political campaign, and in some ways she is right. When I hosted the Q&A in Houston last nite, it even felt like that a bit. Gonna do what I can in Chicago, for the next couple of days, have dinner with my best friend from law school, and see his baby daughter, then fly back to NYC 6AM Friday morning for the last screening we’ll be doing (unless Philadelphia comes through with a premiere for next week). Its my friends at the NBR for their organizational screening. Then I am going home to take a nap, and wait for the box office numbers to start presenting themselves. And to figure out what I am going to do next.

Its been two and a half years on this journey. If I live to 75, that’s over three percent of my life. It all comes down to this. All I can say is one thing…

1 -800- FANDANGO.



Grumpy.