Apr
19
Fan Mail
Reviews are nice. You can blurb them and feel good that someone with authority is justifying your creation. But there’s another level of feedback that can be just as gratifying. Those emerge from the personal connections you make showing a film. Take my experience Saturday at our Nashville screening.
I didn’t know what to think when the first question in the Q & A came from a kid in the front row. And I mean a kid. Isaac, 14, had come with his mom and younger brother. If I was worried, my fears disappeared as soon as he launched his question.
Isaac wanted to know about the details surrounding the footage we acquired from Peter Quaife. He followed that with another doozy, noting that in our early poster drafts we had featured the name ‘Paul McCartney’ yet he was nowhere in the film. Early poster drafts? This kid was really watching. I explained how Paul’s manager blocked our plans to use our footage.
After the film got out, I met Isaac, his brother and their mom, who had driven them the two-plus hours from Chattanooga to see our film. I ended up handing him a 12-by-18 poster for free, yet somehow that seemed like not enough for the amount of devotion he’d shown us.
We also screened in Phoenix this month. Rob and I couldn’t make the show. But I received this wonderful email from somebody who did. I asked – and she agreed – to let me reprint it. So here’s Erica…
“I’m just another kid from Arizona – just some office-worker in advertising that took a free pass to the Phoenix film festival. I went with my friend to see Do It Again. I had no idea what the movie was about, and couldn’t name a Kinks song to save my life. I have incredibly questionable music taste for someone who is supposed to be a hip 27-year old and a purveyor of pop culture. However, I found your movie riveting. I was glued to the screen and became so attached to all the characters and your quest. In fact, my girlfriend and I cried near the end during your one on one with Dave. So kudos on a fantastic film. I hope it does really well and gets a big showing. Just know that I went home, and went on iTunes and enjoyed the Kinks. So, you’ve already won me over.
Thank you.
Erica”
Geoff:
London should be great. Interesting to hear reviews by theatre-goers.
“I dare say, bloak, “I think the media should not be taken too seriously as they tend to be hypocritical.
However, in true ‘have your cake and eat it mold,’ I would say if the media reviews are positive, you will have passed the ultimate test.