Tonight at The Fire!

Think I'm psyched? My son's band Flamingo, has their very first gig tonight at The Fire and these flyers are hanging up all over downtown Philly. How cool is that. I can't wait; except for one little problem. They have over 100 people coming and the room only holds 100 people and there are no advance sales. So I actually have to stand in line to see my own son play and pray I get in. Arghhh....well, I know me, I'll probably be in line at 5:00 p.m.

Other than that, I've spent the entire day writing a synopsis; I'm finally happy with it but of course that could all change tomorrow.

It's my daughter Julie's one year anniversary with her boyfriend, Matt, and they're going out to dinner at the same restaurant where they had their first date. Aww...

That's all for now. Can't wait to report on Flamingo tomorrow. Knowing me, I'm sure I'll have a story though of course it can't be as good as the time I got moshed. Yep, thrown up in the air and passed from kid to kid. I was praying for death.

Oh, this just in. Found a little article in the Hollywood Reporter which briefly mentions the kids performing at ShoWest in Vegas:


New Movie Reviews - New Upcoming Movie Releases
March 16, 2005

'Shrek 2' promos win big at Showmanship Awards

By Sheigh Crabtree
LAS VEGAS -- Ambitious, creative grass-roots marketers from local theater chains nationwide were honored for their innovative and philanthropic promotional initiatives in 2004 as the 24th annual Hollywood Reporter Showmanship Awards took place Tuesday at a ShoWest luncheon.

Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller presided over the event, which was kicked off by a throbbing live performance by Paul Green's School of Rock band, which will be featured in Newmarket Films' upcoming "Rock School" documentary.

"Teller and I set up a school of magic, but all we were doing was killing rabbits," cracked Jillette, before introducing Robert J. Dowling, editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter.

Dowling highlighted the importance of local movie promotions during a time when consumers are increasingly distracted by emerging forms of digital media.

"If you think about it, one of the most challenging words in business today is fragmentation," Dowling said. "The consumer market is becoming so fragmented by choices, but the thing that isn't changing is the amount of time that the consumer has to invest in what they're going to do. And you are competing for that time -- both their entertainment time and the entertainment dollar. What you do at the local level has a lot to do with driving home the message and the excitement of the movie. So it's our ambition to honor you and honor the creativity that you bring to your communities."

Eight awards were given from a pool of 200 entries that Dowling noted he would like to see increase to a pool of at least 1,000. Dowling encouraged attendees to submit their work for Showmanship Award consideration "so you can demonstrate to the rest of your community what it is you're doing to make the film business that much more successful and fun for the consumer."

California's Kirkorian Theatres picked up the top Showmanship prize from DreamWorks exhibition exec Pat Gonzalez.

Kirkorian's Reynee Scofield was honored for an exhaustive "Shrek 2" promotion that involved local charities, such vendors as Baskin-Robbins and CompUSA, a raffle, a costume party and a movie-themed look-a-like white steed and a miniature donkey.

Dale Hurst of Carmike Cinemas 9 in Georgia was honored for best use of newspaper for a promotion that published winning "Shrek 2" attendees' names in the classified section of the local paper.

"We're proof that a small theater in a small market can win big," Hurst said.

Local Las Vegas theater owner Johnny Brenden won the cross promotion award for a communitywide outreach around the release of "Catwoman" at Brenden Theatres. Brenden and his team worked with the Palms Casino, the local Jaguar dealership, comic book stores, a local animal shelter for an adopt-a-cat program and a Ducati motorcycle dealership in order to build excitement and bring more patrons into his auditoriums.

The best use of media and stunts award went to Angelique Brunsman from Hollywood Blvd. Cinemas in Illinois. Brunsman hired three of the original dwarves who played munchkins in "The Wizard of Oz" for a rerelease of the movie. The actors were subsequently front-page news and lead broadcast news stories before "Oz's" opening.

The best community outreach award went to Jeremy Kress of Studio 28 in Michigan for a local promotion of "Shrek 2." The theater used "Shrek 2's" release to produce an array of charity events -- from a barbecue to a children's walk-a-thon -- to raise money for the local Cancer Society.

The best presentation binder award went to Pamela Wampler of Premiere Cinemas in Texas. Wampler designed a large scrapbook to tie in with "Ladder 49." Part of the promotion was aimed at bringing in more volunteer firefighters into the local ranks.

The in-theater display award was given to Jodi Pine of Muvico Theatres in Florida. Pine built a scale "Shrek 2" model in the theater lobby complete with a life-size onion chariot and a replica of Shrek's swamphouse staffed by costumed performers.

The gold heart award for philanthropy went to Canada's Famous Players in recognition of the nearly $1 million the movie chain raised for charity.

Jillette closed the event with a fire-eating act assisted by The Hollywood Reporter's Dawn Allen, who lit a cigarette from the magician's flaming mouth.