H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D

Mariachi band is out (damn) and marching band is in. Fox wants a marching band to give the premiere a "hometown" flavor, which I guess is what they wanted- juxtaposing Hollywood glitz with us desert rats. I don't know why they don't do mariachis. I think marching band and I think Midwest. If they really want to play up our uncouthness vs. Hollywood's glitz they should go big or go home.

Harkins is protesting though, since they aren't a rinky-dink cinema, but a major movie chain.

Honestly. What do they think we are, some podunk town? Tempe's a college town, but ASU isn't exactly the hick university. It's the fourth largest in the nation.

Oh well. Slap me down and call me Herbert, I guess. (Or Hernando! No? No?)

I wonder if Hugh Jackman will ride a limo to the premiere, or if angels themselves will bear him down on their feathered wings to the red carpet

Life around this office has been crazy in the past week. Ever since we won the contest, we’ve been trying to do three weeks of planning within one week. I’m kind of watching my boss in awe. Patrick seems really stressed about it, but then I would be too. I try to do what I can and give him his space.

I wish I could follow him around more, though. We’re trying to plan this mega-huge red carpet event (the first time that Arizona has ever seen such a thing!) and all I can do is follow him around like a duckling and try and soak in as much as possible. A million things go into planning this thing and I hadn’t considered one until now. I mean, so much more than just trying to find a red carpet and lay it down. There’s Tempe police, barriers, parking, bleachers, press, photographers, limo drivers, inside security, outside security, businesses that surround, the fact that the airport is so close we have to wrestle with getting spotlights or laser shows, what kind of barriers to use, where exactly we’ll funnel the red carpet and the stars, where they’re staying, when they’ll get here, how they’ll get into the theater, which theater do we put the press in, which theater do we put interns in, how do we control the theaters, how do we get the public in at the same time, what events do we hold beforehand, what do we do after?

Phew.

All the interns are in one theater, and I think it will be interesting, even though I wish I was in the Cine Capri! I am pretty sure I will have a fun time fetching Hugh Jackman’s coffee beforehand though.

In other news, I learned how to use the phone system today. I will never fear the hold/transfer button again. I will, however, begin to fear all these press members asking for credentials/guests/better seating.

Ps: Pretty sure we're getting a mariachi band for the premiere. Awesome.

We won the X-Men Origins contest. And I have attended my first press conference. Saying that was exciting would be an understatement.

They held it in the Cine Capri, and filled the auditorium with the flack, press, and public who were there to cheer and scream for a chance to see Hugh Jackman congratulate Tempe (via DVD taped message, of course) and the chance to be on the news. I could barely move, we were so knee-deep in all the publicists from Tempe Marketplace, Harkins, Allied, and the news stations.

Dan Harkins (the owner of the theater chain) was there to announce it for the crowd. I almost knocked him over while trying to wade through the crowd and apologized profusely.

The crowd was absolutely thrilled to be there, you could tell, and Patrick mainly had me taking pictures- or at least, trying to in the poor theater lighting.

I feel all important.

I shadowed Patrick relentlessly. Fox News and ABC 15 were there to cover Dan Harkins's speech and Hugh Jackman's message (which was essentially a thank you for everyone who participated, and that he was all ready for the AZ heat, given that he's Australian, insert obligatory joke about Arizona weather here.)

What was most interesting for me, I think, was watching Bill Goodykoontz (a columnist for the AZ Republic) walk around with his little notepad taking notes and interviewing people. He looks so unassuming. I kind of want to go up to him and tell him how I read all his columns in the AZ Rep and that he's probably the reason I started in journalism, but I don't know. Too sad? What is the statute of limitations on fangirling?

Note: His article here: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/movies/articles/2009/04/20/20090420wolverine.html

X Men Origins

We are in first place for the X-Men Origins contest.

First place.

I'm really kind of taken aback by that, and the change in the office. Suddenly the thing Aaron said 'would never happen in a million years' has everyone jumping. We threw a voting party last night and I dropped everything to help out. Davis, CA is our competition and in the number 2 slot, but we might as well be tied.

The party was a phenomenal success. We set up two interns (Elizabeth and I) on our laptops, with TXTMovieClub next to us on their Macs, while a few other interns went out to street team and collect names/ages/emails. People are coming past the table in droves though, and we're filling out the website as quickly as we can while answering questions of the crowd over and over. They get free stuff for filling out the questionnaire and giving us their email, so obviously we have to contend with lines. Further proof about the American citizen's need to do ANYTHING for sweet, sweet free swag.

Although I can't really blame them. This is pretty cool.

The website kept crashing, and Elizabeth and I would panic when we stared at the long lists of all the names and email addresses. But in the last half hour it seemed the internets parted and cleared just for the sole purpose of us grinding Davis into the ground.

The contest ended at 9pm AZ time and so we will be on pins and needles until Monday.