Been a long time
I've basically transitioned to FB as most everyone I communicate with here is also there, but I don't really use their 'note' option. Watching Dallas Buyers Club rekindled my Jared Leto love, as he is so, so amazing in it, and I decided to look up tour dates for his band, 30 Seconds To Mars. I learned that in addition to the concert tickets they offer VIP packages with a meet and greet and professional photo. It's pretty pricey, but worth it to me for a guaranteed meeting. Brenda actually met Jared in 05 (before I knew her) after a 30STM show here in KC, when they only had 1 album out. Anyway, I saw they'd just been in St Louis the week prior, and were going to be in Tulsa the following week. Brenda and I were going to drive in, as it's only a 4 hour drive, but it was sleeting/snowing. I was really bummed about missing it, particularly since that was the last US tour date until who knows when. They did have a couple of US screenings of the band's documentary, Artifact, in LA and NY. I decided on LA, mostly because airfare was cheaper. I'd been emailing someone from the VIP package company and explained that due to also purchasing airfare I'd need to hold off until a few days prior to the event to purchase my package, and she assured me there would be one available even if it sold out. I booked my flight without knowing the time or venue of the event, but luckily my travel times worked out well. Many people questioned my sanity to plan a trip solely on meeting a celebrity, but having a personal, albeit small, interaction with someone whose talent I respect and admire means a lot to me. I'd hoped to meet up with my cousin and some other friends, but the timing didn't work out. It was at a cool theater called The Beverly Cinema - I love places with lots of history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Beverly_Cinema
To give you some back story, the documentary started as a project to film the making of their 3rd album, This Is War, but prior to getting in the studio they'd come to realize that not only were they not making any money despite selling millions of copies of their 2nd album, but were actually in debt to their label for over 2 million dollars. Jared did some research, and among other things came across the Olivia De Haviland (of Gone With the Wind) law, which stated that no one is obligated to their contract past 7 years even if the contract states it is to be for longer. 30STM had already been under their current contract for 9 years, but were still obligated to release 3 more albums. They stated they wanted out of their contract, and EMI sued them for 30 million dollars. The lawsuit lasted nearly a year, and eventually it was somewhat resolved by renegotiating their contract, however I still don't think they are making $ from their albums - just their tours. And they tour A LOT. If you are at all interested, you can 'rent'/buy the documentary at Amazon or ITUNES or purchase a copy at their virtual site, Vyrt.com .
Anyway, here's my run-down - I hope to have my pro pic soon.
I figured I'd see what I can remember, as most of the q&a is kind of a blur as I was mainly focused on just watching him and relishing being in the same room. :-P He was wearing black pants, a black long sleeved t shirt, a lumberjack plaid button down around his waist and a black dress jacket he took off for the q&a but put on for pics. I talked w a few nice ladies in line then made a point to get a fairly close aisle seat so I'd have a good view. A neat lady, US born but England raised as she had an accent, sat next to me so we chatted and she told me about doing freelance animation work in LA and wanting to do a Kickstarter for a vegan cookbook and some other things. I wish I'd gotten her name. Anyway, he decided to sit on the edge of the stage and have people stand for questions. I thought he'd introduce the movie but I don't think he was there yet. Reni was giving instructions after the movie about what we could and couldn't do and he just kind of appeared and was all, heyyy. He gave a pretty extensive background on the movie and then took quite a few questions. He imitated a French woman's accent, and a man who I thought was Polish but may have been Russian hence him telling us during photos that Leto means summer in Russian. I thought it was random but maybe not. He gave very extensive, thorough answers, often times getting off on other tangents. He eventually got back to the main question but one time he almost didn't. I think artistic people just function on a different plane. As I said, I was super amped up when he first came out but after a while it was like we were all just hanging out having a conversation. He's very funny and engaging and down to earth. He definitely wanted to make clear he's not really as big of a deal as people might want to make him out to be. A particularly sweet story was him talking about meeting Olivia de Haviland (who's around 100 by now) in Paris and her offering him this cheese appetizer and he obliged even though he doesn't eat cheese bc he wanted to make her happy. He also joked that she'd replied to his letter about the contract law named for her and how she said he should call on her if he was in Paris and that maybe that meant he'd have to send a carrier pigeon (I.e doing things the old fashioned way). I'm so glad he got to have some down time in Mexico between Christmas and this week. They apparently ate lots of guacamole and went snorkeling. He did say he sort of dreaded the new year/being busy again this week as he went from Mexico to LA then to NY for the film critic awards then back to LA for Ellen Th and then the GG's Sun.
Sadly they're still in debt to EMI even though they renegotiated their contract as they're stuck in the cycle that their most recent album sales don't cover production costs. He kicked in a lot of his own $ for Artifact/This Is War and isn't necessarily as well off as you might think. They make most of their $ touring. And even though DBC is getting lots of Buzz, it's still an indie that didn't get as wide of a release.
Now for the meeting. We'd lined up on one wall and watched the ppl ahead of us. I noticed him having a fairly lengthy interaction w a disabled woman and he was rubbing her back and so attentive. When it was my turn one of the handlers asked if I was ready- maybe I looked nervous. I said I was as ready as I'd ever be. I considered saying thanks in lieu of asking a question but decided I'd try for one on one. Other ppl were hugging him but I wanted to be sure and get permission. As I knew I didn't have much time I quickly thanked him for coming out to meet w us and told him It meant a lot that he took the time to do it. I honestly don't remember what he said beyond you're welcome but I think he appreciated hearing it. Then I asked if it was ok to hug him and he said yes. I thought we'd hug and then do the pic but I realized the pic was happening and turned to face the camera while we were still hugging. Then as I moved off to the side he told me to take care and have a good night and rubbed my back/shoulder. I think he wanted to do what he could to make each person feel comfortable/ special.
I'm so so glad I got to do this even if it was a brief interaction. I know celebrities are real people but it's important to me to have that personal interaction to make them seem more real/normal, if that makes sense.
And finally, his interview on Ellen, which was filmed on Thurs and aired on Fri - same outfit I saw him in =):
http://www.ellentv.com/2014/01/10/ellen-and-jared-leto-talk-golden-globes/ - there should also be a link to their cover of Stay.
To give you some back story, the documentary started as a project to film the making of their 3rd album, This Is War, but prior to getting in the studio they'd come to realize that not only were they not making any money despite selling millions of copies of their 2nd album, but were actually in debt to their label for over 2 million dollars. Jared did some research, and among other things came across the Olivia De Haviland (of Gone With the Wind) law, which stated that no one is obligated to their contract past 7 years even if the contract states it is to be for longer. 30STM had already been under their current contract for 9 years, but were still obligated to release 3 more albums. They stated they wanted out of their contract, and EMI sued them for 30 million dollars. The lawsuit lasted nearly a year, and eventually it was somewhat resolved by renegotiating their contract, however I still don't think they are making $ from their albums - just their tours. And they tour A LOT. If you are at all interested, you can 'rent'/buy the documentary at Amazon or ITUNES or purchase a copy at their virtual site, Vyrt.com .
Anyway, here's my run-down - I hope to have my pro pic soon.
I figured I'd see what I can remember, as most of the q&a is kind of a blur as I was mainly focused on just watching him and relishing being in the same room. :-P He was wearing black pants, a black long sleeved t shirt, a lumberjack plaid button down around his waist and a black dress jacket he took off for the q&a but put on for pics. I talked w a few nice ladies in line then made a point to get a fairly close aisle seat so I'd have a good view. A neat lady, US born but England raised as she had an accent, sat next to me so we chatted and she told me about doing freelance animation work in LA and wanting to do a Kickstarter for a vegan cookbook and some other things. I wish I'd gotten her name. Anyway, he decided to sit on the edge of the stage and have people stand for questions. I thought he'd introduce the movie but I don't think he was there yet. Reni was giving instructions after the movie about what we could and couldn't do and he just kind of appeared and was all, heyyy. He gave a pretty extensive background on the movie and then took quite a few questions. He imitated a French woman's accent, and a man who I thought was Polish but may have been Russian hence him telling us during photos that Leto means summer in Russian. I thought it was random but maybe not. He gave very extensive, thorough answers, often times getting off on other tangents. He eventually got back to the main question but one time he almost didn't. I think artistic people just function on a different plane. As I said, I was super amped up when he first came out but after a while it was like we were all just hanging out having a conversation. He's very funny and engaging and down to earth. He definitely wanted to make clear he's not really as big of a deal as people might want to make him out to be. A particularly sweet story was him talking about meeting Olivia de Haviland (who's around 100 by now) in Paris and her offering him this cheese appetizer and he obliged even though he doesn't eat cheese bc he wanted to make her happy. He also joked that she'd replied to his letter about the contract law named for her and how she said he should call on her if he was in Paris and that maybe that meant he'd have to send a carrier pigeon (I.e doing things the old fashioned way). I'm so glad he got to have some down time in Mexico between Christmas and this week. They apparently ate lots of guacamole and went snorkeling. He did say he sort of dreaded the new year/being busy again this week as he went from Mexico to LA then to NY for the film critic awards then back to LA for Ellen Th and then the GG's Sun.
Sadly they're still in debt to EMI even though they renegotiated their contract as they're stuck in the cycle that their most recent album sales don't cover production costs. He kicked in a lot of his own $ for Artifact/This Is War and isn't necessarily as well off as you might think. They make most of their $ touring. And even though DBC is getting lots of Buzz, it's still an indie that didn't get as wide of a release.
Now for the meeting. We'd lined up on one wall and watched the ppl ahead of us. I noticed him having a fairly lengthy interaction w a disabled woman and he was rubbing her back and so attentive. When it was my turn one of the handlers asked if I was ready- maybe I looked nervous. I said I was as ready as I'd ever be. I considered saying thanks in lieu of asking a question but decided I'd try for one on one. Other ppl were hugging him but I wanted to be sure and get permission. As I knew I didn't have much time I quickly thanked him for coming out to meet w us and told him It meant a lot that he took the time to do it. I honestly don't remember what he said beyond you're welcome but I think he appreciated hearing it. Then I asked if it was ok to hug him and he said yes. I thought we'd hug and then do the pic but I realized the pic was happening and turned to face the camera while we were still hugging. Then as I moved off to the side he told me to take care and have a good night and rubbed my back/shoulder. I think he wanted to do what he could to make each person feel comfortable/ special.
I'm so so glad I got to do this even if it was a brief interaction. I know celebrities are real people but it's important to me to have that personal interaction to make them seem more real/normal, if that makes sense.
And finally, his interview on Ellen, which was filmed on Thurs and aired on Fri - same outfit I saw him in =):
http://www.ellentv.com/2014/01/10/ellen-and-jared-leto-talk-golden-globes/ - there should also be a link to their cover of Stay.