My Name Is Jerry - the best day
One of the best days of this whole affair, by far.
It was a day off for the crew, but the promotions team had some work ahead of them.
First I slept in. Got up, had coffee, and watched a movie with Brittany.
Around 1:30, I swung by Mitchell Place and took a look at some footage I had, then watched a meeting about the budget. Those are always filled with a kind of tension that's so thick you could choke on it. It ended pretty well, though.
After that, I headed down to the mall with the camera equipment crossed my fingers that everything would go well. Doug Jones was going to appear in public from 6-8 that night and sign autographs and take photos. However, he had expressed concern that no one would show up. That ended up not being the case. When he arrived, there were already 50 people waiting in line to see him and at 8:30, security guards had to stand at the end of the line to stop people from sneaking in.
The people were all incredibly nice and enthusiastic. We got a lot of great interviews and everyone was in a good mood by the end.
My whole family even stopped by to see me, and to support me more than anything else since I couldn't really stop and talk to them. At the end, we got some photos of us with Doug that'll make their way onto Facebook at some point.
Doug expressed his great relief at the end as well and talked about how happy he was with the turnout. That's what we were aiming for. The weeks before this, I worked like hell to find places to contact. I sent press releases to Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Springfield, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Chicago, Louisville, and any comic book shops or student newspapers I could find. I must've sent the press release to over 100 places. It must've worked to some extent, because the turnout was better than we expected.
After that, we tore down everything and headed out to a house in Gaston, IN. A chance meeting between the writer, David Hamilton, and the owners of an embroidery shop in town (their names are Fred and Julie) led to us finding two crucial locations to film at, and they have welcomed the cast and crew into their home with open arms. Last night, Doug Jones appeared on a TV show called "Fear Itself" in which he would play a man infected by the Windigo spirit which causes him to hunger for human flesh. Fred and Julie invited the cast and crew all over to watch it on the big screen TV in their basement. Only 20 or so showed up, but we had a blast. Before the show, we ate snacks and drank beer and listened to their old jukebox. I listened to the beautiful pops and crackles emitting from an original pressing of the Simon & Garfunkle "Cecilia" .45.
The show was good, campy, bloody horror fun. Most of the show was pretty dumb until you got to Doug. Doug's character was one of the creepiest creations I've ever seen on a TV show. He even spat out some cheesy dialogue that we all, including Doug himself, laughed at. Doug was the best part of the show, the rest was so-so.
After the show, I met Doug's driver for the day, a guy named Rex. Seriously. He and Doug have been friends for years now. Rex had just bought a Mustang convertible, and was driving it from Texas to Wisconsin to go to a wedding and decided to stop over and see Doug. So he was his driver for the day. He told me about the car, and then he offered to let Caleb and I go for a ride in it. Actually he offered to let me drive it, but I don't drive stick! CURSES! So we went barreling down the country roads at 70 miles an hour for a few minutes. My oh my, that's a lot of fun.
Once we got back, Caleb and I both heard Fred mention something about his t-shirt screenprinter and that he had it at the house. We were both curious, so we asked if we could see it. He was more than happy to show it to us. He took us out to this shack in his back yard where all of his screenprinting equipment was at and even told us how it all worked. It was very cool. He even offered to let me come up and learn how to use the machine. I might take him up on that offer.
After that it was getting kind of late, most of the people had left. It was Doug, Rudy, Rex, Caleb, Fred, and Julie. We chit-chatted for a little while until we all agreed that we should let them go to sleep, seeing as they had been so hospitable, the least we could do was let them get some rest. They offered to have the wrap party there. I'm willing to bet we'll take them up on that offer. I have rarely met such welcoming and wonderful people in my whole life.
You might think that was the end of the night, but it wasn't.
I got a text from Brittany inviting me to Mo's for a drink. I went there and had a beer with her and Nelson. We weren't there long when we noticed that one of their workmates was passed out on the couch, which is apparently something she does regularly. So we arranged to get her home, and then a few of us helped her get up and walk her out to her car as she fought and cursed at us the whole time.
After we got her out to the car, I noticed one very big guy had been following us. He was trailing Nelson and barking questions at him:
-"What's your name?!"
-"Nelson."
-"What's your LAST name?!"
-Nelson has a foreign last name that I have no idea how to pronounce. All I remember is that when he told the large man his last name, he rolled his R's, probably just for the hell of it.
-The man replied, "Don't come to Doc's, ya alien!"
The man continued to vomit racial hatred for a moment and then we just walked away. The man gave Nelson a very long and hard stare, he was ready to beat the shit out of Nelson and I wasn't going to see that happen. So I took Nelson home. He seemed somewhat grateful, but also indifferent because he said he could've just outrun the guy. Which is true.
We popped back to Mo's so Brittany could get her bike, and I walked outside and had one of Carter's hot dogs for the very first time. A staple of Muncie, and I got to try it for the first time last night. I ate my polish sausage with a couple of other people from the set that I bumped into. I finished it, said good night, and promptly went home and fell face-flat on my bed and went to sleep.
Damn. What a good day.
It was a day off for the crew, but the promotions team had some work ahead of them.
First I slept in. Got up, had coffee, and watched a movie with Brittany.
Around 1:30, I swung by Mitchell Place and took a look at some footage I had, then watched a meeting about the budget. Those are always filled with a kind of tension that's so thick you could choke on it. It ended pretty well, though.
After that, I headed down to the mall with the camera equipment crossed my fingers that everything would go well. Doug Jones was going to appear in public from 6-8 that night and sign autographs and take photos. However, he had expressed concern that no one would show up. That ended up not being the case. When he arrived, there were already 50 people waiting in line to see him and at 8:30, security guards had to stand at the end of the line to stop people from sneaking in.
The people were all incredibly nice and enthusiastic. We got a lot of great interviews and everyone was in a good mood by the end.
My whole family even stopped by to see me, and to support me more than anything else since I couldn't really stop and talk to them. At the end, we got some photos of us with Doug that'll make their way onto Facebook at some point.
Doug expressed his great relief at the end as well and talked about how happy he was with the turnout. That's what we were aiming for. The weeks before this, I worked like hell to find places to contact. I sent press releases to Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Springfield, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Chicago, Louisville, and any comic book shops or student newspapers I could find. I must've sent the press release to over 100 places. It must've worked to some extent, because the turnout was better than we expected.
After that, we tore down everything and headed out to a house in Gaston, IN. A chance meeting between the writer, David Hamilton, and the owners of an embroidery shop in town (their names are Fred and Julie) led to us finding two crucial locations to film at, and they have welcomed the cast and crew into their home with open arms. Last night, Doug Jones appeared on a TV show called "Fear Itself" in which he would play a man infected by the Windigo spirit which causes him to hunger for human flesh. Fred and Julie invited the cast and crew all over to watch it on the big screen TV in their basement. Only 20 or so showed up, but we had a blast. Before the show, we ate snacks and drank beer and listened to their old jukebox. I listened to the beautiful pops and crackles emitting from an original pressing of the Simon & Garfunkle "Cecilia" .45.
The show was good, campy, bloody horror fun. Most of the show was pretty dumb until you got to Doug. Doug's character was one of the creepiest creations I've ever seen on a TV show. He even spat out some cheesy dialogue that we all, including Doug himself, laughed at. Doug was the best part of the show, the rest was so-so.
After the show, I met Doug's driver for the day, a guy named Rex. Seriously. He and Doug have been friends for years now. Rex had just bought a Mustang convertible, and was driving it from Texas to Wisconsin to go to a wedding and decided to stop over and see Doug. So he was his driver for the day. He told me about the car, and then he offered to let Caleb and I go for a ride in it. Actually he offered to let me drive it, but I don't drive stick! CURSES! So we went barreling down the country roads at 70 miles an hour for a few minutes. My oh my, that's a lot of fun.
Once we got back, Caleb and I both heard Fred mention something about his t-shirt screenprinter and that he had it at the house. We were both curious, so we asked if we could see it. He was more than happy to show it to us. He took us out to this shack in his back yard where all of his screenprinting equipment was at and even told us how it all worked. It was very cool. He even offered to let me come up and learn how to use the machine. I might take him up on that offer.
After that it was getting kind of late, most of the people had left. It was Doug, Rudy, Rex, Caleb, Fred, and Julie. We chit-chatted for a little while until we all agreed that we should let them go to sleep, seeing as they had been so hospitable, the least we could do was let them get some rest. They offered to have the wrap party there. I'm willing to bet we'll take them up on that offer. I have rarely met such welcoming and wonderful people in my whole life.
You might think that was the end of the night, but it wasn't.
I got a text from Brittany inviting me to Mo's for a drink. I went there and had a beer with her and Nelson. We weren't there long when we noticed that one of their workmates was passed out on the couch, which is apparently something she does regularly. So we arranged to get her home, and then a few of us helped her get up and walk her out to her car as she fought and cursed at us the whole time.
After we got her out to the car, I noticed one very big guy had been following us. He was trailing Nelson and barking questions at him:
-"What's your name?!"
-"Nelson."
-"What's your LAST name?!"
-Nelson has a foreign last name that I have no idea how to pronounce. All I remember is that when he told the large man his last name, he rolled his R's, probably just for the hell of it.
-The man replied, "Don't come to Doc's, ya alien!"
The man continued to vomit racial hatred for a moment and then we just walked away. The man gave Nelson a very long and hard stare, he was ready to beat the shit out of Nelson and I wasn't going to see that happen. So I took Nelson home. He seemed somewhat grateful, but also indifferent because he said he could've just outrun the guy. Which is true.
We popped back to Mo's so Brittany could get her bike, and I walked outside and had one of Carter's hot dogs for the very first time. A staple of Muncie, and I got to try it for the first time last night. I ate my polish sausage with a couple of other people from the set that I bumped into. I finished it, said good night, and promptly went home and fell face-flat on my bed and went to sleep.
Damn. What a good day.