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The 2007 Florida Music Festival

Tomorrow I'll be part of a panel, Marketing Your Films and Videos, which is part of the 2007 Florida Music Festival here in Orlando. The panel is from 3:30 PM - 4:45 PM in Room A at the downtown Marriott. Here's the address: Marriott Downtown Orlando 400 West Livingston Street Orlando, Florida 32801 Some great folks on the panel, including Roger Moore from the Orlando Sentinel and Rich Grula from the UCF Film program, so I'm looking forward to a spirited discussion. I'll probably talk a bit about our film festival strategy for The Blair Witch Project as well as some of the crazy non-traditional marketing campaigns I've been doing with Campfire. Speaking of Campfire, in August I'm finally moving to New York. With Campfire booming, I've been flying to New York about once a week, so it's time to make the move up north. Orlando has been really good to me -- I have a "Goodbye Orlando" post cooking for the near future, but in the meantime swing on by the FMF and say hello. Hope to see you there!

When Pigs Fly update

Sunday's screening and discussion of the moving documentary When Pigs Fly was fantastic. The event was completely sold out. Lory (barefoot in her wheelchair), Charlene, and most of the family were present at the screening, and the discussion session after was very emotional. People were inspired by Lory's life story, and many were angered by some of the Worker's Comp issues raised in the film. The presence of a CSX lawyer in the audience only served to ratchet up the tension during the discussion. Read more

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When Pigs Fly

My friends Eric Breitenbach and Phyllis Redman recently completed an absolute stunner of a documentary called When Pigs Fly. It's an incredibly moving portrait of a quadriplegic woman who lives with and cares for over 700 pigs. Now on the festival circuit, check the website for any screenings near you -- this one is not to be missed. On March 25, 2007, I'll be moderating a panel discussion after a screening of the film at the Florida Film Festival, so if come on by and check it out on the big screen, as it is a beautifully photographed movie. Until then, enjoy the trailer:

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Believersmovie.com is now live

thanks to the amazing work of Daniel Karcher, the BELIEVERS official film website is now live. You can check it out at www.believersmovie.com Thanks everyone for their continued support over at Haxan and please visit the site as well as joining us in our viral campaign at: www.myspace.com/believersmovie Best -Dan Myrick

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Altered VIRTUAL DRIVE-IN screening tomorrow night, and YOU are invited!

We are excited to announce that Altered will be playing tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 19th at 8:00 PM EST in the virtual world of Second Life, and everyone is invited! Admission is free, but seating is limited so show up early. Ed Sanchez and some of the other people involved in the making of the film will be on hand to talk shop and answer questions after the screening as well. The event marks the grand opening of Flux's Drive-In on Motorati, which is sponsored by Pontiac. Read more about it, and get a special link to the location here. What is all this virtual alternate world stuff you ask? Remember 20 years ago, when everyone was predicting that people would stop going outside and live virtual lives and the world would end because of the internet? Well, that's Second Life! If you haven't checked it out yet now is a perfect time to experience what all the hoopla is about, and a great chance to hang out with friends and watch a scary movie. Download the free Second Life browser now, create an avatar, and spend a few minutes learning the ropes in Second Life, then come hang with us tomorrow night and watch Altered under the virtual stars! See ya there.

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The difference between Lonelygirl15 and The Blair Witch Project

For all the stories written on The Blair Witch Project, and the marketing campaign in particular, it's amazing how much misinformation is really out there. I've decided it's time to debunk all of these false assumptions and claims, but using projects happening now. When the media starts comparing Blair Witch's marketing campaign to something, as they did with Snakes on a Plane, I'll use that as an opportunity to get underneath the claims and talk about what was really going on. Well, today we have a big one -- Lonelygirl15. Now that we know who is behind Lonelygirl15, it's time to respond to all the reporters and media comparing Lonelygirl15 to The Blair Witch Project. It's an easy comparison to make, considering the media (and advertising industry) at large have never really understood what TBWP campaign was really about, instead chalking it up to a simple "is it real/is it fake" debate. I mean, here's an industry publication that actually claims we generated attention through "teaser clips." In 1999 we were all on dial up, and hardly anyone could figure out how to get video to play online, but hey, it sounds good and makes the comparison more relevant to the story, right? But one of many critical differences between Lonelygirl15 and TBWP is that the meta-mystery of TBWP, the "is it real or fake" question, was simply one layer of the story. An easy one to debunk, no less. Once you found out it wasn't real, there was a central mystery of the story -- "What happened to Heather, Mike, and Josh? Was it supernatural? Was it criminal? What does the found footage reveal?" When people walked out of the theater, these are the questions that fueled the debate, and the meta-questions mattered not. Lonelygirl15, on the other hand, has lost all its mystery with the creators' unmasking, and there's nothing left in the story to grab onto and discuss. They let the "is it real" question dominate the dialog rather than the narrative they were spinning. I admire their resourcefulness and hope they can pull it together and reclaim the momentum they lost, but they are going to have to do it with good old fashioned storytelling, this time.