We just returned today from a trip to St. Louis for TWISTED's theatrical premiere. While another small indie film called Indiana Jones also opened this weekend, we managed to hold our own as the highest rated movie of the weekend in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The film will continue to play in St. Louis and in Madison until this Thursday, and we're so appreciate to everyone in both cities who has come out to support the film!
We began bright and early Friday morning after just a few hours of sleep (Naomi's flight got in at 1 AM). Silly Jilly, a St. Louis twister, arranged to have a news crew do 5 spots on their morning show from the theater, where several twisters met us at 6:30 AM. Unfortunately, Sara's alarm clock was no match for her super sleeping powers, so she woke up at 6:02 AM. After a few expletives and a quick trip to the theater, we were cheerfully met by Dale, one of the managers at The Tivoli, who kindly opened the theater early and brought donuts and coffee for everyone. He even put out a cup of quarters so all the twisters would have money to pay their car meters. You have to love the people of St. Louis.
As the twisters made amazing sculptures that will adorn the theater all week, Tim Ezell from Fox 2 News interviewed us.
We then covered The Loop with balloons and posters. Blueberry Hill, a favorite hangout spot, agreed to hang an amazing airplane designed by another local twister, Sammy J.
The twisters of St. Louis are an amazingly kind, talented, and well-organized bunch. They got us press and audience members, and showed us lots of balloony love. We were particularly touched by one twister, who saw the film a few months ago when we played at the St. Louis International Film Festival. He told us that he brought his parents to that screening, and that the film had completely changed their relationship. Until they saw the film, his parents were disappointed that their son had chosen a career in balloons and it had placed a strain on their relationship. He told us that the movie gave them a respect for the impact a little piece of latex can have, and that now they support his choice to be a balloon artist. Now, he says he gets chills when he hears the film's theme song because of the impact it has had on his life. It was an amazing feeling to hear his story.
The screenings and Q and A's were great. We even heard a few new questions, which is always a pleasure. At each screening, we offered a special prize to the first person who could spell "Balloonamentary" correctly. It proved to be a hard task for many people. The coveted award? Two tickets to the following night's screening (which always got a laugh) to give to a friend.
A few people asked for autographs and pictures, which was fun. Audience members included: people with a new-found interest in twisting, people we met randomly throughout the weekend (including a woman who served Naomi coffee earlier in the day), a woman involved with the children's circus at The City Museum (an amazing group we saw this fall), a lawyer offering pro bono help, a man who was offended by a scene in the film he felt was unfair to the gay community (a criticism we had not yet heard and disagree with), and a whole bunch of Wash U friends who were in town for a wedding.
Last night, as we waited to do Q and A, the guy making the popcorn told us he'd just gotten off the phone with his girlfriend in Ko Phi Phi (Thailand - don't feel bad - we had to look it up, too). She asked him what films were playing over the weekend, and told him that she had actually just watched out movie on TV. He said, "Do you know you're on TV in Ko Phi Phi?" We were all, "You down with wha...?" We had no idea! Our international distributor is taking care of deals in various places and this was news to us.
Thanks so much to Dale, Travis, and the whole crew at The Tivoli, and to Sarah at Sundance Cinemas in Madison for all of your support! And thanks to all of the twisters in St. Louis and Madison for your amazing art!
