Guest Blogger: Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson from Canada (yes, he's heard the jokes) was a co-producer of the original BANANAS!* movie and hence became a subject of BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*. And as a co-producer of THE CORPORATION, he's familiar with the nature of the beast. Here's his account of a unique Sundance experience.
After getting stuck at the Seattle airport for 27 hours (not something I recommend; they really don’t know how to deal with snow), any change of scenery was welcome. So you can imagine the joy I felt at finally landing in Salt Lake City and meeting a nice resident who offered to drive me and my new airport buddy David (co-director of the excellent 5 Broken Cameras) straight to the theatre where BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!* was set to have its North American premiere at Sundance.
Taking off – on a plane and on Kickstarter!
Time to go West, to my very first Sundance Film Festival. Flying out today: Copenhagen, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and then a shuttle up to Park City.
My schedule is booked: screenings, parties and morning radio-shows!
Friday will see our very first US screening of BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*. Remembering the L.A. Film Festival premiere of BANANAS!* we know we can except anything. So the butterflies will be there. But my lawyer Lincoln Bandlow will be there with me. Feels good, and safe.
Our Kickstarter campaign has taken off in a very positive way. Soon 6,000 dollars, after only six days. There's still way to go before we reach our target of 15,000 dollars. If we don't get there, no money will be transferred. So please keep spreading the news, and tell your friends to join the campaign.
Remember this not only a campaign for funding a film, it's also an outreach campagin. We want this film to be seen all over the world, and we hope you all can use this film in an imporant debate on free speech and on corporate attempts at controlling the news stories that reach us every day.
Well, now I have to close my bag. Carry it down the stairs, walk to Malmö Triangeln station, and jump on the train to Copenhagen Airport. It takes only 16 minutes.
Dancing in the Sun
An email from Caroline Libresco made my heart beat.
Dear Fredrik and Margarete,
On behalf of John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, it’s our great pleasure to invite BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!* to play in our World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Our programming team is very excited to present the North American premiere of this excellent film.
One email can sometimes change a lot of things. This one was then followed by a flood of emails from film festivals, sales agents, distributors, journalists – and of course friends wishing us all the best.
