Ender’s Game – Boycotting Principles in Hollywood?

I have to admit, I LOVE sci-fi movies and I’ve been pretty excited about the trailers for ENDER’S GAME.  I have not read the novel on which it’s based, and for the sake of full disclosure, I share the same publisher as ENDER’S GAME’s author, Orson Scott Card.

Recently, I heard about a grassroots boycott against this movie because Mr. Card has expressed anti-gay views.  This made me wonder about boycotts and consistency.

When I was an idealistic kid, I thought that in an ideal world, everyone should have “full disclosure” so that you can choose whether to see a movie, read a book, listen to music of anyone who’s principles you agree with.  But that’s pretty naive.

Let’s take any movie.  Do we know what the politics and beliefs are of everyone on the crew? In the studio? How about the theater staff?  Should we boycott a movie if we found out that the publicist is a neo-Nazi? Or that a special effects person denies the Rape of Nanking?  Would we know if someone in sound design doesn’t believe global warming is real? Or the person selling popcorn abuses her cat? What if you’re a hardcore Democrat- will you not watch a movie directed by a Republican?

But no one has exactly the same values and principles you have.  What if someone’s politics are identical to yours… but they eat meat and you’re a vegetarian? Boycott them?  What if your favorite actor delivers great performances but he doesn’t support the same charities? What if people the people organizing the boycott have differing principles than you?

See how hard it gets to apply principles and boycotting?

In the case of Mr. Card, as a famous author who has won numerous awards, he’s become a public person and his comments are open to analysis – aside from his anti-gay comments, I have no idea what else he believes in. And absolutely, if anyone feels that his books or the movie ENDER’S GAME has any anti-gay message, he will of course be called on it.

But should the movie be boycotted? Hmmm……

This brought to mind some examples of inconsistency in Hollywood.  Miley Cyrus has used openly racist language? Where’s the boycott cry? And Roman Polanski, who was convicted of drugging and raping a girl, is still a celebrated director. Where’s the boycott cry?  And just a couple days ago, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel let a kid say that America’s answer to its debt to China was “killing everyone in China.” Press coverage outside the US has been outrage.  Press in the US? Zero coverage.

I still plan to see ENDER’s GAME. I like Harrison Ford and will see almost anything he’s in. And I like sci-fi.  BUT, it will be my own opinion and taste that will decide if I like the movie at all.  It does remind me of the noise around BATTLEFIELD EARTH – the trailers looked like crap, I didn’t like Travolta, and it didn’t matter to me that Ron Hubbard wrote it. But I chose not to see it because it didn’t look like a good movie – I did not automatically dismiss it because of Travolta’s or Hubbard’s beliefs. I think if we’re automatically dismissing a book, a movie or a song without experiencing it firsthand and just because you don’t agree with the artist, it’s limiting and narrow-minded.

As far as Mr. Card’s politics and beliefs are concerned, I’ll take Entertainment Weekly’s advice and donate the cost of my movie ticket to a cause I believe in.  I think that balances out any economic gain I feel my movie ticket will contribute to Mr. Card’s coffers.

Book Publicists – Why Authors Are Scared of You

This past weekend, I was at the Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas, signing at the Writers League of Texas booth.  It was a great experience with great crowds – though it was mighty chilly in the tent!

An interesting thing happens when a bunch of authors get together.  We all compare notes to see how we handled agents, publishers and the matter of marketing and publicity.  We all want to know if we’re being treated fairly.

Of course, every author’s experience varies depending on the different people involved, the type of book, the kind of marketplace. I’m sure J.K. Rowling’s agent returns her calls and emails really quickly.  A new author might have to wait!:)  But the most common complaint among us all was about marketing and publicity.

We all want more marketing for our books.  That’s no surprise. Walk into a bookstore or skim a book web site, and you see how many books, new releases or old, have to compete for attention.  However, what was astonishingly creepy was that a number of authors I talked to at the Book Festival all complained about publicity.

As Christian’s former publicist, I decided to handle publicity for the book with my co-author and with my publisher directly.  We made the decision to go this route after interviewing a number of book publicists who didn’t really convey interest or demonstrate any clear strategies.  When a typical book publicist is asking for $2500 a month plus expenses (minimum 3 months), you can imagine that a newbie author wants to know what they’re going to get for their money!

So here’s the weirdest part of my weekend at the Book Festival – all of the authors I talked to had bad experiences…. with the same publicist!  I’m not going to name names, but it is a local publicist who is very active in Texas, trying to find new victims (errr… authors!) I’m so glad I didn’t sign with that company, but it’s so sad and demoralizing to know that authors – who generally don’t make gazillion dollars like a Stephen King or J.K. Rowling – end up falling victim to a greedy publicity company that knows how to prey on the insecurity and lack of marketing skills most authors have.

This publicist wanted to charge for phone calls, charge for emails over a certain length, and, of course, would promise no results or deliverables.  When she kept mis-reading an email, I offered a quick call to clear up issues, but she told me she’d have to charge – all of this before a PR campaign was even designed or launched!  To put this in perspective, it’s like a receptionist charging you for answering the phone when you’re trying to make an appointment to see the doctor!

Publicity is not an easy thing to create – especially to launch a new book.  It’s not just “PR for Dummies” or by the book.  No, because each book is unique, PR has to be custom tailored to the target audience, the projected market, mining existing contacts and developing new ways to reach a crowded marketplace.

When I was creating a marketing campaign for Christian’s career, we had to look at a lot of variables – what did he want to accomplish, who was his competition, what was the goal.  And because the Bales were penniless when they first moved to the US, it was really important to figure out how to run a campaign for the lowest cost possible.

So aspiring writers, when you’re not writing your book, think about marketing, imagine what your selling points are.  Just like when you sell a book proposal to an agent, who in turn has to sell it to a publisher, you need to “sell” it to the press.

Before any book publicists get cranky out there – I absolutely believe in publicity, but I think there are some real sharks.  An educated author has a better chance of getting the most out of their marketing dollar.  (If anyone knows of an Angie’s List or BBB list for book publicists, let me know!)  You could write the greatest book in the world, but if reviewers and press don’t know about it, how are they going to let their readers know?

As they say in Hollywood, you know what happens without publicity?

Nothing.

Where goes Superman?

This past weekend, Henry Cavill’s new movie, COLD LIGHT OF DAY, bombed at the box office with nasty reviews and few dollars.  This is Cavill’s last movie as a civilian.  Next year, he either ascends superstardom or wallows in Brandon Routhdom as the next Superman in MAN OF STEEL.  Either way, he won’t be poor!:)

It’s also the Toronto Film Festival this week – one of my favorite film festivals from my old home town – and it always brings to mind my favorite topic about the battle between indie versus studio films.  And it is a reminder about a filmmaker’s passion and what kind of luck a film, its director and its actors can have.

It was at the Sundance Film Festival many years ago where AMERICAN PSYCHO blasted off to turn Christian into a star.  Indie films like JUNO became hits at a film festival when a major studio decided, “Hey, let’s buy this little movie and see how well it does!”  This month, I’m looking forward to seeing PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER because I loved the book, and I’d love to see how Emma Watson handles her post-POTTER career, and I think the next great actor is Ezra Miller.

In a similar way, my book, Christian Bale’s biography, is sort of like an indie film.  My publisher is smaller – think Summit Entertainment, not Paramount Pictures – and we had no advertising budget.  But the book has caught on and been doing well, consistently in the Top 100 Best Selling Celeb biographies on Amazon for the past 3 months.  Thank you all for your tremendous support!

The fan mail – yes, I’m getting mail! – has also been interesting as the nature of the readers have changed.  I think initially, hardcore Baleheads were bristling at any perceived criticism of their favorite actor.  But as the reviews have been getting out there, and people have been reading the book, the word of mouth is more like, “Wow, I didn’t know that!  I didn’t realize what it takes to be an actor!”

And this summer has been great proof of the power of fandom.  Witness the 2 Internet campaigns – the first one to get Christian to go to Colorado to visit the shooting victims, the second to visit with the cancer-stricken boy – I mean, really, Baleheads, you have to feel good about the power of the Internet and the continued proof of what’s in Christian’s biography – that fans have always mattered to his career.

I’m hard at work on my next book projects.  It’s too early to talk too much about them, but suffice it to say, you write what you know!:)

The Butterfly Effect – Jean McKay

We’re less than a week away from Comic-Con, and some sad news hit me today and made me think of a classic sci-fi theme – The Butterfly Effect.  I’m not talking about the Ashton Kutcher movies, but the concept of cause and effect explored in the movie.

As defined by WiseGeek, The Butterfly Effect is a term used in chaos theory to describe how small changes to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition (also known as an initial condition) can affect large, complex systems.

If you’re a Trekker, you know this concept in every episode when the crew of the Enterprise went back in time to ‘fix’ events.  Other people call this “alternate realities” – that they are infinite numbers of existence – a world where Germany won WW2, or a life where you decided to marry someone else, or you decided to take a left turn instead of a right.  Think about the FINAL DESTINATION movies and think, what if?  What if?

Some butterflies have more powerful effects on your life.  Maybe a different choice of cereal in the morning won’t change world history, but maybe if you went to a different school, a different college, if your parents hadn’t divorced, who knows how your life might have changed.

One great butterfly of change in my life was my high school English teacher, Mrs. Jean McKay, at Westdale Secondary in Hamilton, Ontario.  I’ve heard everyone has a special teacher or mentor who impacts your life, and mine was definitely Mrs. McKay.  She was my teacher for 3 years and she provided the blessing and drive for me to follow my dreams and love of writing.  She and her husband, Dr. Alexander McKay, encouraged me to move to Los Angeles when Christian asked me to relocate to work on his career.

It’s hard to describe her.  She personified elegance and class. A genteel reality from another era and civilization.  Her dinner parties were my first exposure to culture.  At any particular dinner, you could be seated beside a diplomat, a famous opera singer, or a government minister.  The McKays lived in a beautiful old mansion which Dr. McKay himself described as patrician.  The house had 2 baby grand pianos where guests could play duets, and her guests snacked on homemade candied almonds served in real 2,000 year old Roman bowls.  Dr. McKay was a professor of Classics, specializing in Roman history, you see.  Mrs. McKay happened to have been a trained opera singer before she became a teacher.

Before Downton Abbey, I had the McKays.  Mrs. McKay and her husband were fond of me and kept in touch after I graduated from high school.  When I moved to L.A., Mrs. McKay would tell me about any interesting books she thought would make great movies, and she told me about CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN which she thought would have been perfect for Christian.  Of course, we all were hoping for Christian to land the lead of Corelli, but the book ended up being optioned by Nicolas Cage’s production company instead.  Fortunately, because we were tracking the book so early on, Christian stayed involved with the project and landed the part of Mandras, the Greek fisherman.  One of my proudest moments was to invite Dr. and Mrs. McKay to the Toronto premiere of CAPTAIN CORELLI as both mine and Christian’s guests.

Today, I found out that Mrs. McKay had passed away, and I’ve been thinking in a cloud back to her wonderful dinner parties which were as exquisite to the senses as a Merchant Ivory film. It was easy to be dazzled and intimidated by the place settings, impressed by the sumptuous Italian food, the elegant mansion on Turner Avenue, her letters of encouragement and cheer, and her beautiful Christmas cards which featured Renaissance paintings.

I knew she was ailing these past couple years but I was happy that I managed to send her a copy of my book a month ago.  She is in the Acknowledgements as she should be.

Requiescat in pace, my teacher.

Comic-Con Cometh

In a couple weeks, I head to San Diego for Comic-Con 2012!  I’ll be doing book signings, meeting the press, and going on a week long press tour that culminates in a signing in Manhattan Beach’s Barnes & Noble which is sort of fitting because that’s where Christian used to live, so it truly brings my Bale journey full circle.

We’ve been thrilled that the book has been doing really well – consistently in Amazon’s Top 100 Biographies – and with Dark Knight Rises opening July 20, the book will probably get even more attention as people look for information on the movie’s lead actor.  I’ve been asked whether I’ll be dressing up as Alfred or…. Bane at Comic-Con!  No comment.:)  But I do want to thank the readers who’ve taken time to check out the book and to ask some really interesting questions about Fame, Celebrity, and all things Hollywood.  It’s always great to see that the book has inspired some intelligent discussion.

Last week, I did a very cool interview with The Patrick Phillips show. It was cool on many levels – I’ve done a ton of radio interviews, but none in-studio, so the sound quality is awesome, and I was channeling my inner NPR-SNL-spoof.Check out the classic Betty White Muffin SNL skit below!  And the host was very insightful as he had actually taken the time to read the book and come up with his own opinions about the book.  Check out the interview here:

SNL’s NPR Muffin skit with Betty White!

So if you’re headed to Comic-Con, come by the Smartpop Books booth and say, Hello! I’m hoping that the trusty iPhone will help me document the journey!
Thanks all!
HC

Lost treasures – Indie film

Thank you for the awesome reception to the book!

I’ve been doing a lot of press to promote the book, and I’ve been asked a number of times what were the pivotal indie films in Christian’s career.

If you’ve been reading some of the more sensational headlines about the book, learn to read between the lines!  It’s unfortunate how much of an interview gets cut out to leave in the headline crap.

I love independent film.  Those films are the ones made with love and passion, before a director, a writer or an actor has to worry about whether or not their project makes a studio any money.  Indie films typically have more interesting dialogue, more original storylines, and the most daring work of an actor.

So when I think back on Christian’s career, the obvious indie choice is American Psycho.  Without American Psycho, Christian would have been hard pressed to convince Hollywood that he could play American, be buff, and look good in that all important “Bruce Wayne” like tuxedo!

But if you’re a fan of Christian’s work, you’d be remiss to ignore Metroland (reviewed here) and films like All the Little Animals and The Secret Agent – where Christian would lay the groundwork of playing a part like in The Fighter.  Here’s a factoid for you – Christian was actually after the part What’s Eating Gilbert Grape which he lost to…. DiCaprio!  To prepare for that role, he went to schools for the mentally challenged so that he could study mannerisms and speech patterns.  DiCaprio ended up getting the part – and it earned him an Oscar nom!

My very first indie film that really caught my eye was a wonderfully dark David Lynch film called Blue Velvet.   It was the first movie I ever saw where the audience reacted so strongly, that some people walked out of the theater!  Next was one of Colin Firth’s early films – Apartment Zero.  If you love American Psycho, you might want to check out Apartment Zero since it garnered Firth awesome reviews and should have made a star out of Hart Bochner.  But alas – not every actor had Christian’s kind of indie film marketing to leverage the most out of every appearance! I also loved the Canadian indie, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing and a film noir called After Dark My Sweet which starred Jason Patric.  Patric was another great actor who coulda woulda shoulda been a star, but he hates the Hollywood game and was pretty anti-publicity.

I could go on and on about various films that impressed me at a film festival or left me wondering if an actor would make it big after being the toast of Sundance, but I guess the main point about these being “lost treasures” is that not all of these films get released on DVD.  So they disappear unless you’re lucky enough to get press screeners.  When you think about how many wonderful indie films missed getting distribution, it’s a little discouraging and should make you realize the tough odds of getting a successful Hollywood career!  Here’s a Bale-related example – both Metroland and All the Little Animals were distributed in the U.S. by Lions Gate.  They chose to acquire those titles based on the very successful film festival attendance for those films. So fan power got those films a distribution deal.

When Lions Gate was getting ready to produce American Psycho, the entire casting war between Christian and DiCaprio was again determined by fan voting and reaction.  The casting war left a bitter taste in Christian’s mouth.  Does he hold a grudge? Well, let’s say that he made it quite clear that he would not appear in Lions Gate’s American Psycho 2 or Rules of Attraction – both Bret Easton Ellis projects.

We all love the summer blockbusters – they are entertaining, but if you’re a movie buff, I hope you look up smaller films – there are a million gems out there that are worth seeing.  And chances are, they will be your own private treasure!:)

I wanted to send out a big thank you to American and Canadian readers who’ve made Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman a Top 100 Best selling Amazon Biography for the past 2 weeks in a row!  I’ve done a couple more book events and have been so thrilled to meet movie buffs, Batman fans, Baleheads who are enjoying my book.

Coming up?

• The Patrick Phillips Show (podcast) on Wed, June 20
• The Writers conference – I’m on 2 panels (June 22, 23)
• Comic-Con, San Diego!
• Lots of press to be announced throughout July
• Book signing – Barnes & Noble Manhattan Beach, CA (July 20)

Headlines Don’t Sell Papes! Newsies Sell Papes!

So you want to be an author, and you’ve tried for years to get a literary agent.  Then the literary agent gets you a publishing deal.  Done?

Nope.  Then you work with a publisher and the publisher’s marketing team, and you hope that the final edit of your book is as close to your original draft as possible!  Done?

Nope.  Then review copies are sent out to see what book reviewers will think of your book.  In my mind, a book review should tell their reader:

1. What’s the book about?
2. Is it well-written?
3. Who would like this book?

But a funny thing can happen with a book – especially one like Christian Bale’s biography. Out of 300+ pages, a reviewer decides to mention “Christian Bale made girls cry” – one incident described in the book.  And that’s the headline that gets picked up around the world! Oops.  Not the nice incident about a boy telling Bale that Batman was his hero.  Not the touching deathbed story with his dad.  Nope, none of that.

As of today, I’ve done two book signings and have been really pleased to meet Baleheads, Batfans, movie buffs who have told me how much they enjoyed the book.  Warts and all, Christian is a human being, so to worship him unconditionally is pretty one dimensional, IMHO. My book gives some real insight as to what makes him tick, and that’s what I’m interested in reading about my favorite actors.

I’ve added an addendum page to the book web site which contains some of the scans of letters and faxes referenced in the book. Again, my advice to you is to READ THE BOOK first and don’t take the letters and faxes out of context.  What I hope you’ll get out of the letters is a first hand look at Christian’s thoughts, attitude and rapport we had.  You can decide what’s funny, sarcastic or angry, but it’s only fair to read it all in context.

I know it’s more fun to have a sensational headline to grab a reader’s attention, but as much as I support the press and free speech, I have a huge believer in CONTEXT! That’s the only way to keep alive the art of headline writing.

My co-author and I appreciate your support, advice and great words of encouragement.  Publishing is such a crazy world nowadays!  If you’re a book blogger or reviewer, the book is available on NetGalley.

Have a great weekend! The best is yet to come….

Book signings, Cult movies, Internet Marketing

A funny thing happened on launch day in Dallas last night … At the book signing in the really nice Barnes & Noble in Dallas (Lincoln Park),  I was asked about Internet marketing!  The general questions seemed to be about whether or not the marketing of Christian Bale – and other actors – should be organic, or should it indeed be crafted by marketers and publicists.

It was an interesting conversation that turned to politics since politicians now have “handlers” and spin doctors and image consultants.  How real are these people when they’ve been groomed to appeal to as many people as possible?

I think the idealistic answer is that marketing and publicity have their roles to play.  You can have a very good actor – like Christian – who goes unnoticed because of a low profile.  I worked on the Internet campaign for a wonderful indie film called Donnie Darko which had bombed at the box office but found a strong following on video.  That film helped to turn Jake Gyllenhaal into a star.  Without marketing, that film would have disappeared.  There are plenty of wonderful indie films that, for one reason or another, didn’t get a distribution deal, didn’t get a high profile distribution deal, went straight to video, went just around the film festival circuit, and you might have missed a wonderful performance.

Chatting about Donnie Darko got the people at my book signing chatting about their favorite overlooked films.  Newsies anyone? We talked about Pandorum with the very much underrated (and anti-publicity) Ben Foster.  And we talked about Phillip Phillips’ win of American Idol – was there something weird about AI’s Internet voting? Who knows, but chances are, you discovered your favorite singer, actor or celebrity thanks to a marketer.:)

7 Day Countdown

The advanced book signing event at Book People was a tremendous success, with people stopped by the giant book posters of Christian’s face, and the scrumptious delight of “Bale Cookies.”  It was really cool to talk to movie buffs, Baleheads and celebrity biography readers all eager to learn more Christian and his career.  Next stop…. Dallas!

With just a week before the release of the book (May 29), I received my final copies of the book and was surprised to find a couple weird things.  First of all, the number of photos had been cut back to make room for words.  Here’s an interesting factoid for aspiring writers: the book publisher won’t let you go over a certain number of pages!  Second of all, scans of letters and faxes in the book were not included because the publisher thought they would be illegible, so I’ll be posting the scans up on the web this weekend.  And oddest of all, you know how usually the authors get their pictures on the back cover? Again, bumped for space.

It’s been a numbing week for me with the passing of Donna Summer. Her sudden death surprised the world, and I think it made me pondering life and mortality all the more.  Sheesh, let me shudder a bit and move on.

I’m thrilled with the advanced reviews and reception the book has been getting.  It was chosen to be on Los Angeles Magazine‘s Reading List, by Austin Monthly as a ‘Must Read’ for the summer, and by Tribute Magazine on their “What’s Hot” list.  And after my first TV appearance, I’m slated to do 9 radio interviews this week – from regional to national shows!  Well, I’ll look good on radio!:)

From Donna Summer to Christian Bale

Today is a day of beginnings and ends.

Tonight, I have my first book event.  A special preview of my book at Austin’s BookPeople.  I have prepared for this day in my mind for a long time, wondering and imagining how the evening will go.

But a couple hours ago, I heard that Donna Summer had passed away, apparently of cancer, at the age of 63.

She was my favorite singer, and in many ways formulated my ideas of marketing and prejudice and injustice in the entertainment industry that led to the way I marketed and supported Christian Bale’s career.

I first heard Donna Summer when I went to see Thank God It’s Friday, a cheesy movie that nevertheless earned an Oscar for Best Song for Donna Summer’s “Last Dance.”  That was the movie kids went to see, because Saturday Night Fever was restricted, so TGIF was the PG-friendly alternative. The movie was fairly unremarkable, with the kind of sitcom humor pushing it along until Donna Summer takes the stage to sing.  “Last Dance”  soared, and her voice captivated me.  But her career hit a wall in the 1980s when, as the Queen of Disco, she (and other disco era stars like the Bee Gees) faced the anti-Disco backlash.  Donna Summer also very publicly became a born-again Christian which didn’t help her popularity.

From my point of view, her music defied genres.  She wrote her own songs, her voice was incomparable. And her music was head and shoulders above anything else coming out in the disco genre. We tend to forget that she was the first female artist to use synthesizers, the first woman to win Best Rock female Grammy’s. Her music was diverse, dabbling in country (she wrote Dolly Parton’s hit song, “Starting Over”), rock, pop and dance, but the media pigeonholed her as Disco Queen. Radio rarely played her.  When she and Bruce Springsteen dueted on “Protection” – he said he wanted to work with Summer because he felt that the backlash against her was “overtly racist.”  I was very frustrated to hear music snobs dismiss her without even listening to her. So ironically, enjoying her music – especially her work in the later years – was very counter-culture defiant.  Her best post-disco record remains The Wanderer.  But she surprised everyone in 2008 with her first new record in 17 years with the vibrant Crayons. Only now are singers citing her and producer Giorgio Moroder as major musical influences.

She did not help herself with any savvy PR or marketing. In fact, her biggest weakness was a terrible video presence.  In the age of MTV and music videos, Donna Summer – whether herself or her record company – did not invest in slick videos.

Maybe 15 years ago, I was in discussion with her representatives to build her a web marketing campaign. Her manager was interested (but not overly so) by the work I had done on Christian’s career on the Internet.  A couple agents I knew in LA also discouraged me from working on her career – they asked me, “What’s easier? To launch a new career or to relaunch an old career?”  So after a couple mock-ups had been exchanged back and forth, they lost interest.  However, she wrote me a very nice note and signed a photo, which hangs on my Wall of Fame.

Christian himself faced some similar challenges.  He was a British actor on a visa in Hollywood.  He was pigeonholed as British, and there seemed to be no way to convince producers that he was a competitor against other up and coming actors at the time.  He was angry. I was frustrated for him.  He just wanted a chance, a break.

“How’d it go?” I’d ask him after an audition.

And he’d look at me with a sad look and say, “I’m being discriminated against for being English.”

For Christian, the web marketing worked amazingly well. His fans could overwhelm surprised producers who didn’t know who he was, and we could position him as a future star of the world, birthplace irrelevant.

I felt the same passion and outrage and frustration for Christian’s career as I did for Donna Summer’s.  To be dismissed out of hand just because of a stereotype? I could understand that all too well.

This was her last song recorded earlier this year with her nephew, Omega Red.