Our Ad Campaign --CLOSED THREAD

[desertstarlover]

Wow, I haven't heard that word for awhile.  Our family tends to use foo-foo instead.  As in:

"We all got dressed up, went out, and ate at a really foo-foo restaurant."  I am not sure how universal that word is but people seem to know what it means when you say it.   

Night all.

Thanks, I wondered why I had the urge to call my cat foo-foo. lol!

[pvjohn]

This is my second post here. The first was to let you know I signed on so I could get a Paypal account. I can't thank all of you enough for the great job. Having been on the board of an organization, I know how hard it is to get concensus. I have no idea how you pulled this off so fast. The ad is fantastic!! For all of you that did the hard work, there is no superlative good enough. I am honored to be a part of the "first of a kind" project and will gladly send press releases to all of the Phoenix area newspapers if I can retrieve them from this site. God I would love to see the faces of the Brokeback people when they see this (especially Jake as he seems to be the most understanding). Also like to see the faces of those acadamy members turn red with embarrassment at their mistake. I read this "site" everyday to help me with the addiction to BBM. Talk about your nuclear family, this sure is a beautiful example of diverse people coming together. Dave, I hope you understand and appreciate what you have accomplished here. When will the releases be posted?

[trcarr]

Comments on Draft 07:  definite improvement over previous version, but still: TOO MUCH TEXT.

Remove the lines immediately above and below the official BBM logo.  Enlarge the logo so it extends margin-to-margin.  Likewise, condense the sponsorship lines at the very bottom.   

Hopefully, this ad will create enough "buzz" that it be reproduced in miniature as part of news coverage by other publications.   The simpler it looks, the more readable  --  the greater impact it will have.

[Dave Cullen]

Here it is folks . . .

THE FINAL DRAFT AD IS VERSION 8, HERE:

(With the changes we described earlier, and resized to fit precisely into the Variety page. And Sight & Sound magazine is included as it's awardee the British Film Institute. The mag name might have been better, but at some point we need to let Ned sleep. It's 4 a.m., and we want him alert in case there are any last-minute snags when Variety's production department gets it tomorrow. We want to leave a little room for contingencies.)

Two important things:

- You can and should now spread the word about this version, and feel free to distribute. We also posted it in the first post of this thread.

- The one thing we can still change--if discovered FAST--are glaring errors, ESPECIALLY the misspelling of any name. So alert us if you see any.

[CinSF]

*applause*

[DanRWentzelJr]

God bless you.  God bless you.  God bless you.

God bless all of us.

God bless Ennis and Jack.  God bless Brokeback Mountain.

God has.

[Albert]

Absolutely fantastic!  Perfect!  Thank you!

[davideo321]

I have somehow missed posts verifying that the ad (which is beyond fantastic, both the idea and its execution) is hitting Variety this Friday, the 10th. I live in L.A. and want to snag more than one copy at the newstand down the street. If someone could just alert via post or PM, that would be hugely appreciated.

So is the commitment by everyone on this board from someone who only recently discoverd it. You all are exhibiting what true progressive behavior ought to be about, and are amazing, your host an inspiration, there's no other way to describe him. It humbles and thrills me at once.

I think the idea of a Matthew Shepard fund via this site is a marvelous, oh-so-appropriate idea, though I'm also kind of partial to other ads in other papers, depending on the reaction to the Variety ad and people's continued financial participation, as well. But it's already become a brush-fire.

Here's how I know. I attended the return of Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake' to the Ahmanson tonight (extraordinary, all over again, as in London and here and NYC and the video), and couldn't help but think of "Brokeback" analogies, about the profound need EVERYONE has to be loved, and the cost to EVERYONE when it is denied or thwarted (and with another tragic ending and tearjerking final image, to boot).  At intermission, I happened to mention this site (because ALL anybody in the Industry Town in which I live has talked about for the last three days is The Biggest Robbery in Academy History). Well, the five or six acquaintances I was talking to all virtually yelled, "YES! We've seen it! Dave Cullen ROCKS!" at the same time. I thought you all should know.

Out of an injustice, an active movement for positive change seems to have emerged, and that's a pretty awesome thing for a movie and its fans to accomplish. I salute you all. 

[Albert]

...You all are exhibiting what true progressive behavior ought to be about, and are amazing, your host an inspiration, there's no other way to describe him. It humbles and thrills me at once.

I second that!

[peteinportland]

Here (finally) is the press release:

March 9, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: John Wells at 917-715-9263 or Linda Andrews at 210-885-4882


Hollywood, California-In an unprecedented show of support for Brokeback Mountain, a website discussion board has spearheaded a campaign to collect donations from around the world to place ads in trade and national publications in support of the movie. In the first 48 hours, the group raised nearly $16,000 from over 400 contributors, and a team of volunteers designed a full page color ad to run in the March 10 Daily Variety.
 
The ad campaign was started by members at the Ultimate Brokeback Forum as a positive way to deal with their emotions surrounding Brokeback Mountain’s loss for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Instead of responding in anger, members wanted to find a way to thank the cast and crew of the film and to find a way to highlight Brokeback Mountain’s unprecedented string of Best Picture wins.
 
The disparate group quickly decided to start an ad campaign, and soon word spread to other sites, and donations started to pour in from around the world. “I think most fans of the film were stunned by the Best Picture surprise, which raised the question of how and why the Academy could have been so out of sync with virtually every other organization that awarded Best Picture honors," site organizer Dave Cullen said in explaining why so many diverse people worldwide were donating to the campaign.

According to industry watchers, no movie has generated this sort of fan response after a loss for Best Picture. Fans are happy their support for Brokeback Mountain is becoming part of industry lore. They hope that others looking for a way to honor Brokeback Mountain as the Best Picture of 2005 will contribute to the campaign, so more ads can run to help raise awareness that the film garnered nearly every Best Picture award bestowed for 2005. “Only one major organization did not name Brokeback Mountain as Best Picture,” says campaign chair Peter Greyson.
 
In part, this one snub for Best Picture was why those involved with the campaign wanted to send a clear message that Brokeback Mountain was embraced by people around the world as well as highlight their gratitude for the film and remind people of the spirit of the film as expressed by Ang Lee: “[Jack and Ennis] taught all of us who made Brokeback Mountain so much about not just all the gay men and women whose love is denied by society, but just as important, the greatness of love itself.”
 
The organization spearheading the ad campaign is the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, hosted at davecullen.com/forum. The forum has 2,500 members and in only three months of operation is averaging 12,000 unique visitors each day and over 200,000 page views. For more information you can find them on the web at
www.brokeback.davecullen.com

A copy of the ad going into the Daily Variety can be found at: http://davecullen.com/forum/index.php?topic=1721.msg86680#msg86680

[markason]

The most sublime version of all. Thanks to everyone for their tireless, brilliant work. Would you feel free to list the names of the folks who've been intimately involved in this creative endeavor, so we can properly sing their praises?

Blessed be.

[davideo321]

Here (finally) is the press release:

March 9, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: John Wells at 917-715-9263 or Linda Andrews at 210-885-4882


Hollywood, California-In an unprecedented show of support for Brokeback Mountain, a website discussion board has spearheaded a campaign to collect donations from around the world to place ads in trade and national publications in support of the movie. In the first 48 hours, the group raised nearly $16,000 from over 400 contributors, and a team of volunteers designed a full page color ad to run in the March 10 Daily Variety.
 
The ad campaign was started by members at the Ultimate Brokeback Forum as a positive way to deal with their emotions surrounding Brokeback Mountain’s loss for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Instead of responding in anger, members wanted to find a way to thank the cast and crew of the film and to find a way to highlight Brokeback Mountain’s unprecedented string of Best Picture wins.
 
The disparate group quickly decided to start an ad campaign, and soon word spread to other sites, and donations started to pour in from around the world. “I think most fans of the film were stunned by the Best Picture surprise, which raised the question of how and why the Academy could have been so out of sync with virtually every other organization that awarded Best Picture honors," site organizer Dave Cullen said in explaining why so many diverse people worldwide were donating to the campaign.

According to industry watchers, no movie has generated this sort of fan response after a loss for Best Picture. Fans are happy their support for Brokeback Mountain is becoming part of industry lore. They hope that others looking for a way to honor Brokeback Mountain as the Best Picture of 2005 will contribute to the campaign, so more ads can run to help raise awareness that the film garnered nearly every Best Picture award bestowed for 2005. “Only one major organization did not name Brokeback Mountain as Best Picture,” says campaign chair Peter Greyson.
 
In part, this one snub for Best Picture was why those involved with the campaign wanted to send a clear message that Brokeback Mountain was embraced by people around the world as well as highlight their gratitude for the film and remind people of the spirit of the film as expressed by Ang Lee: “[Jack and Ennis] taught all of us who made Brokeback Mountain so much about not just all the gay men and women whose love is denied by society, but just as important, the greatness of love itself.”
 
The organization spearheading the ad campaign is the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, hosted at davecullen.com/forum. The forum has 2,500 members and in only three months of operation is averaging 12,000 unique visitors each day and over 200,000 page views. For more information you can find them on the web at
www.brokeback.davecullen.com

Yee-haw! Tres exciting, not to mention how quickly it answered my question. 

[DanRWentzelJr]

Pete,

I am weeping yet again today.  from the finsihed ad and now the Press Release

Including Ang's quote in the Press Release made me cry.

The ad and the press release are as beautiful as summer day on Brokeback Mountain itself.

I don't know how to thank Dave and you and everyone who is part of this other than to say God bless you, God bless us, God has.

Dan

[Hasse]

I'm speechless and moved to tears!!  Thank you so much Dave and everyone else involved in the making of this ad, it looks magnificent!! I have just sent a small contribution through paypal. It is a small contribution as my financial status is somewhat weak at the moment, but I SO wanted to be part of this!!

Love always
Hasse

[chai]

Here it is folks . . .

THE FINAL DRAFT AD IS VERSION 8, HERE:

(With the changes we described earlier, and resized to fit precisely into the Variety page. And Sight & Sound magazine is included as it's awardee the British Film Institute. The mag name might have been better, but at some point we need to let Ned sleep. It's 4 a.m., and we want him alert in case there are any last-minute snags when Variety's production department gets it tomorrow. We want to leave a little room for contingencies.)

Two important things:

- You can and should now spread the word about this version, and feel free to distribute. We also posted it in the first post of this thread.

- The one thing we can still change--if discovered FAST--are glaring errors, ESPECIALLY the misspelling of any name. So alert us if you see any.

Great job! One little misspelling I found is the composer's name. It should be Santaolalla not Santoalalla. I hope this would help.Thanks.