"The Way We Get By" Goes Hollywood...

Associate Producer Jessica Barnthouse delves into the L.A. Grassroots Marketing Outreach for "The Way We Get By"...

As you know, The Way We Get By will be having its Los Angeles premiere from August 14-20 at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills. As with New York City, I've been busy with grassroots outreach to make sure that the people who would love The Way We Get By are aware of the venue and screening times. With all of the press we've been getting, from The New York Times, to national NPR, and countless television interviews, one would think that word about The Way We Get By would have already spread like wildfire all the way to the West Coast. This is not necessarily the case, however. And trust me when I say that if you ever make your own amazing film, you can never do too much grassroots outreach.

So how do you get an audience to come see your film when you're 3,000 miles away from them? It's not like New York City where I can just show up and hand out fliers (yes, I did this for four days all across NYC). The key is to be meticulous, creative, and persistent. First, I compiled a 12-page list of every veterans group, military recruiting station, aging association, and volunteer organization within a 30-mile radius of the movie theatre (I was like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive-- our audience would not escape!). Next, myself and our new intern, CJ, began calling and emailing each place on our list.


New intern CJ charming L.A. by phone.

The film, because it's such a great story (shameless plug), turned out to be an easy sell over the phone. Calling the military recruiting stations was especially rewarding as time and time again, the soldier on the other side had either heard of the Maine Troop Greeters, or had experienced them himself. I suppose that's the benefit of making a movie about three people who've already been met by almost one million American troops from across the country. And that's what's so great about this human story: that coming to a movie theatre can reconnect you with the strangers who cared enough to give you a hero's send off to war and welcome you back home as a respected veteran when you returned.

And in case you haven't heard, we've even had a few celebs talking about the film, with Alyssa Milano and Milo Ventimiglia from the TV show Heroes supporting the film on Twitter! I definitely believe that with the combined grassroots efforts of myself, CJ, and our new celebrity friends, Los Angeles is going to be a major sucess! Buy your tickets now while they're still hot: Laemmle Music Hall ticket info

Jessica Barnthouse
Associate Producer

Creating The Perfect Logline - Part 2

Last week marked the start of my personal quest to supply the new, breakout documentary The Way We Get By with the perfect log line. With this single sentence pitch, The Way We Get By will be sure to appeal to anyone, which will undoubtedly set it up to take the entire documentary film world by storm. As an outreach coordinator for the film, I know that whatever I do, it is imperative that it generates at least some, preferably good, publicity for The Way We Get By. That is why, in the latest edition of my log line quest, I’ve decided to make an appeal to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (The people who run the Oscars). Now, I know it’s a long way away but after seeing The Way We Get By, I’ve realized that the subjects presented in it, who happen to be real people, are even more brilliant than their Oscar-nominated acting counterparts, and today I get to show you exactly what I mean. Also, with all this shameless internet name dropping, The Way We Get By, can claim to be doing the film community a service by connecting loyal fans of highly acclaimed feature films to a documentary that might be right up their alley.

Take Joan Gaudet for example. As a troop greeter and one of The Way We Get By’s main subjects, she confesses that she can only welcome soldiers on their return home because greeting those who are departing would be too heartbreaking. She cares deeply for her eight children, but now with all of them grown up and with families of their own, her rural Maine home reflects a life that has seen busier days. Gaudet’s story is one that resonates with a myriad of Hollywood portrayals. However the comparison I find most accurate is that of Sara Goldfarb, played by Ellen Burstyn, in Requiem For A Dream.



Burstyn earned multiple award nominations for her stunning performance as Sara Goldfarb, an aging mother whose unconditional love for her son blinds her from seeing his all but obvious addiction to heroin. In Joan Gaudet’s case, her unconditional love similarly extends to those of a younger generation, be it her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and of course troops returning home. Sara Goldfarb tragically attempts to become famous and more attractive, as a means to escape the loneliness that consumes her in her vacant apartment. The Way We Get By’s Gaudet finds purpose in something even more all-American than trashy daytime television – troop greeting. It is her addiction, just as Sara Goldfarb’s prescribed dieting pills become an addiction in Requiem For A Dream. Director Darren Aronofsky paints a grim world where shallow aspirations of fame and fortune corrupt any perception of the American Dream. In The Way We Get By, Director Aron Gaudet finds a similar character in his very own mother, who provides an inspirational counterexample to our greatest fears, demonstrating how citizenship and patriotism can motivate an ailing woman to brave frigid temperatures in the middle of the night, all to fulfill the call of duty that binds her not only to the troops she greets and the nation she inhabits, but also to the future.

If I’m going to compare amazing cinematic performances to those featured in The Way We Get By, then I must mention Bill Knight, an 87 year old WWII veteran and troop greeter who unflinchingly bears his life story for all to see; exposing us to a harsh reality characterized by a battle with cancer, financial troubles, and unwavering dedication to his country. Bill Knight is a personification of the characters played by Clint Eastwood. Just think of his recent highly acclaimed performance in Gran Torino. As a hardened Korean War veteran, we see Eastwood at his best—playing a mean, stiff-jawed Walt Kowalski, a man with an allegiance to duty and order that forces him to do what should be done, even if it is not in his best interest. Where Eastwood’s Kowalski falters as a character, Bill Knight shines; Walt harbors a desire for peace and solitude, while for protagonist Bill Knight, isolation is never an option. He has taken it upon himself to serve his country once more the only way he knows how. Still, if you take one of the great Bill Knight monologues featured in The Way We Get By and transfer them to a Clint Eastwood movie script, few would imagine anything out of place. Bill Knight is simply a man with a story to tell, but the man is so humble that’d he never bother you with it. For him, it’s just business as usual. “Leave a car outside and it’ll rust out faster than you can wear it out…just like people” Knight explains. Or was that a line from Walt Kowalski?



Finally, to seal the deal in proving why every film buff with a taste for Oscar nominated performances (and lengthy blog posts) needs to see The Way We Get By, I turn to a final comparison – that of Jerry Mundy (The Way We Get By) to Mickey Rourke’s character, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (The Wrestler). Now before people start jumping to conclusions (and filing slander lawsuits) I issue the disclaimer that there’s a lot that separates Jerry and Randy. However, if you see The Way We Get By, you’ll instantly be reminded of the way Mickey Rourke was able to convey the absence of a life that once was, mainly because like Randy, Mickey was trying to make his own personal comeback. While Randy may have awesome hair, a larger fan base, and tighter pants, I think Jerry Mundy parallels Randy “The Ram” Robinson in one main way: they both are trying to find their place in a world that is changing every day; the only constant for Randy being the wrestling ring, while for Jerry the same comforting yet temporary solace is found in the airport while troop greeting. With a heart that is as loving as it is weakening, Jerry’s humorous quips break any silences just long enough to let him second-guess himself. Beyond his charm though, we see a man who refuses to live in his past. Instead, like Randy Robinson, Jerry has the courage to live for the future, despite the hardships that it may hold in store.



The subjects featured in The Way We Get By provide real world examples of the type of people our movie-going audiences loves to romanticize. Their personalities, their hopes, their dreams, their idiosyncrasies, their struggles are all there for you to experience when viewing The Way We Get By. Now with all that potential, it should go without saying that my log line needs to be centered on these three fascinating subjects, who undoubtedly drive The Way We Get By forward.

CJ Saraceno
Intern

Creating The Perfect Logline - Part 1

If you talk to anyone in the business of marketing films, I guarantee that you'll be lectured on the importance of the log line - a single sentence that captures the essence of the film while sparking the audience's curiosity without giving too much away. When I found out that I was getting the opportunity to assist a burgeoning filmmaker in promoting her recently released indie documentary, The Way We Get By, I decided that the log line should be the foundation of any of my future marketing efforts. Whether I would be creating Facebook groups, posting Twitter updates, or blogging about the movie, I planned on referring back to my own original log line to help sculpt both the content and style of any self produced marketing material.

When I first saw the trailer for The Way We Get By, I immediatley assumed that I could come up with some line about how the documentary is a heartwarming tale of how three members of America's "greatest generation" find purpose in life by greeting troops as they return home from war. Not bad, right?

I tried out some of these initial log lines on some of my über hip friends and their responses were all pretty much the same. There'd be a slightly awkward pause and then a comment like, "Um, so it's like some movie about old people in Maine who shake troops' hands?" Some would follow that up with a smirk while the nicer ones would hesitantly offer some half-hearted complement like "Oh, well, that sounds kind of inspiring…" or "That sounds like it could be good." My test subjects' lack of instant enthusiasm motivated me to refine my approach, so I began toiling away for what seemed like days, on trying to come up with the perfect logline.

Then came my big Aha! moment. I had my epiphany. And no, it wasn't the perfect logline for the film. It was the realization that it wasn't my logline crafting ability that was preventing me from getting people excited about The Way We Get By. It was the fact that I had yet to actually see the movie, and that was when I learned that you can't market a film until you actually see it (Exception: Transformers).

Finally seeing The Way We Get By changed everything for me. I walked in expecting to see a typical real life narrative; a plot driven documentary that would leave me brimming with patriotism and a more congenial attitude towards both Maine and the elderly. I predicted a simple yet dainty, easily-packaged film that could do well with the right audiences: Republicans, ex-soldiers, and old people. But the Greenwich village audience, which The Way We Get By premiered to this past Friday night at the IFC Center, consisted of many who fell outside such demographics. And yet, somehow amidst this diversity, the film flourished. From the Marine in camo to the NYU cinephile, from the WWII vet to the smelly kid with dreadlocks, the audience was moved. The evidence was right there in front of me. I watched as individuals eagerly awaited their turn to meet the filmmakers, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly afterwards, their faces all sharing the same expression, characterized by a grin stretching from cheek to cheek and glassy eyes where tears had once occupied. Maybe that's how I came to realize the true potential of this film. As cheesy as it sounds, I instantly adopted the mindset that everyone and anyone must see this film, and since coming to this realization, I've radically altered my strategy for composing that perfect logline.

As I promote The Way We Get By, I find myself moving away from trying to critique it. Sure, I could provide you with evidence of its stunning cinematography, comment on some of my favorite scenes, and make allusions to Godard while discussing director Aron Gaudet's ability to find beauty in the film's harsh yet ordinary setting of rural Maine, but there are professionals for that sort of thing (Rotten Tomatoes). Instead I wanted to share some of my priceless wisdom with the masses, and what better way to do it then through a series of blog posts that track my progress in attempting to provide The Way We Get By with that perfect log line. Stay tuned...

CJ Saraceno

Intern