What a week we had in Austin! Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to support the film. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s a rundown of how it went.
Building up to the premiere:
Friday night kicked off with stars of the film Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher (BriTANick) performing a comedy show at a tiny, sketchy cozy theater in Austin. It was a tight fit with everyone in there, but it was a lot of fun and a good chance to promote the film.
To help generate awareness for the film among festival goers, we sent around a friendly bear and camera crew to hand out flyers and take photos. The response around Austin was fantastic. The bear was a big hit and created a lot of buzz about the film. We took a lot of pictures and highly suggest you check out the entire hilarious gallery. A big thanks goes to everyone that helped spread the word about the film leading up to the premiere!
Saturday Morning
We woke up Saturday licking our wounds a bit from our adventures on 6th street the night before. Andrew, Brian and Nick kicked off Saturday with a few media interviews at the Driskill Hotel. We were pleased to have a lot of media interest in the film when we arrived. Most of the people had heard about the film or seen the flyers we’d spread throughtout town.
Our friendly bear was out and about again that day, checking out the annual Gypsy Picnic and meeting people at theaters and other central hubs for the film festival.
The Big Premiere
The night of the premiere went smoothly. The bear handed out tickets to those in line. A special thanks goes out to the staff of the Austin Film Festival for being so supportive. A festival volunteer donned the bear costume that night to help us out.
The sell-out crowd was enthusiastic, and they laughed hard throughout the film. Having three of the stars at the premiere made the event incredibly special. It felt like a big reunion. After the premiere, a brief Q&A with the audience drew great questions ranging from Nick and Brian’s improv ability to the use of the indie-spaghetti western score.
After the screening, the reaction to the film was overwhelmingly positive. We got a lot of love on Facebook and Twitter. The theater was packed once again for the second screening, we hated having to turn so many people away because the theater couldn’t hold everyone.
Overall, the festival was a resounding success. Today, we got a great review from Slackerwood, where the author called the film the funniest movie he’d seen all year.
So, what’s next?
We’re really excited to make our hometown premiere Saturday, Nov. 12 at the Lonestar International Film Festival. If you’re in town that weekend, please come out and see the film. Tickets are on sale now.
In the meantime, please continue to help us get the word out about the film. Like us on facebook andfollow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with all things Sonny.
