1999 Footlong events of interest:
October 2: As the last shoot of the film The Windmill Hot Dog Eating Contest is now just a page in the journal of "Footlong". ...oh, and if you're wondering how Chris did in The Windmill Hot Dog Eating Contest on October 2nd... well, you'll just have to wait and see the film.
September 30: Well, well, well, looks like the boys haven't had enough of hot dogs. They just keep going! However, they have announced their final shoot of the film: The Windmill Hot Dog Eating Contest. I don't think you'll want to miss this!
Read the press release and digest all the details.
September 28: Chris and Gerry sent out an email recently to all those involved with Footlong, updating them on the progress of the documentary. Read it here.
August 9: The Avid editing system has been built, and Chris and Gerry are now high-on-life and drunk-on-possibilities. In a phrase, they're editing fools. All that stands between them and a finished hot dog documentary is, uh, a few hundred hours of raw footage.
July 24: Keeping the buzz alive, Chris and Gerry were recently interviewed on WOR am radio in New York City. And Chris has written an article for LCD, a magazine published by WFMU radio out of Jersey City, on what the boys have gone through thus far in the Footlong process. For those of you not in the Jersey City area (which hopefully means everyone... for your sake), drop the boys a line and they'll be more than happy to fill you in on the article's highlights.
July 4: Post-Production Heaven. Two years after they begun shooting Footlong at the Nathan's National Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, New York, Chris and Gerry are in the process of building their own editing station to minimize costs and have the ability to soon release Footlong to you, the general public, as soon as possible.
And then there's the money issue. The guys are still looking for help with the finishing funds. Not much -- about what it cost George Lucas to feed his Phantom Menance crew breakfast on their first day of production. Chris and Gerry have been consolidating funds by eating only hot dog buns and ice tea mix.
The film should be finished in a few months with the help of a music supervisor and an additional editor.
April 25: Chris and Gerry lectured at Alfred University, April 23, on the art of filmmaking, including an overview of their up-and-coming feature length project, "Footlong." Chris had this to say about the Alfred U. experience:
"Everything went very well, we even sold three t-shirts, and want to thank those supporters of our project. It was a really amazing experience all-around, and we're willing to do it again, anytime, any weekend." Any takers?
April 16: Footlong is to be the subject of a major newspaper article appearing next week in New Jersey's Bergen Record. And by "major" we mean "with photos."
April 6: The van has been parked. The photos have been developed. The countless souveniers painstakingly gathered from coast-to-coast have been put up for auction on eBay. Yes, it's the start of post-production for Chris, Gerry and the post-prod Footlong crew. Check in with foot-long.com as we try to make this arduous part of the filmmaking process as exciting and fun as dancing naked in a feather factory.
March 27: Holy crap! foot-long.com was named Best Film Site in the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival's Web Site Competition! Unfortunately, no one from our site was able to attend the Austin four-day festival to accept the plaque in person, but we thank the judges for this very kind honor. And who knows... perhaps next year, Footlong: The Documentary, may take the SXSW Film Festival by storm!
March 17-21: The Footlong crew (Chris, Gerry and photographer/cameraman Kevin Miller) took to the road and did New Orleans up right.
Road Reports!
3/20 - Chris left a message this morning on the foot-long.com answering machine:
"We partied last night... Kevin collected a bunch of beads... he flashed his (bottom) to everybody... and we haven't decided if we're going to Atlanta yet or not... all we know is we're coming home soon. (laughter, pause) Ok, we're not going home ever again. We're staying in New Orleans. We're living here. We've all been offered jobs at Lucky Dogs and we're going to stay. Talk to you later."
3/19 - The boys are in the middle of the French Quarter in New Orleans. This from Chris:
"We've been shooting all day... we're not done yet, but we're DAMN close. We're having a great time, but we do feel the need that we should be completely wasted at all times. So, hopefully you'll put this on the web site so all the distributors will see just how drunk we want to be." (Note to distributors: "Drunk" is a film term that means "filled with creative thoughts and concepts.")
3/18 Gas Station Story II: Arriving in Alabama, the guys filled up the van with gas, pulled forward to let the next vehicle get to pump, and were gathering up gas money when they suddenly heard the gas station owner scream, "I'm goin' ta call tha pole-eece!" Seems she thought the fellas were trying to speed away without paying. Well, if you've seen the Footlong van, "speed" isn't the right verb.
Two things were determined today --
1) the gang is going to stop in at "The Varsity" fast food place on their way home Sunday to grab a few hot dogs, and
2) as soon as the boys get to New Orleans on Friday, all three plan on drinking. Heavily. (Special note to Footlong investors: "drinking" is a film term that means "scoping out potential shooting locations that all happen to be inside adult beverage establishments.")3/17 - Chris called foot-long.com headquarters shortly after leaving Jersey City limits to say that the gas attendant who filled the Footlong van noticed the web address on the side of the vehicle and asked if the guys were filming a movie of pornographic nature. The guys smiled, paid the fine fellow for the fuel, and said that was exactly what they were doing.
March 8: More photos of the footlong gang's recent travels are up, including shots from the Hot Dog Ministry in Columbus, Ohio, and the Hot Dog Wars in Atlantic City!
1998 Footlong events
of interest
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