I’m just going to reprint an email I sent to New Line a few days ago to explain the current situation in regards to people who appeared on the DVD. Sorry for this:

Ok, I’m bringing you all in one email just so I can give a quick recap of what happened. I’ve been emailing with a few of you on an individual basis, but it seemed easier to lay out the whole story one time for everybody. If you’re not interested in this, feel free to delete.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by [an employee] at MPRM with an offer to give away DVDs to correspond with the premiere of the film. You can see how that’s proceeding here:

http://www.snakesonablog.com/2006/12/18/snakes-on-a-final-contest/

Later, on December 15th the following posting appeared on my website (notice that it has [a New Line employee]’s correct email address:

> > New comment on your post #2693 “Snakes on a DVD”
> > Author : New Line Cinemas (IP: 71.98.190.150 ,
> > pool-71-98-190-150.tampfl.dsl-w.verizon.net)
> > E-mail : [employee email address]@newline.com
> > URI : http://www.snakesonaplane.com
> > Whois :
> > Comment:
> > Hello Snakesonaplaniacs,
> >
> > We would personally like to thank everyone for
> > supporting and attending snakes on a plane. We
> > all had a blast with the film. From the youtube
> > videos, to the pictures, and the blogs. The
> > fans of Snakes on a Plane will never be
> > forgotten at New Line Cinemas or Hollywood
> > for that matter.
> >
> > So on that note….
> > Since everything about snakes seems to
> > leak out anyway. We at New Line would
> > like to be the first to put out on the
> > blog that all of the fans on the fan
> > featurette of the DVD will recieve a copy
> > of Snakes On A Plane for free. Just as a
> > way to say thanks for the success.
> >
> > Don’t worry about anything we have all
> > addresses from the release forms that
> > you all signed.
> >
> > And Brian thanks for the site and
> > all you have done.
> >
> > Thank You and Happy Holidays,
> >
> > New Line Cinemas
>>

I assumed it was real and highlighted it on my site. I also received similar comments from this site on YouTube at my account:

http://youtube.com/profile?user=SnakesOnABlog

From this user, calling itself NewLineCinemaPR:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=NewLineCinemaPR

Again, I assumed that these postings were from you guys. A few people asked me for confirmation and when I asked [the New Line employee] about it, [he or she] had no idea what I was talking about. Something appears to have gone awry. Evidentally all of this was fake. Someone must have [figured out the correct email address].

Anyway, at that point I became concerned that the [MPRM representative] who I had been dealing with on the DVD giveaway front may have been the same person trying to fool me a second time, so I asked her to get someone at New Line to confirm that MPRM was indeed legit. She had [someone at New Line] email me, but at this point I was having conversations about this with a few people, and I figured it would be easier to explain one time to everybody.

So, that’s the story. I was hoping I’d be able to pin down who posted the fake announcement based on their IP address, but the best I could do was that it was somebody in Tampa, Florida.

Anyway, I’m rather annoyed at myself for being fooled.

So, there’s what happened. Sorry to bother everyone with this.

Brian

Anyway, I’ve pulled down the original posting and I apologize for any confusion/misinformation. It was rather mean spirited.