Guess what?

Who’s coming with me?

I saw Samuel L. Jackson at an airport in Hawaii (he was there for a golf tournament) and didn’t recognize him.  I’m totally ashamed of myself.

Sometimes whining can pay off.

When I saw that the concept behind ROFLCon was “to assemble every famous internet meme or celebrity to come to Harvard in the spring of 2008 to attend a conference,” I thought I had a decent chance of being invited. Sure, if this were a year and a half ago, I would have had a much better chance, but I figured a few people might remember.

But alas, perusing the list of people they’re looking for, I apparently didn’t make cut. Tim Hwang, I’m saddened by this. Even the One Red Paperclip guy got invited! We were doing our things at the same time. *Shakes head in disgust.*

I need to fire my agent.

Cross posted at RumorsDaily.

New Line apparently doesn’t forget its friends.

Today I received a package with the unusual warning “Do not use knife to open.” It was securely taped shut, so getting the box open without a knife was something of a challenge, but a challenge with a nice payoff. Inside was this letter from New Line Co-CEOs and Co-Chairmen Bob Shaye (brother of Snakes on a Plane star Lin Shaye) and Michael Lynne:

click to big-ify

Along with the letter was a fairly snazzy looking DVD booklet that held the following movies: Pink Flamingos, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Player, The Mask, Seven, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Boogie Nights, Wag the Dog, The Wedding Singer, Rush Hour, Blow, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Elf, The Notebook, and Wedding Crashers, as well as a documentary about the history of New Line.

click to big-ify

Sadly, Snakes on a Plane appears not have made the cut, but I’m sure they’ll be in the 50th Anniversary edition. I’m going to start making phone calls.

Apparently you can buy this collection directly from New Line, but your purchase won’t make you feel as appreciated as my surprise gift in the mail. Thanks New Line, you do much better than most other studios at recognizing and cultivating relationships with fans online, rather than threatening and suing them. Good job!

Incidentally, if anyone is looking for an exciting new blog feed, I’ve started writing on my own personal website: RumorsDaily. It’s just a personal blog, so there’s no theme to the writings and no particular reason why SnakesonaBlog fans would find it interesting, but there you have it.

Apparently Snakes on a Blog was mentioned on this podcast by the BBC.  Anyone want to listen and give me a recap?  (Podcasts aren’t really my thing.)

Sorry, registration is now required in order to post comments.  The signal to noise ratio fell to a disappointingly low level.

Guess who’s going to London?

Ok, it’s me.

I’ve been asked to give a presentation at Marketing 07, a marketing conference being held on June 11th and 12th in London. Here’s my blurb:

Brian, a first-year student at Georgetown University Law School, saw the title of proposed film “Snakes on a Plane” and turned it into blog. The blog turned into an internet phenomenon. Some of his blog statistics include: “I’ve been online for 90 days. I’ve had 265,000 visitors and posted 185 stories. There have been 770,000 requests for pages, and a staggering 18,100,000 requests for all files. I’ve transferred 375 gigabytes of data. There are currently 31 translations of “Snakes on a Plane” into foreign languages. I’ve been interviewed by TV crews. According to Google, SnakesOnABlog.com has appeared in 34 newspaper stories, been linked to by 521 blogs, and over 6,500 other webpages.

So what motivates bloggers? What are the keys to having a successful blog? How should companies respond to bloggers? What are the challenges for marketers and how much control should companies try to exert?

Also speaking at the conference is Lord Bell, who is a Lord. I have to admit, I think I’m outclassed: I’m not even a Duke or a Squire.

The real question is, what should I talk about? Anyone want to suggest a script for me? I have to come up with something that at least keeps me in competition with Lord Bell for best speaker.

During the summer I did an interview (on camera no less!) with Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba (of Church of the Customer) for a book they were working on called Citizen Marketers. Well, it’s out.

They sent me a copy and I’ve been slowly working in through it (it’s pretty good, I’ve just had other activities on my plate) and it talks about me and Snakes on a Plane quite a bit. Here’s some quick images:

You can pick it up at Amazon.

At Fantent I’ve posted an easy to browse collection of every image I posted at Snakes on a Blog over the last year. The comics, video and sound archives are tentatively up, but they need a lot of work.

A while ago I talked about starting a new site, one that would be dedicated to cataloging all the fanmade content online. It was a lofty goal… too lofty for me to actually achieve. Shame, huh?

So, instead of doing it all at once, I’m going to do it in steps. Small steps. And, like I did with Snakes on a Plane, I’m going to start with a new blog and see where it goes from there. I present to you:

If people actually start reading it, FanTent.com will be the new home of Fanmade Content. The site is going to start slowly accumulating links to and copies of Fanmade Content from around the net, but it’s also going to track the burgeoning phenomenon of fans interacting with media through the creation of their own content. Here’s the first post to give you an idea of what I’m going for.

In all fairness, the site isn’t really done yet. There’s a few bugs to iron out, a few of the features on there don’t quite work properly yet, a few links don’t point anywhere and the content is thus far somewhat lousy. A ringing endorsement, eh?

It’s a work in progress, but what online project isn’t? I’m not a hacker, I’m not a coder, I’m not really a web designer… but this is a new venture for me and I think it could be a fun one. I’ve become personally linked to the idea of and the potential importance of fan-produced content in the last year and it should be interesting to deal with that more directly.

Snakes on a Blog, I think we can all admit, was winding down. I won’t be shutting the site down, and I’ll still post here, but I’ll be posting at the new site as well and if you want to come with me, that’s great. If not, also fine.

Ok, that’s it.

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.

CBS News interviewed Ben from the Church of the Customer about Citizen Marketers. I actually talked with Ben and his associate Jackie for about an hour this summer for a book that they’re working on. If I hadn’t had an exam today, I would have been a show and tell item for them at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit (I bet I would have been a hero over there!).

Anyway, CBS asked him a question about Snakes on a Blog, so I figured I’d post the clip. For easier viewing, here it is on YouTube:

The Today Show is having an end of the year poll to determine which news event was their most “memorable.” Quite the exciting poll, eh? Anyway, one of the ten clips is mine from oh so many months ago (sadly I don’t have the clip online). If you’re feeling adventurous, head to the voting site before 9pm tonight to cast your vote. It’d be really sad to lose to “Dangers at Home,” or “Killer Whale,” or “Dog Hotels.”

I guess I wouldn’t mind losing to “Halloween Costume Trends.”

UPDATE: I lost to the Killer Whale.  Comme ci, Comme ça.

Did you think New Line had forgotten about me?

I admit, now that the movie is over and done with, now that the throngs of visitors have moved on, now that the reporters have stopped calling, I assumed that I wouldn’t be hearing from New Line again. Sure, I might get a nod when the DVDs come out (and stick around, I’ve got a give away next week for that), but I figured that would be it. Well, New Line proved me wrong. Below are images of my actual, official, personalized and autographed New Line “Season’s Greetings” (read Christmas) card.

Signed by all my favorite New Line people. The amazing thing is that I’m not even being sarcastic. I was genuinely moved to receive it. So, thanks New Line. Glad you’re still thinking about me.

Man, it’s early. Just a few days after Thanksgiving and I’m putting up my first Christmas themed post. It’s not even December 1st yet, nobody has opened their first advent calendar door! I know some Jews out there who are going to get on my case for this. Save Ferris is probably going to write me a mean letter. Anyway, you knew it was coming, here we go:

Once again, thanks to the always surprising CineZombi family for their fine work.

I’m expecting a Snakes on Hanukkah display any day now, either with snake shaped candles or snake shaped candle holders in the menorah. Get cracking, Jews.

Also, for those of you still reading the site, it looks like I’m going to have one final contest for ye faithful in relation to the upcoming DVD-release. I don’t have details yet, but stay tuned, they might pop online AT ANY MOMENT.

Akismet, an excellent system that most Wordpress blogs use to control spam, has failed today. I don’t know why, but in the last 24 hours hundreds of spam postings have appeared on the site. It’s clogging my inbox and generally annoying. The problem appears to be internet-wide. To end this, I’ve temporarily added a new spam filtering question for people posting comments. It asks you to complete a simple math equation. Hopefully that won’t be too annoying. I’ll remove it as soon as Akismet is back up and working.

Try it out below. If anyone has any problems with the new filter, please let me know.

UPDATE: They claim to have fixed the problem, I’m turning off the math.

And, just so this isn’t a totally non-Snakes on a Plane related post, here’s a picture of a sandcastle:

A reporter got in touch with me last to verify an AIM interview I had given. I have never done an interview by AIM, so I was intrigued. It turns out he was talking to whoever has SnakesonaPlane on AIM (I am SnakesonaBlog). The person clearly stated that he was me and proceeded to give a full interview. It’s strange. Does the real owner of SnakesonaPlane want to step forward? The odd part is that he gives a full, rather mundane interview. You would think if he was going to impersonate me, he might want to throw in some outlandish claims. I wonder how many other false interviews he’s given.

The full interview is available after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

This is going to be long, please forgive me that:

I spent the last eight months of my life blogging about a film called Snakes on a Plane. I started my blog on a lark, hoping to get myself invited to the Hollywood premiere. I spent the eight months building towards the day I would walk down the red carpet in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and pass through the big doors into the premiere. The free popcorn once I got inside was, admittedly, an afterthought.

I’ve spent the last few days uncoiling (ha) and traveling home to DC. I haven’t yet written up a description of what happened, but clearly it’s time.

I got to the theater early in the afternoon, around 5:30, to pick up tickets. After being rebuffed by security a few times (they REALLY didn’t care to listen to why I was trying to get past them), I was able to find Nicole from New Line and got myself onto the fringe of the red carpet. It was a little bit early so I picked up my tickets and left for a quick dinner with my friends (I was ultimately able to finagle three of them into the premiere: my girlfriend, Jon and New Yorker). We were joined at dinner by Jeff Rowland who ultimately would sit behind me during the film. On the way to dinner, I met Reba Mac, who had managed to get herself invited at the last minute (Jakob couldn’t go, so his father kindly offered her his tickets) and was VERY excited to be there.

After dinner at a closeby Italian restaurant, we returned for the official “red carpet” event. I arrived at 7:45 and was huddled into the group of bloggers who had been invited to interview people at Comic-Con and who had managed to make it to LA for the premiere. I was only with them briefly, however, for they were spirited away to talk to press and I was asked to wait behind. I stood around for a few minutes until Nicole came back to walk me through the red carpet.

Man, it was weird.

First they walked me down the red carpet for photographers. Admittedly, only about a third were interested in taking my picture. I was very VERY hurt. They took a lot of pictures of real celebrities, and one or two or three or four of me (the last two from Hutchins Photo):

After walking down the red carpet, I was shuttled to talk to a number of press people. Some of them were major, like the AP, Reuters and the LA Times. I don’t know who this guy worked for, but he had a hell of a mustache. Others were, uh, less major like JewReview.net and the guy with the turban and the sock puppet (I wish I had written down his website, I’m curious if he used any of my admittedly unfunny interview).

As I approached the end of the interview gauntlet, I saw DC Lugi (David Coyne) doing his own interviews. He watched me do my final interview (with the SoaP DVD people) and was inspired by my performance to go back and re-do his interview with them. I think he was parodying my enthusiastic interview - it’s an honor to be gently mocked by DC Lugi.

After finishing all the interviews I went back and watched the real celebrities coming in. I only got a few pictures of them, but I made sure to get a few blurry pictures of Samuel L. Jackson. The press was, understandably, a lot more interested in them.

Eventually I entered the big theater, grabbed a free popcorn and sat down inside. It’s a BIG theater, and it’s really nice. Red velvet, or whatever… I was assigned to a seat in the 5th row, which was a little bit close, but the chairs were designed to rock way back, so it wasn’t too bad. Anyway, it just meant I was closer to the action. I spoke briefly to a gentleman in an orange suit who was sitting behind me, as well as a woman that was sitting next to me who worked at American Airlines. She had managed to insert a section about Snakes on a Plane into their official training manual. She showed it to me. It was pretty cool.

At about 9:20, David Ellis came out to introduce the movie. Basically he started to thank people, then said screw it, and called for them to start the movie. The curtains pulled back and, for the first time in my life, the movie started without a single commercial or trailer. It was amazing.

The title came up, and people cheered.

People have described their experiences with audiences in the comments to previous posts and all I can say is that New Line was wise enough to invite enough bloggers and other fans to the premiere (through MySpace contests and other means) that people were genuinely excited to be there and knew when to cheer. It was raucous. My experience with the crowd mirrors that of people who went to packed houses on opening night.

And Snakes on a Plane was, of course, Snakes on a Plane. After nearly year of build up I have to say that the movie exceeded my expectations. It’s actually sad that because I had run this webpage, I knew what to expect. I knew about the various sex organ bitings, I had presumed the window shooting… a lot of what I saw was what I was expecting to see… and yet, it wasn’t boring. That was always the fear, from day one, that the movie might not be good OR bad, but dull. This movie, as you can tell from reading the hundreds of comments posted here in the last few days, was not dull. It had snakes, it had planes, it had Sam Jackson, it had swearing. It had, in short, everything we were looking for.

It was somewhat obvious where the new scenes had been added. It’s too bad the movie hadn’t been conceived as an R-rated feature from day 1, but that’s ok. We got it in the end. And so did Keenan’s fellow bodyguard.

Afterwards I went to a blogger afterparty. There was a nicer afterparty on a rooftop somewhere with the celebrities. Unfortunately, I wasn’t asked to hobnob at that one. Oh well, maybe next time. Then, eventually, I went home and, eventually, fell asleep.

It had been a very long ride to get to the premiere. After either months of work, I was pretty sleepy.

So, while some of you have asked to thank me:

I would like to thank you. This whole experience wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for everybody else who made this website functional. Your enthusiasm and your talents have made Snakes on a Plane what it is. I know that, New Line knows that, and from reading the newspapers the last few days, the rest of the world knows that. With the exception of one comic, I created no content. All I did was centralize what the rest of you were doing. While I can’t say thank you to all of you one by one, I can say thank you to you as a collective. This whole thing has been amazing, and everything you have done has been recognized for the truly new and unique accomplishment that it was. And, of course, it got me to the premiere. Thank you.

This was a fun ride, maybe we’ll do it again sometime.

By the way, for anyone who is interested, I’m planning on moving forward with my previously stated idea in the next six months. I’ll let you know more when I can put together some details.