Almost Famous press-kit
Tyra Mazzer • Writing for PR
Strategy
Our primary strategy is to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of “Almost Famous’” release with a
2-disc special edition DVD re-release that will remind viewers of the coming of age story that stole the hearts of critics and fans alike and enhance their viewing experience. The discs will contain over 80 hours of bonus features, including interviews and behind the scenes footage with director Cameron Crowe (“Jerry Maguire,” “Vanilla Sky”), costume designer Betsy Heimann (“Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir dogs”) as well as Kate Hudson (“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Raising Helen,”) and Billy Crudup (“Watchmen,” “Big Fish”) among many other cast and crew members. The DVD set will also have exclusive deleted scenes, outtakes and a digital download of the “Almost Famous” Grammy winning soundtrack. We also would like to focus on the relatable themes about growing up and finding an identity that will resonate with a younger audience of first-time viewers. Thus, an important part of the promotional strategy will be to shed light on Cameron Crowe’s story, and how he translated his life into the on-screen life of William Miller. Ultimately with both audiences, we hope to position “Almost Famous” as a timeless classic that viewers can see as a source of comfort and familiarity, allowing them to go back and watch it time and time again.
Cover Letter
Nov. 20, 2014
Dear Editor: It’s tough to argue with four stars from Roger Ebert, and although “Almost Famous” didn’t blow anyone away in terms of box-office numbers, it has gained loyal fans and favorable critics reviews over the past 15 years. As Ebert said “I was almost hugging myself while I watched it.” A fresh look at the classic coming of age story, “Almost Famous” chronicles William Miller’s adventures with the fictional band “Stillwater” as he pursues the dream of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.” This semi-autobiographical account of director Cameron Crowe’s experiences touch on themes of love, life and rock and roll to create a poignant film that everyone can relate to. 15 years after its release in 2000, Dreamworks SKG is pleased to announce the “Almost Famous” special edition re-release. This 2-disc set from director Cameron Crowe will remind viewers of the magic of the ‘70s, the power of music, and what its like to grow up. To be released on September 22, 2015 in stores and online, the “Almost Famous” 2-disc special edition stars Billy Crudup (“Watchmen,” “Big Fish,”) Frances McDormand (“Fargo,” “Mississippi Burning,”) Kate Hudson (“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Raising Helen,”) and Patrick Fugit (“Saved!,” “Gone Girl.”) Enclosed please find background material on the movie, stars and crew. For any additional information, please contact Tyra Mazzer at 413-464-3438, or tmazzer1@ithaca.edu. Best, Tyra Mazzer
Principal Bios Patrick Fugit // William Miller
Patrick Fugit stars as William Miller, a young aspiring journalist who
is taken under the wing of rock ‘n roll on his journey to becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.” Successfully navigating the transition from child actor to professional, Fugit has recently taken on supporting roles in a diverse range of movies including “Gone Girl,” “We Bought a Zoo,” and “Thanks for Sharing.” During his teenage years, Fugit played the protagonist in “Wristcutters: A Love Story,” and before that starred in the teen cult-comedy “Saved!.” Fugit was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where he began acting through the theatre program at the University of Utah at the age of 11. Kate Hudson // Penny Lane
Kate Hudson’s character Penny Lane leads a group of “band-aids”
who follow Stillwater on their tour. Penny helps William get used to life on the road while pursuing her own goal of getting closer with a certain Stillwater band member. Known as one of America’s sweethearts, Hudson has been able to establish a successful career without relying on the achievements of her mother, Goldie Hawn or her father, Bill Hudson. She recently starred in the thriller “Good People,” soon after her TV appearances as Cassandra July on the hit series “Glee.” Before that, Hudson starred in a string of romantic comedies including “Raising Helen,” “Fool’s Gold,” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” However, her portrayal of Penny Lane in “Almost Famous” was the role that helped launch Hudson’s career, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Hudson was born and raised in Los Angeles, and currently lives with her fiance and Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy with their one son Bingham Hawn Bellamy.
Frances McDormand // Elaine Miller
Elaine Miller’s character shares many qualities with Crowe’s own mother, who served as inspiration for the character. Working as a professor at a local college, Miller worries about William as she reluctantly allows him to go on tour with Stillwater. Despite her somewhat neurotic nature, Miller cares deeply about her children and always wants what is best for them. Elaine’s antics are brought to life by Oscar winner Frances McDormand. McDormand often works closely with her husband, Joel Cohen in films such as “Burn After Reading,” and she more recently took on another maternal role in “Moonrise Kingdom.” McDormand was praised for her performance in “Almost Famous,” where she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. No stranger to such praise, McDormand won the award for Best Actress with her role in
“Fargo,” a few years after another Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in “Mississippi Burning.” McDormand was born in Chicago, Illinois and went on to study theater at Bethany College and Yale. She lives with her husband Joel Cohen and their son Pedro in New York City.
Airdate Release CAMERON CROWE’S ROCK ‘N ROLL COMING OF AGE STORY “ALMOST FAMOUS” CELEBRATES 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION TO BE RELEASED ON SEPT. 22, 2015 THROUGH DREAMWORKS SKG. LOS ANGELES- December 2, 2014- Director and producer Cameron Crowe’s coming of age story “Almost Famous” chronicles William Miller’s adventures with the fictional band “Stillwater” as he pursues the dream of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.” This semi-autobiographical account of director Cameron Crowe’s experiences that touch on themes of love, life and rock and roll will be celebrating its 15-year release anniversary on September 22, 2015. The 2-disc special edition will be produced by DreamWorks SKG and will be available in stores and online. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) inherits his record collection from his sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) after she decides to no longer put up with the overbearing antics of their mother Elaine (Frances McDormand) and to become a flight attendant. This sparks an interest in music that leads William to write articles for the high school newspaper and to send them out to editors of popular rock magazines such as “Creem.” When one outspoken editor, Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) agrees to meet with William, he gives him an assignment to interview “Black Sabbath” at an upcoming show. At the show, William meets the band-aids led by Penny Lane (Kate Hudson)- who are trying to revolutionize and change the perception of groupies in the music scene. After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting in the venue to meet back up with the band-aids, William sneaks in with the opening band “Stillwater.” This establishes the beginning of a relationship between a fan and the musicians that takes William all over the country as he follows Stillwater, the band-aids and his own dream of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.” On the road, Williams works to overcome the initial skepticism and distrust of guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) because of his position as a journalist. In addition, he must juggle the concerns of his mother Elaine (Frances McDormand), the pressure to produce a quality story and the temptations of the industry. With a fair amount of bumps and stumbles along the way, William ultimately receives a crash course on the rock ‘n roll industry, but more importantly a crash course on life.
Production Notes Not-So-Almost Famous
Most movies allocate around $1.5 million towards their soundtrack budgets. Then there’s “Almost
Famous.” Produced by Cameron Crowe and Danny Bramson, the $3.5 million budget pulled together songs from popular artists from the ‘70s including Cat Stevens, The Beach Boys, The Who and Elton John. In addition, Crowe’s wife Nancy Wilson, known as a vocalist for the band Heart played an important role for the soundtrack, and the score as well. In addition to writing all of the original songs for the fictional band Stillwater, including ‘Fever Dog’ and ‘Cabin in the Sky,’ Nancy worked with Peter Frampton on set to coach the actors on how to look like rock musicians, but have them maintain a lighthearted view of rock ‘n’ roll that is portrayed in the movie. In an interview with EW.com, she re-iterates: “we had to walk the line between parody and something that sounds legit…the lyrics and music had to be likable, but the humor had to be tucked in there, too. We couldn’t just go totally ‘Spinal Tap.” In the end, the fifty-song soundtrack was awarded the Best Soundtrack Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards, edging out other favorites such as “The Sopranos” and “Fantasia 2000.” The Fan Becomes the Musician The role of lead guitarist Russell Hammond was initially written for Brad Pitt, who worked with Cameron Crowe for months before he dropped out. Pitt felt that he “didn’t get it enough to do it.” This left the door open for Billy Crudup, who was a big Cameron Crowe fan to begin with. Crudup was drawn to the part because of its unique perspective on how important the relationship is between fans and musicians, but also because of the use of humor to convey emotional realities. This relationship between fans and musicians was especially exemplified when Russell takes William under his wing and lets him into Stillwater’s inner circle despite his own struggle to understand how to balance fame with romance, friendships and life. It was a complex role, but Crowe believed Crudup embodied the character better than anyone else could have: “Billy created a real, believable character who happens to be a musician…he played him from the inside out, to the point where I think he passed into a phase where he didn’t even have to think about it anymore. He just became Russell Hammond.”
Bringing the ‘70s into the New Millennium
When people today, especially younger generations, think about fashion from the 1970’s, it is likely
that they will think of tie-dye shirts, peace sign designs and shiny bell-bottom jumpsuits. Although these iconic pieces were indeed trends in the ‘70s, you won’t see much of them in ‘Almost Famous.’ To avoid these somewhat cliché looks, art director Clay Griffith and costume designer Betsy Heimann turned to Crowe’s own collection of trinkets and memorabilia from growing up, as well as old magazines and films to get a genuine look. Griffith recalls; “every night, we would watch two or three films to recall the feel of the decade…we also watched ‘rockumentaries’ like ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen,’ which follows Joe Cocker on tour on a bus, which was perfect.” In addition, Heimann worked with each individual character to allow their wardrobe to reflect their story. While Russell had a basic, effortless look with jeans, boots and t-shirts, Jeff, who was always in Russell’s shadow had a more eccentric wardrobe with studded jeans and colored velvet, representing his desire to be in the spotlight. William is first seen wearing a t-shirt and jeans when he is home in San Diego, but as he is exposed to the world of rock and roll he is seen in more neutral earth tones, jackets and corduroy. As for Penny Lane, her shearling jacket was inspired by Shirley MacLaine’s character in ‘The Apartment’ and held a much deeper meaning than it appears on the surface. In an interview with Elle magazine, Heimann reflected: “this coat is her armor; this coat is her protection; and when she puts this coat on, she’s wrapped in her cocoon of glamorous, wonderful Band Aids. She becomes Penny Lane, you know?”
Feature Bio
If there were one word that could be used to describe Cameron Crowe, uncool would be it. A term
that was used in Crowe’s coming of age rock ‘n roll story “Almost Famous” has since come to represent Crowe and his permanent perspective of being an outsider looking in. Although using uncool to describe someone doesn’t necessarily sound complimentary, Crowe sees the ability to think differently and stay humble as one of the most valuable traits a person can have. As summed up by “Almost Famous’” Lester Bangs (a representation of a very influential man of the same name in Crowe’s own life): “the only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”
Since the beginning of Crowe’s life, he fell
into the position of being an outlier, often for reasons outside his control. His mother, a local college professor, saw that Crowe was gifted, and encouraged him to skip not only Kindergarten, but also two grades in elementary school. As Crowe continued his academic pursuits, he felt alienated by the age difference between himself and his other classmates. A kidney disease that Crowe was diagnosed with didn’t help the situation either, as it made his pale skin stick out in “the Southern California vitamin-D enriched culture.” However, it was this feeling of being uncool that pushed Crowe into journalism- a passion that developed, allowed him to embrace that feeling of being an outsider, and to use it.
Crowe’s stint as a musician in the band “The Masked Hamster” was a brief one, so he decided
to turn to music journalism instead. At first, he started small by submitting music reviews to underground publications. After the editor of “Creem,” Lester Bangs, became his mentor however, Crowe began submitting articles to “Creem,” “Playboy,” the “LA Times” and “Music World.” After graduating high school at the age of 15, Crowe joined “Rolling Stone” as an editor, where he was able to cover stories on popular artists at that time, such as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.
Now, if you’ve seen “Almost Famous” you’re probably thinking this storyline sounds familiar, and
you’re right. William Miller, the protagonist, had an interest in rock ‘n roll and journalism that flourished in spite of his overly protective mother. Ultimately, he was able to convince his mother to let him go on the road with Stillwater and he ended up becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone,” profiling and following famous artists. Crowe felt that this journey in his own life shaped who he was, and he wanted to capture that experience in a screenplay, but of course he had to keep it uncool: “I didn’t want it to be like some of those semi-autobiographical stories that glorify the writer because the truth is I never felt like the center of any room I was in at that time. I was an observer. That’s what the character of William Miller is – he’s an observer.”
“Almost Famous” had big shoes to fill, since it was the first movie Crowe directed since the Oscar
winning “Jerry Maguire.” The only Oscar “Almost Famous” won was for the soundtrack, but 15 years after its original release, the success of the film speaks for itself regardless of awards and accolades because of its ability to touch on human truths that everyone recognizes. Producer Ian Bryce noted this in a recent interview, where he states, “it is a story we with which we can all empathize. We all have personal memories about being 15. The coming-of-age story of this kid, his relationship with the band, his first journey away from home, his first love … these are timeless elements.”
Perhaps one of the reasons why this film has been so successful is because of how close to
Crowe’s heart it was; “it wasn’t until it became personal that it became a movie worth making. When I took that jump, it was very scary, but then stuff started to pour out of me, and the story became larger than just about rock in 1973.” Based on his success as a filmmaker today and his status in Hollywood, one could say that Crowe has achieved a level of “cool.” However, his ability to stay loyal to his quirky outcast roots reminds those who may be feeling “uncool” that sometimes being on the outside isn’t so bad.
Social Media Plan
The social media promotions will primarily involve facebook and YouTube. On facebook, the “Al-
most Famous� fan page will regularly post tidbits of trivia, followed by a plug for the DVD re-release in the month leading up to the release. In the week before the DVD release, a trivia quiz will be posted, where random winners who received 100% on the quiz will receive a free DVD. To focus on the musical aspect of the movie, another contest will be created on YouTube, where users will be encouraged to post videos of themselves covering songs from the award winning soundtrack. Then, a bracket-type system will be set up where viewers can vote for their favorite cover video to advance through different rounds of competition, and eventually to the finals. The winner will receive a free DVD and a vinyl copy of the soundtrack, signed by the cast and crew.
In addition, the hashtag #AlmostFamousFifteen will be used on twitter and instagram to generate
interest on other outlets, where users can post how the movie had an effect on them, and how they feel about it celebrating its 15 year anniversary.