Good Grape Wine Company

September 18 2008

And My B.S. Detector Goes Berserk

beep, beep, beEP, bEEP, BEEP, BEEP.  My B.S. detector has officially been tripped and is going crazy making mental racket.

With arched eyebrow and cynicism in my voice I say, “Really?”  “No, seriously.  Really?

That’s what I think when I read press releases like the one appended below for the movie Bottle Shock.  I think this pr flak should get a job writing for The Onion.

Ahem ...

Indie Film Hit ‘BOTTLE SHOCK’ Defies Industry Expectations and Means Good Business for Wine Country
Last update: 5:52 p.m. EDT Sept. 17, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Sept 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/—BOTTLE SHOCK, the independently produced and released movie about the infamous 1976 Paris Tasting where the California wines beat the French, steams into its second month of independent distribution playing in hundreds of theaters across the U.S. and Canada, and racking up over $3.6 million dollars in box office receipts to date. While BOTTLE SHOCK is connecting with enthusiastic audiences fueled by strong word of mouth, the film is also creating a noticeable “BOTTLE SHOCK” effect in terms of increased tourism and wine sales in Napa Valley where the film was shot last summer.

Ed Note:  I think “Bat Man” opened on 2400 theatres.  Hundreds of theatres and $3.6M dollars seems, well, pretty pathetic for a commercial movie release.  Hardly justification for “racking up.”  In fact, it’s #143 on the list of 2008 moneymakers, just ahead of “Cruising Bar 2” a French-Canadian sequel to a 1989 movie.  530,230 people have seen “Bottle Shock.” 

Just as underdog California wines stunned the world by triumphing at the legendary Paris tasting, BOTTLE SHOCK’S robust ticket sales have surprised most film industry experts. Despite being self-distributed by the filmmakers on a shoestring budget through Los Angeles-based Freestyle Releasing, the film has significantly outperformed virtually every film that was purchased at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. That includes high-profile movies that were snapped up by Hollywood studios and independent distributors such as THE WACKNESS (Sony Pictures Classics), AMERICAN TEEN (Paramount Vantage), FROZEN RIVER (Sony Pictures Classics), TRANSIBERIAN (First Look) and HENRY POOLE IS HERE (Overture).

Ed Note: Yeah, this is probably legit and a little bit of a slap at the distributors who did not pick it up, but robust ticket sales is a bit of a stretch.

“BOTTLE SHOCK has turned into kind of a cultural phenomenon, both tapping into and fueling the current fascination with fine wine and food,” said film marketing veteran Dennis O’Connor, who oversaw the film’s release. “It has an amazing cast, a rousing underdog story, a breathtaking setting and a great soundtrack. Plus, I think Americans secretly love to watch their fellow countrymen beat the French at anything.”

Ed Note:  Okay, here’s where the muck gets really, really deep.  “Cultural phenomenon?”  You mean like “Sideways?”  Not so much.  530,230 people have seen the movie.  Let me put it to you this way, if 530,230 people seeing this movie is a cultural phenomenon, then blogging has reached it’s cultural nadir in terms of impact.

Director Randall Miller and his wife Jody Savin, who co-wrote and produced BOTTLE SHOCK, believed strongly in the film’s potential, even after it failed to land a favorable distribution deal at Sundance. “We knew it was a fun, upbeat film that audiences really enjoyed,” says Miller. “So we decided to take a chance on self-distributing. The response has been overwhelming.”

Ed Note:  Kudos to Miller and Savin for making the movie and then having the fortitude to see their investment through. 

BOTTLE SHOCK focuses on the cast of characters at Chateau Montelena which had the winning white wine at the Paris Tasting. Visits to the winery and wine sales are up significantly. While winery representatives would not provide specific data, they did acknowledge the film is good for business. “The movie BOTTLE SHOCK, and all the buzz and news about the film, has certainly increased our brand exposure,” said Greg Ralston, Managing Director of Chateau Montelena. “We’ve seen an increase in visitors this summer who have seen the movie and who want to taste our wines. We’re delighted with the goodwill and consumer interest the movie is bringing to Napa Valley.”

Ed Note: No specific data means anecdotal feedback which means the Tasting Room Manager talked to one couple who saw the movie.  I’m not saying, I’m just saying …

Gustavo Brambila, played by talented actor Freddy Rodriguez in the film, was one of the first Mexican Americans to earn a wine degree from U.C. Davis. His first job was serving as assistant winemaker to winemaker Mike Grgich at Chateau Montelena in 1976. When Grgich left to start Grgich Hills, Brambila went with him, working at Grgich Hills until 1999 when he started his own winery GustavoThrace with partner Thrace Bromberger.

Bromberger reports increases in wine sales, increases in tourism to the Wine Country, and significant interest from the Latino community in the many accomplishments Gustavo’s story represents: “GustavoThrace had its best sales month ever in August [2008], up 43% over August 2007, and September is already up 39% over the same period a year ago. We’ve had a huge influx of customers coming to find us after seeing the film, and a tremendous number of new distributors inquiring about picking up our line of wines for distribution around the country. We are seeing visitors in our tasting room from the Bay Area who’ve seen the film and say they haven’t been to Napa in years; as well as visitors from all over the country flying out because the film showed them just how beautiful this area is. And we’ve had many calls of congratulations and requests from Latino organizations about Gustavo doing appearances and pouring wine at special events.”

Ed Note:  There’s a phrase for this paragraph, what is it, ah, yes, I think it goes, “If bullshit was music, that fellow would be a brass band.”

Unlike Santa Barbara County wineries which were little known prior to the film SIDEWAYS, wineries in Napa Valley have been major tourist destinations for years. That said, with all of the new wine areas around the world drawing growing numbers of wine-tourists, including strong competition from neighboring Sonoma where nearly 80% of the filming actually took place, Napa has been working on repositioning itself as the world’s original and leading wine country destination. Even though it’s very early in the game, evidence abounds that BOTTLE SHOCK is already helping.

Calistoga Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Rex Albright says, “We’ve seen an unprecedented level of excitement in visitors from all over the country who like the film and want to see Chateau Montelena, Calistoga and other Napa Valley landmarks for themselves. Since the movie opened, we’ve had more people each week asking about the winery; I think people respond to the underdog quality of the real story behind the film.”

Ed Note:  You can almost hear the conversation, “Hey Rex, here’s a draft of the press release, I need a quote right here, can you say something like ‘unprecedented?’”

It’s not just tourists who are more interested than ever in Napa. Last summer as BOTTLE SHOCK was set to begin principal photography, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (which had the winning red wine at the Paris Tasting) was purchased by a partnership between Italy’s Villa Banfi and Washington State’s Chateau St. Michelle. And this summer, just prior to BOTTLE SHOCK’s theatrical release, an announcement was made that France’s Cos d’Estournel would be purchasing Chateau Montelena, establishing the quip “if you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em”.

Ed Note: A quip is something that somebody says over dinner that may or may not register when the bread basket is being passed and a dining companion is looking for a pat of butter.  This hardly qualifies as a quip that has been established.  Though, a lazy headline writer might pick it up from a lazy journalist working on deadline for the lifestyle section in Saturday’s paper.

BOTTLE SHOCK is directed by Randall Miller and stars Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Dennis Farina, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Chris Pine and Eliza Dushku. BOTTLE SHOCK was filmed entirely on location in Napa and Sonoma. BOTTLE SHOCK was screened at Sundance to five enthusiastic audiences, and also played the Maui Film Festival (Best Ensemble Cast Award and Heineken Red Star Award for Innovation, Originality, and Vision in Filmmaking) and the Seattle International Film Festival (Best Actor Award to Alan Rickman). Los Angeles-based Freestyle Releasing is handling the U.S. theatrical release.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: HYPERLINK http://www.bottleshockthemovie.com
SOURCE Freestyle Releasing

Ed Note: In general, and again, I say, “Really?”  “No, seriously.  Really?

digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit |

Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (6) | Print |