25th AWARD AND SO MUCH MORE!

November 12, 2007

Collin and Daniel called from the Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth, Texas yesterday afternoon with some very good news: we won Best Documentary! That brings our film festival award tally to an amazing 25!!! The guys said the crowd was awesome there, and we've received several e-mails from new DGW fans in Texas.

At the St. Louis International Film Festival, the crowd was equally awesome and HUGE: over 200 people! Sam and Jason represented DGW there and were a bit nervous about hosting a Q&A, especially when the (mostly) hometown crowd saw the scene where Darius and the crew visited the Arch, which turned out to be inaccessible. Turns out, the audience pretty much apologized to the DGW crew, and we've received many e-mails from people saying they intend to start a letter-writing campaign to urge the Arch to make some renovations. How cool is that?

If you followed our trip online, you'll know that when Darius and the crew stopped in St. Louis, they were treated royally, thanks to big time DGW supporter Dave Andersen. Big D stayed in the Presidential Suite at the Drury Plaza Hotel, the local MDA organization arranged for all to meet some local firemen...and D was made honorary fire chief for the day. There were also great meals, and many warm, wonderful and welcoming folks. Unfortunately, a lot of that day's events wound up on the cutting room floor (not by choice), but they will eventually be seen in Part One of DVD extras (hopefully to be released this summer).

MORE GOOD NEWS...

Darius and Logan are in Los Angeles today to tape the Ellen DeGeneres Show! The segment won't air until November 26, so that gives you plenty of time to get ready for it. The producers at Ellen saw D and Logan on The Today Show and called right away. Ben, John Harmon, and Jason Hees also made the trip, and they will be in the studio audience. Sweet!

Darius has been tapped to be the Grand Marshall of Athens holiday parade! He is thrilled with this huge honor and is looking forward to sitting in the back of a convertible on November 29. The crew plans to follow behind in the DGW van so graciously loaned to us by Dodge.

Darius Goes West was shown in Upstate New York earlier this week at a private screening/benefit hosted by the Portnoy family, who have an adorable son/nephew/grandson named Javier who was recently diagnosed with DMD. The event, entitled Hope for Javier, raised an astonishing $158,000, with checks still rolling in. When we hear news like this--of the power our film has in raising money for DMD research--we are thrilled beyond belief.

We've said it many times before, and we'll say it again and again. Making this film has never been about winning awards (although we love them), becoming celebrities (no thanks), or about advancing anyone's careers. It's about helping to find--and fund--a cure for this horrible disease. And we're so proud to report that, to date, DGW has raised a little over $600,000 for Charley's Fund and DMD research.

KNOW ABOUT IT!