To Ron Howard,
Hi there. I’m Harry Knowles, I’m sure you get annoyed with me from time to time, but I’m here to tell you about a magic theater here in Austin.
This morning I woke up to read in the local newspaper that you are contemplating moving EDtv from screening at the Paramount Theater to a Tinseltown Multi-screen during this year’s SXSW film festival.
From the gist of the article it sounds like you (or your ‘people’) had some technician types come in and give the theater a look over and ‘technically’ it didn’t pass their inspection.
The Paramount Theater is a magic theater like the one in CINEMA PARADISO. It was never the grandest palace theater in the world. Sure, it’s no where near as large as Mann’s Chinese or Egyptian. The screen and sound are not like those of the Cinerama Dome. BUT.... this is a magic theater.
I’ve been to around a dozen ‘world premieres’ in Los Angeles. From a technical viewpoint, the screenings were perfect. Every iota of perfection you could ever hope for... technically. BUT it plays to a fairly stiff audience that isn’t under the spell of a magic theater. Instead they were an audience filled with cynicism. Analyzing every minute fallacy the films had, imagining how the film will play in Peoria, though they themselves have no understanding of what the people of Peoria actually think.... But soon they’ll take a poll to find out.
But then there is... The Paramount.
It seats 1200 or so people. That’s it. The sound reaches your seat. The ushers have been ushering since your father was in diapers. They are all iridescent silver-haired magician’s assistants that lead the audience into one of the greatest movie wombs I have ever been to.
You see, in this theater there are no non-believers. Sure they are the same audience that would be at the multiplex divided up into 4 screens, but that’s kinda like dividing up Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo into 4 separate films. Groucho and Harpo might still knock their audiences dead, Chico will amuse... but Zeppo will fall on his face. BUT if you put those four together, and you place them on that magic screen.... tears will flow.... your own I assure you.
I’m only 27 years old. I’m a bit overbearing at times on this site, but if there is one thing I understand perfectly it is the theatrical experience. I’m talking beyond George Lucas’ stunning filmic advances. I’m talking about the type of film experiences that you never forget. The ones you make movies to achieve. Where people leave never being able to forget the moment in time where they lived a certain film.
Now I haven’t seen EDtv. But I have had test screening reports from numerous screenings you have had. The film seems to be an audience’s film. The Paramount is an Audience’s Theater. It’s a place where...
Listen Ron... I could write for 5 days about the Paramount theater... About why to screen there. I could go into the screenings of SCHLOCK, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, THE FACULTY, THE NEWTON BOYS, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE, BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, and on and on and on.... But you know what.... those are not the screenings to convince you.
I’ve been at countless theatrically perfect exhibitions at the Paramount, but I’ll just tell you about the best.
PLEASANTVILLE.
Fill free to call up Gary Ross, he’ll back me up on this story.
It was last fall. It was ‘technically’ the worst screening I have ever witnessed. The sound was blinking off and on sporadically during the film. The movie had to be stopped no less than 5 or 6 times. Initially Gary was panicked, by ‘Hollywood’ standards this was a nightmare... but not in this magic theater.
You see the audience was hypnotized by the theater. It had weaved it’s web of magic over the hall. Gary Ross stepped out on stage like a worm trying to slink off of his hook. You could see he was awaiting the gigantic jaws of the angry catfish from below. He’d seen BLAZING SADDLES, he knew that a Texas audience had guns and were prepared to shoot him for his film’s poor performance.
As the spotlight hit him though and the audience rose to their feet applauding him for the forty-five minutes they had seen thus far, he began tearing up. He shuffled his feet and told the audience it may be 40 minutes till they fix it, and that they would have to start the last reel over again from the beginning, and how we could just reschedule.....
A booming “NOOOOOOOOOOOO” rang out from the 1200.
A meek little, “You want to wait,” was asked by Gary.
A resounding “YESSSSSSSSSSS” filled the air.
The electricity was raising everyone’s hair. A few people that couldn’t walk... did. It was magic. The screening took nearly 4 hours. I met with Gary after the screening and the look on his face was that of a stunned man. He had tears running down his cheeks, and he said under his breath to his wife, “We’ll never have a better screening.”
Ron....
You’ll never have a better screening then the one you’ll have at the Paramount Theater in Austin. In fact... the screening will scare you it’ll be so good. You’ll witness the most reactive audience you’ll ever see. And if you don’t watch out... you may decide to live here.
Ask John Landis. Ask Bryan Singer. Ask Neal Moritz. Ask Michael Moore. Ask Quentin Tarantino. Ask Robert Rodriguez. Ask Gary Ross. Ask Jonathon Demme. Ask Bill Paxton about his screening of TRAVELER there. I remember him leaning over his private opera box and screaming out, “When I heard we were premiering in Austin, I thought we’d be at some mall theater.... THIS THEATER IS FUCKING COOL!!!!” as the thousand plus members of the audience cheered. Ask Lynda Obst and Matthew about CONTACT.... There was a film that cried out for the best sound theater in the universe.... But it didn’t keep them out of the Paramount. Ask how it went. Ask around... But don’t ask the technical people. They look with a different set of eyes... they listen with a different type of hearing. Ask about the emotion, the thrills and the chills. This is a magic theater. Ask Katherine Hepburn about performing here in the thirties on this same stage. It’s magic I tell ya. Magic.
Lastly Ron, feel free to call me at 512-467-8747. Ask me about the Paramount. You’ll hear the voice of someone more sincere than any voice you’ve heard in recent memory. I’ll gush about any one of hundreds of amazing screenings that went beyond the speakers and the lights and shadows on the screen before me. In fact to get me to shut up about the theater you might have to just hang up and pray never to meet me in person.
This is a magic theater. You can’t tell from the outside... you can’t tell from the inside... but when there are 1200 people in the hall... and a beam of light shines out and upon that screen.... When you walk out onto that STAGE and the spotlight hits you and you can’t see the audience... When you hear the acoustically theatrically perfect boom of the audiences’ applause.... Then you’ll know.
And when it is over and your movie has worked it’s own magic in conjunction with that of the Paramount.... You’ll see 1200 happy gleeful people file out into the cool crisp air of Austin. We’ll all go to the after parties, where noone will ask about the performance in Peoria. They won’t ask about the demographics in the top twenty markets... They won’t ask about what your numbers are... Instead you’ll bask in the glow of a perfectly sated audience that is teeming with excitement. Loving every thrill of the screening.
Ron, I know this is a bit of a roundabout way to reach you. That it’s a fairly public place. That there are more than the two of us reading this. But you see... I don’t care. I feel passionately about this. I’ll scream it from the highest mountain I can find... and this is the only peak I can reach. I hope this reaches you because since you have chosen to bring this film to Austin, I want to make sure you have a transcendent film experience. I want to make sure you go back to Hollywood and tell all your friends about a little magic theater in Austin. I’m not sure why you chose to bring EDtv to SXSW... but I think it was probably somebody told you it was a great place to screen. They were talking about THE PARAMOUNT THEATER.... I assure you. I implore you to listen to me on this... This is no BS... I have nothing invested in this. I just want you to have the best screening you have ever had in your life.... and that awaits you at the Paramount Theater.
See you soon,
Harry Knowles.
