I went to the Virginia Film Alliance annual networking event in Northern Virginia. I had a spot at a table to display the trailer of Budget Justified.
I told several people that I was creating a theater within an online game to show my movie clips, build a fan base, and experiment with a role playing game about Budget Justified where people can pretend to be the overbearing boss, the lazy coworker, the shy coworker, the guy who tries to get sex in the office, etc. One guy said, “You should try Second Life.” Well, that happened to be the game that I was referring to. We exchanged user names, so I plan to show him my Second Life movie theater next time we’re online together.
A lot of people said they’d check my web site to watch the trailer. We’ll see if anyone checks the web site. But will anyone tell their friends about the web site?
Last night Diane Sawyer had a segment on ABC Nightly News about the FAA throwing a huge boondoggle party for its managers. OK, that’s not news, the FAA managers have boondoggles all the time.
I posted comments on several news web sites referring readers to Budget Justified on the web (http://BudgetJustified.com). Got a whole bunch of hits from FAA domains. I even got a Facebook fan from the FAA (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Federal-Government-movie-book-true-story/138138959814) I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the boondoggle party will have a long news life. The Washington Post didn’t have much to say about it. That’s because FAA managers mistreating employees and overtreating themselves isn’t illegal and really isn’t news. It’s just nasty reality of life as a government worker.
That’s why Budget Justified has to be a movie. If I went to the news whining about what it was like working at the FAA, I’d be lucky to get anyone to pay attention. But with a movie, I tell the story. I don’t have to worry about whether someone else will do it for me.
Brian Ross of ABC News published a news story with video http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/party-time-faa-critics-question-million-gathering/story?id=9390933 about a $5 million party thrown by the FAA for its managers. It’s going to be on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer tonight.
What I need you to do is go to various news sites – Washington Post, ABC, your local paper, etc., and post a comment such as this:
A movie about waste and abuse at the FAA was just produced. You can watch the trailer at http://BudgetJustified.com
Some sites won’t let you enter URLs in comments. If you run across one of those sites, you can try:
A movie about waste and abuse at the FAA was just produced. You can watch the trailer at the BudgetJustified web site.
My favorite part of the story was when one of the managers at the party asked a female ABC News undercover reporter if she was a “hooker” because “I was ready to reach for my wallet.” That sums up the FAA right there.
