A Message From James Hoke, What Goes Up

When I first started working on What Goes Up, I had no idea the amount of time and dedication it would take. Like so many people with hundreds of movies making up my home collection, I assumed making a 2-hour film wouldn't take too much time.

Well, it did. And it has been the most incredible experience of my life, and I've gained a new appreciation for this business.


Something else happened that I didn't expect. As a hands-on executive producer, I quietly sat on the set during the first few weeks of shooting. But after awhile, given the long hours together, I become someone else. I wasn't just the executive producer, but a member of the team. I started having a lot of fun with the cast and crew. We had to have fun because things change all the time on the set.

They change all the time after the wrap too. So I hope all the fans of Steve Coogan, Hilary Duff, Josh Peck, Oliva Thirlby, and Molly Shannon appreciate that. As we invite you to join us and hopefully work with some of you to make this film the success it deserves to be, some things we share might change at the last minute from time to time. So just know that we're going to be working hard to do our best, and we'll be listening to you every step of the way.

We have high hopes for this film, especially given the performance by Hilary Duff, who I enjoyed getting to know because she is such an amazing person. (She's also generous with her time off camera for people like me, who are big fans too.) I also had a great time with Josh Peck and really enjoyed working with Max Hoffman. (They are really crazy guys!) Well, let's be real. I enjoyed everybody and could fill a whole page with appreciation, but that's not why many of you came by.

What Goes Up's first public appearance will be at the 3rd Annual Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. If visit the site, you'll see that they already have us up as a Special Festival Premiere at 7:15 p.m. on Fri., May 8.

To give you an idea of how fast things change, I had a different date last night. And you never know. It might change again!

We're not going to stop there. Shortly after the festival, we'll start rolling out the film in several major markets in the United States. Right now, we're planning a theatrical premiere in Los Angeles and then have plans to be up in theaters in cities like New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas. There's several more cities in the works; and we'll be releasing the schedules just as soon as we can. We'll also be releasing promotions that will be very exciting for everyone.

With enough support behind this film, it is possible that we could be in every major market in North America by the end of June. Sure, I know what fans are saying. What about the June 16 DVD release?

The way I see it, we have two options. SPE Worldwide and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are fantastic people! I know in my heart that if What Goes Up takes off, then they will work with us to either hold off the DVD release or allow us to play the film in theaters past the DVD release date. But those are details that we just can't guess about right now, and anything is possible.

Our Insider Team also tells me that there are dozens of people sending in e-mails asking about releases in specific countries. With so many distributors, it's impossible to know their exact plans.

Most often, distributors in other countries follow right after a U.S. release. We've been told that's what some intend to do. If there is any way we can help you encourage those distributors to put it in theaters, we'll let you know. (For fans in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom specifically ... hang in there! As we learn details, you'll learn details too!)

For all Hilary Duff fans, I know there is something else on your mind. As I confirmed yesterday with our lead "Insider," there is a new original song by Hilary Duff. It was written on the set and recorded in November.

You'll have more details from our friends at Amherst Records about the song and the soundtrack release as soon as we do. Right now, they are working on those details as I write this post. The song is called, and I hope I'm not sharing this too soon, "Any Other Day." You'll love it.

There are some other things ahead you might like to know about. Every week, we'll be featuring interviews and guest posts from the cast and crew. This includes Steve Coogan, Hilary Duff, Josh Peck. among others. We'll also be adding more pictures to the Flickr account, which you can feel free to share. You're welcome to repost any of the stories, articles, and posts from this blog. All we ask is that you link back to the source to help us along and help people find it.

Two days ago, we also made a decision to share a few scenes from the movie on YouTube. And, we'll be announcing a new What Goes Up fan group on Facebook in the days ahead. Anyone who has already written to the What Goes Up Insider will be receiving an invitation this weekend. Members will also be allowed to post links related to What Goes Up to their fan sites and blogs.

I hope you do. Because from time to time right here, we'll be giving shot outs to fan sites and blogs covering our film right here. We may be able to arrange interviews (probably via e-mail, but you never know) for some supporters.

As for shout outs, I have a couple for early supporters: Arieanna Schweber at Hilary News, Hilary Duff Digital, and everybody at the Hilary Fan Forum. I also understand there is a fan group for OMG ... Josh Peck on LiveJournal. Thank you!

Also, always feel free to ask questions or share ideas in the comment section of this or upcoming posts. You have my promise, along with Joe Nahas and Anthony Miranda [Three Kings Productions], that we'll do our best to keep answering them. Everyone — from the crew to the cast — is on board! I hope you are too.