Almost Famouspress-kit

Tyra Mazzer • Writing for PR

Strategy Our primary strategy is to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of “Almost Famous’” release with a

2-disc special edition DVD re-release that will remind viewers of the coming of age story that stole the hearts

of critics and fans alike and enhance their viewing experience. The discs will contain over 80 hours of bonus

features, including interviews and behind the scenes footage with director Cameron Crowe (“Jerry Maguire,”

“Vanilla Sky”), costume designer Betsy Heimann (“Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir dogs”) as well as Kate Hudson

(“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Raising Helen,”) and Billy Crudup (“Watchmen,” “Big Fish”) among many

other cast and crew members. The DVD set will also have exclusive deleted scenes, outtakes and a digital

download of the “Almost Famous” Grammy winning soundtrack. We also would like to focus on the relatable

themes about growing up and finding an identity that will resonate with a younger audience of first-time

viewers. Thus, an important part of the promotional strategy will be to shed light on Cameron Crowe’s story,

and how he translated his life into the on-screen life of William Miller. Ultimately with both audiences, we hope

to position “Almost Famous” as a timeless classic that viewers can see as a source of comfort and familiarity,

allowing them to go back and watch it time and time again.

Cover Letter Nov. 20, 2014

Dear Editor:

It’s tough to argue with four stars from Roger Ebert, and although “Almost Famous” didn’t blow anyone

away in terms of box-office numbers, it has gained loyal fans and favorable critics reviews over the

past 15 years. As Ebert said “I was almost hugging myself while I watched it.”

A fresh look at the classic coming of age story, “Almost Famous” chronicles William Miller’s adventures

with the fictional band “Stillwater” as he pursues the dream of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.”

This semi-autobiographical account of director Cameron Crowe’s experiences touch on themes of love,

life and rock and roll to create a poignant film that everyone can relate to.

15 years after its release in 2000, Dreamworks SKG is pleased to announce the “Almost Famous”

special edition re-release. This 2-disc set from director Cameron Crowe will remind viewers of the

magic of the ‘70s, the power of music, and what its like to grow up.

To be released on September 22, 2015 in stores and online, the “Almost Famous” 2-disc special

edition stars Billy Crudup (“Watchmen,” “Big Fish,”) Frances McDormand (“Fargo,” “Mississippi

Burning,”) Kate Hudson (“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Raising Helen,”) and Patrick Fugit

(“Saved!,” “Gone Girl.”)

Enclosed please find background material on the movie, stars and crew. For any additional information,

please contact Tyra Mazzer at 413-464-3438, or tmazzer1@ithaca.edu.

Best,

Tyra Mazzer

Principal Bios

Patrick Fugit // William Miller

Patrick Fugit stars as William Miller, a young aspiring journalist who

is taken under the wing of rock ‘n roll on his journey to becoming a writer

for “Rolling Stone.” Successfully navigating the transition from child actor

to professional, Fugit has recently taken on supporting roles in a diverse

range of movies including “Gone Girl,” “We Bought a Zoo,” and “Thanks

for Sharing.” During his teenage years, Fugit played the protagonist in

“Wristcutters: A Love Story,” and before that starred in the teen cult-comedy

“Saved!.” Fugit was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where he began acting

through the theatre program at the University of Utah at the age of 11.

Kate Hudson // Penny Lane

Kate Hudson’s character Penny Lane leads a group of “band-aids”

who follow Stillwater on their tour. Penny helps William get used to life on the

road while pursuing her own goal of getting closer with a certain Stillwater

band member. Known as one of America’s sweethearts, Hudson has

been able to establish a successful career without relying on

the achievements of her mother, Goldie Hawn or her father,

Bill Hudson. She recently starred in the thriller “Good People,”

soon after her TV appearances as Cassandra July on the hit

series “Glee.” Before that, Hudson starred in a string of romantic

comedies including “Raising Helen,” “Fool’s Gold,” and “How to

Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” However, her portrayal of Penny Lane in

“Almost Famous” was the role that helped launch Hudson’s career,

earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting

Actress. Hudson was born and raised in Los Angeles, and currently

lives with her fiance and Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy with their

one son Bingham Hawn Bellamy.

Frances McDormand // Elaine Miller

Elaine Miller’s character shares many qualities with Crowe’s own

mother, who served as inspiration for the character. Working as a

professor at a local college, Miller worries about William as she

reluctantly allows him to go on tour with Stillwater. Despite her

somewhat neurotic nature, Miller cares deeply about her children

and always wants what is best for them. Elaine’s antics are

brought to life by Oscar winner Frances McDormand. McDormand

often works closely with her husband, Joel Cohen in films such as

“Burn After Reading,” and she more recently took on another

maternal role in “Moonrise Kingdom.” McDormand was praised

for her performance in “Almost Famous,” where she earned an

Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. No

stranger to such praise, McDormand won the award for Best Actress with her role in

“Fargo,” a few years after another Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in “Mississippi Burning.”

McDormand was born in Chicago, Illinois and went on to study theater at Bethany College and Yale. She lives

with her husband Joel Cohen and their son Pedro in New York City.

penny lane glasses

Airdate ReleaseCAMERON CROWE’S ROCK ‘N ROLL COMING OF AGE STORY “ALMOST FAMOUS” CELEBRATES 15

YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION TO BE RELEASED ON SEPT. 22, 2015 THROUGH

DREAMWORKS SKG.

LOS ANGELES- December 2, 2014- Director and producer Cameron Crowe’s coming of age story “Almost

Famous” chronicles William Miller’s adventures with the fictional band “Stillwater” as he pursues the dream

of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.” This semi-autobiographical account of director Cameron Crowe’s

experiences that touch on themes of love, life and rock and roll will be celebrating its 15-year release

anniversary on September 22, 2015. The 2-disc special edition will be produced by DreamWorks SKG and

will be available in stores and online.

William Miller (Patrick Fugit) inherits his record collection from his sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) after

she decides to no longer put up with the overbearing antics of their mother Elaine (Frances McDormand)

and to become a flight attendant. This sparks an interest in music that leads William to write articles for

the high school newspaper and to send them out to editors of popular rock magazines such as “Creem.”

When one outspoken editor, Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) agrees to meet with William, he gives

him an assignment to interview “Black Sabbath” at an upcoming show.

At the show, William meets the band-aids led by Penny Lane (Kate Hudson)- who are trying to revolutionize

and change the perception of groupies in the music scene. After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting in

the venue to meet back up with the band-aids, William sneaks in with the opening band “Stillwater.” This

establishes the beginning of a relationship between a fan and the musicians that takes William all over the

country as he follows Stillwater, the band-aids and his own dream of becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone.”

On the road, Williams works to overcome the initial skepticism and distrust of guitarist Russell Hammond

(Billy Crudup) and lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) because of his position as a journalist. In addition, he

must juggle the concerns of his mother Elaine (Frances McDormand), the pressure to produce a quality

story and the temptations of the industry. With a fair amount of bumps and stumbles along the way, William

ultimately receives a crash course on the rock ‘n roll industry, but more importantly a crash course on life.

Production NotesNot-So-Almost Famous

Most movies allocate around $1.5 million towards their soundtrack budgets. Then there’s “Almost

Famous.” Produced by Cameron Crowe and Danny Bramson, the $3.5 million budget pulled together songs

from popular artists from the ‘70s including Cat Stevens, The Beach Boys, The Who and Elton John. In addition,

Crowe’s wife Nancy Wilson, known as a vocalist for the band Heart played an important role for the soundtrack,

and the score as well. In addition to writing all of the original songs for the fictional band Stillwater, including

‘Fever Dog’ and ‘Cabin in the Sky,’ Nancy worked with Peter Frampton on set to coach the actors on how to

look like rock musicians, but have them maintain a lighthearted view of rock ‘n’ roll that is portrayed in the

movie. In an interview with EW.com, she re-iterates: “we had to walk the line between parody and something

that sounds legit…the lyrics and music had to be likable, but the humor had to be tucked in there, too. We

couldn’t just go totally ‘Spinal Tap.” In the end, the fifty-song soundtrack was awarded the Best Soundtrack

Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards, edging out other favorites such as “The Sopranos” and “Fantasia 2000.”

penny lane glasses

The Fan Becomes the Musician

The role of lead guitarist Russell Hammond was initially written for Brad Pitt, who worked with Cameron Crowe

for months before he dropped out. Pitt felt that he “didn’t get it enough to do it.” This left the door open for

Billy Crudup, who was a big Cameron Crowe fan to begin with. Crudup was drawn to

the part because of its unique perspective on how important the relationship

is between fans and musicians, but also because of the use of humor to

convey emotional realities. This relationship between fans and musicians was

especially exemplified when Russell takes William under his wing and lets him

into Stillwater’s inner circle despite his own struggle to understand how to

balance fame with romance, friendships and life. It was a complex role, but

Crowe believed Crudup embodied the character better than anyone else

could have: “Billy created a real, believable character who happens to

be a musician…he played him from the inside out, to the point where I

think he passed into a phase where he didn’t even have to think about

it anymore. He just became Russell Hammond.”

Bringing the ‘70s into the New Millennium

When people today, especially younger generations, think about fashion from the 1970’s, it is likely

that they will think of tie-dye shirts, peace sign designs and shiny bell-bottom jumpsuits. Although these

iconic pieces were indeed trends in the ‘70s, you won’t see much of them in ‘Almost Famous.’ To avoid these

somewhat cliché looks, art director Clay Griffith and costume designer Betsy Heimann turned to Crowe’s own

collection of trinkets and memorabilia from growing up, as well as old magazines and films to get a genuine

look. Griffith recalls; “every night, we would watch two or three films to recall the feel of the decade…we also

watched ‘rockumentaries’ like ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen,’ which follows Joe Cocker on tour on a bus, which was

perfect.” In addition, Heimann worked with each individual character to allow their wardrobe to reflect their

story. While Russell had a basic, effortless look with jeans, boots and t-shirts, Jeff, who was always in Russell’s

shadow had a more eccentric wardrobe with studded jeans and colored velvet, representing his desire to

be in the spotlight. William is first seen wearing a t-shirt and jeans when he is home in San Diego, but as he

is exposed to the world of rock and roll he is seen in more neutral earth tones, jackets and corduroy. As for

Penny Lane, her shearling jacket was inspired by Shirley MacLaine’s character in ‘The Apartment’ and held

a much deeper meaning than it appears on the surface. In an

interview with Elle magazine, Heimann reflected: “this

coat is her armor; this coat is her protection; and when

she puts this coat on, she’s wrapped in her cocoon of

glamorous, wonderful Band Aids. She becomes Penny

Lane, you know?”

Feature Bio If there were one word that could be used to describe Cameron Crowe, uncool would be it. A term

that was used in Crowe’s coming of age rock ‘n roll story “Almost Famous” has since come to represent

Crowe and his permanent perspective of being an outsider looking in. Although using uncool to describe

someone doesn’t necessarily sound complimentary, Crowe sees the ability to think differently and stay humble

as one of the most valuable traits a person can have. As summed up by “Almost Famous’” Lester Bangs (a

representation of a very influential man of the same

name in Crowe’s own life): “the only true currency in

this bankrupt world is what you share with someone

else when you’re uncool.”

Since the beginning of Crowe’s life, he fell

into the position of being an outlier, often for reasons

outside his control. His mother, a local college

professor, saw that Crowe was gifted, and encouraged

him to skip not only Kindergarten, but also two grades

in elementary school. As Crowe continued his academic

pursuits, he felt alienated by the age difference

between himself and his other classmates. A kidney

disease that Crowe was diagnosed with didn’t help the

situation either, as it made his pale skin stick out in

“the Southern California vitamin-D enriched culture.”

However, it was this feeling of being uncool that pushed

Crowe into journalism- a passion that developed,

allowed him to embrace that feeling of being an outsider, and to use it.

Crowe’s stint as a musician in the band “The Masked Hamster” was a brief one, so he decided

to turn to music journalism instead. At first, he started small by submitting music reviews to underground

publications. After the editor of “Creem,” Lester Bangs, became his mentor however, Crowe began submitting

articles to “Creem,” “Playboy,” the “LA Times” and “Music World.” After graduating high school at the age of

15, Crowe joined “Rolling Stone” as an editor, where he was able to cover stories on popular artists at that

time, such as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

Now, if you’ve seen “Almost Famous” you’re probably thinking this storyline sounds familiar, and

you’re right. William Miller, the protagonist, had an interest in rock ‘n roll and journalism that flourished

in spite of his overly protective mother. Ultimately, he was able to convince his mother to let him go on

the road with Stillwater and he ended up becoming a writer for “Rolling Stone,” profiling and following

famous artists. Crowe felt that this journey in his own life shaped who he was, and he wanted to capture

that experience in a screenplay, but of course he had to keep it uncool: “I didn’t want it to be like some

of those semi-autobiographical stories that glorify the writer because the truth is I never felt like the

center of any room I was in at that time. I was an observer. That’s what the character of William Miller is

– he’s an observer.”

“Almost Famous” had big shoes to fill, since it was the first movie Crowe directed since the Oscar

winning “Jerry Maguire.” The only Oscar “Almost Famous” won was for the soundtrack, but 15 years

after its original release, the success of the film speaks for itself regardless of awards and accolades

because of its ability to touch on human truths that everyone recognizes. Producer Ian Bryce noted

this in a recent interview, where he states, “it is a story we with which we can all empathize. We all have

personal memories about being 15. The coming-of-age story of this kid, his relationship with the band,

his first journey away from home, his first love … these are timeless elements.”

Perhaps one of the reasons why this film has been so successful is because of how close to

Crowe’s heart it was; “it wasn’t until it became personal that it became a movie worth making. When I

took that jump, it was very scary, but then stuff started to pour out of me, and the story became larger

than just about rock in 1973.” Based on his success as a filmmaker today and his status in Hollywood,

one could say that Crowe has achieved a level of “cool.” However, his ability to stay loyal to his quirky

outcast roots reminds those who may be feeling “uncool” that sometimes being on the outside isn’t so

bad.

Social Media Plan

The social media promotions will primarily involve facebook and YouTube. On facebook, the “Al-

most Famous” fan page will regularly post tidbits of trivia, followed by a plug for the DVD re-release in the

month leading up to the release. In the week before the DVD release, a trivia quiz will be posted, where

random winners who received 100% on the quiz will receive a free DVD. To focus on the musical aspect of

the movie, another contest will be created on YouTube, where users will be encouraged to post videos of

themselves covering songs from the award winning soundtrack. Then, a bracket-type system will be set up

where viewers can vote for their favorite cover video to advance through different rounds of competition,

and eventually to the finals. The winner will receive a free DVD and a vinyl copy of the soundtrack, signed by

the cast and crew.

In addition, the hashtag #AlmostFamousFifteen will be used on twitter and instagram to generate

interest on other outlets, where users can post how the movie had an effect on them, and how they feel

about it celebrating its 15 year anniversary.