Now on DVD! Order Your Copy Now!!!    Buy it from Amazon.com  

 

Just Glenn

 
Who is Glenn Tilbrook?
What Is  GT: One For The Road?
The OFTR Book
Biographies
Press
Photo Gallery
Amy's Diary
Movie Trailers
Merchandise
Links
Contact Us
 

Subscribe to the
Glenn Tilbrook: One For The Road Newsletter
for all the latest updates on the movie and the website

Name:

Email:

Subscribe

Unsubscribe

 
Diary

[Archive] [Next]

Production notes from the Director, Amy Pickard
 


 

February 5, 2005

Hooty Hoot Glennmovie folks!

I hope all of you had a lovely holiday season and are now sticking to all of your rockin’ resolutions! I’ve had the same resolution for the past three years… er… uh… now it’s almost four years: get the movie out there for the peeps! Well, all I can say is that I’m working like a little working thing to make this happen. I don’t want to jinx it, but I actually think you will all get to see the movie in DVD form before I die or at least before next Christmas! How’s that for vagueness? I have a feeling that 2005 will bring swell things for GT fans worldwide! I will of course, keep you posted and you will be the first to hear any news.

So what’s new? Glenn is touring the UK and I’d be most grateful if the UK fans could print out a few flyers or even just one flyer and take it to the gig to spread the glennmovie love! The more people on my mailing list, the more marketable the movie is in terms of proving that there is a built in audience who are like coiled springs - ready to purchase the flick on DVD!

Are there going to be any more screenings? Why yes! I’m dreaming about having a few screenings in Atlanta, Nashville, Santa Barbara, the Baltimore/DC area, Austin, TX, and in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. The only definite date I have is for the Dayton screening. Mark your calendars Midwesterners:

The Neon Movies
Saturday, May 7th at 3pm
130 E. 5th Street Dayton, OH 45402
There will be a brief Q and A afterwards. Tickets are $5. No credit cards accepted.

If you want tickets in advance, you can mail a check for tickets to:
The Neon Movies
ATTN: Glenn Tilbrook: One For the Road
130 E. 5th Street Dayton, OH 45402

Glenn will not be in Dayton, just in case you were wondering. Although I know he loves it there! Shout out!

We will make an announcement as well as post on our screenings page for the other cities! I also am hoping to show the movie in Austin, TX on March 13th as part of the South Slam Film Festival, but nothing is confirmed yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed in the hopes that this will happen since a lot of the live footage was shot at Glenn’s amazing Antone’s gig by many lovely volunteers! It would be a treat to have the movie play in rocking Austin! (Glenn and I will not be in Austin for that one, sadly.)

After a very unfun hiatus from steady employment, I am happy to report that I have secured a job with the same unnamed company on the same unnamed show that I worked on last summer. I traveled throughout the Midwest for a month in August, stopping to meet Glenn fans along the way. (Shout out to girls in Kentucky!) This time around, I am heading south. Yep, I’m packing my confederate flag bikini and hoping to get a rental car with gun rack and I’m heading to Texas and then various other states to the right hand side. Here are some of the cities to name a few: Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Knoxville, TN, Raleigh/Durham, NC, Charlotte, NC, Columbia, SC, Marietta, GA, and Atlanta, GA!

Of course, I’m joking about those southern stereotypes and I’m very much looking forward to experiencing bits of America that I’m not terribly familiar with. I managed to hit a few southern states on the road with Glenn, but when you’re on the road, you’re either driving and concentrating, watching the inside of your eyelids and catching up on much deprived sleep or you’re at a gig then back in the RV. I might be able to try and fit in an Atlanta and Nashville screening toward the end of April, but I’ll let you know if I’m able to combine business with glennmovie pleasure!

I am still hawking my companion book to the movie around to any publisher who will listen. Unfortunately, most don’t and won’t. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know what it’s like to tour with your musical hero and then make a movie about him? I actually got one response from a very well known publisher who said that they liked my writing style (did they even read it? - I wonder) but they found the book to be a ‘hard sell’ because ‘books about celebrities don’t really do well.” That made me laugh! I had another publishing company say, “… there isn’t enough about what Glenn thought, his experiences as well as his history with Squeeze.” Well, I guess that’s because Glenn didn’t write the book. DUH. How does a first time author get a book published? I see local bookshops stocked to the gills with loads and loads of books by authors I’ve never heard of in my life! How did they get there? When I first started on this crazy journey, I was filled with unyielding confidence that the world would not be able to contain their excitement at seeing a movie about Glenn Tilbrook! I mean, I didn’t do a documentary on the guy in the Hooters for Pete’s sake… it was the guy in SQUEEZE!! Oh well. Just goes to show you what I know.

Speaking of books, I read a fantastic, hilarious book over Xmas. It’s called “Killing Bono” in the States and “I Was Bono’s Doppelganger” in the UK. I suppose doppelganger is a big word for us yanks to understand so they had to come up with a more simplistic title with violent connotations for us to really get it. Neil McCormick is the name of the author and the book is heartbreaking, inspiring, laugh out loud funny as well as an amazing commentary on the very mercurial nature of the music business. Neil was school chums with Bono and grew up with the other members of U2. Neil was in a band as well and the book goes onto explain why all of you know the name Bono and considerably less of you know the name Neil McCormick! I know it sounds trite, but I laughed and I cried throughout the book! If you’re a U2 fan, you’ll love this different perspective on the band and it’s members. For me, the book was about following one’s dream and realizing the role of destiny in one’s life and appreciating the journey rather than obsessing over the destination. Hmmmm… there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

U2 are gearing up for their big honkin’ tour and though they are one of my top five fave bands, I have only seen them live twice and that was in 1987. I remember laughing on my way to see U2 in Indianapolis. A bunch of us decided to form a rock caravan and drive in separate cars for the two hour trek to see our beloved Irish boys. I howled with laughter as my friend Jake drove past us waving something out of the window. Upon closer inspection it was a 2 foot long stick with a ‘banner’ attached. The ‘banner’ was emblazoned with a hastily scrawled U2 . I think it was about the size of a tissue! A bold statement of solidarity to be sure, but unless Bono and company had Six Million Dollar Man like vision, they would probably be unable to see Jake’s lovely ‘flag’. But it’s the spirit of the event that counts!

I will leave you with my favorite U2 story of all time. When U2 were touring with their last album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, ticket prices were outrageous for your average grunt working in television. I simply could not afford the tickets. In a week long funk before their LA show, my friend Tony called me from the lobby of a trendy LA hotel and said, “You’ll never guess who I just saw walk past me!” It turned out to be Bono. As much as the teenager inside me wanted to run down and camp out and cling to Bono’s leg, I was a mature 31 and had a steady job and I had no time for such frivolous activities. So, I thought I’d fax the band at the hotel to see if they could swing me a ticket. Hey, I have worked in the music business since I was 17; I know how things work. If you’re a mate of the band, you get in, right? I thought that maybe faxing Bono at this LA hotel wasn’t the best idea since everyone on the planet wants to talk to Bono. I mean, he’s busy saving the world! And I couldn’t fax Edge because he’s kind of the second most popular guy and guitar cult hero to millions. I couldn’t fax Larry Mullen, Jr. because he’s considered the brooding, foxy guy in the band. That just left me with one guy to fax. The Ringo of the group: Adam! Adam is a groovy guy but surely no one would be sending stuff to the bass player, right? So I used my TV journalistic skills to get the unlisted fax number of the hotel and compose the following: (I’m paraphrasing since it’s been a while)

Dear Adam,
My name is Amy Pickard and I’m currently working for VH1. I’m faxing because I wanted to know if there is any way that you could give me a ticket for any of your LA shows. I’m not super connected, I am not a supermodel, I’m not a cast member on ‘Friends’ and I have no showbiz pals to hook me up. (Unless you count the guy from Squeeze. But he can’t hook me up with U2 tix.) I was thinking of camping out at the hotel for you but I’m far too old to stalk and thought that faxing you is a great way of maintaining my dignity. I did actually stalk you back in 1987. I hovered outside the backstage door in Lexington, KY and saw you guys drive past. Bono ended up coming out to say hi to us. He was lovely. (A bit short though.) You might actually remember me. I was the one in the U2 shirt singing “No war!” I love the new album and would really enjoy seeing you guys play the new songs live. I’m a huge fan of the band. (I even liked “POP”!) Feel free to give me a call. I appreciate your time. Rock On.
Amyx
p.s. You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others.

The next morning I came into work, wearing my 1987 U2 concert shirt. (You probably have one too. From the Joshua Tree tour - the one with the album cover on the front.) I figured it was my little nod to the band since I wouldn’t be going to see them later that night. I check my voicemail and there is a message. The message said, “Hello Amy. This is Adam Clayton and I got your message. I have tickets and backstage passes waiting for you. Bye.” Before you get excited, the message was left by what I can only describe as a twenty year old with a Dick Van Dyke-esque cockney accent that sounded eerily like my mate from Michigan and one cubicle over, playing a joke on me. He didn’t even try to sound Irish!!!! I lived in the UK for seven years, what was he thinking?? I hung up the phone and said, “Very funny!” The whole office erupted in laughter.

I soldiered through the morning and my friend Lisa and I decided to go down to the chicken place on Sunset for lunch. As we were driving along, my cell phone rings. I don’t recognize the number but answer anyway although I’m distracted because I’m driving and my friend was talking. I say “Hello” and the caller asks to speak to Amy Pickard. “Speaking.” “Amy, this is Adam Clayton.” Now, I’m thinking it’s my friend from work again but the accent is pretty good. I paused and said, “Nu-huh! No way.” And he said, “Yes it is. It’s me Adam.” And I said sarcastically, “How do I know it’s you and not someone from work playing a joke?” And there’s a huge pause. I imagine that it was because he was thinking of some way to prove it’s him and I was trying to think of some trivia question to prove it’s him and then as we both were figuring out how to prove that it was, in fact, the world’s most popular bass player on the phone with me, he suddenly sighed into the phone and said exasperated, “Oh, I dunno Amy. It’s me Adam! I got your fax at the hotel.” Needless to say, it WAS Adam and my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head and I very nearly crashed my car.

I’m waving furiously with one hand to my friend Lisa whilst trying to remain unbelievably nonchalant and cool on the phone to Adam. Lisa is looking at me like I’m smoking crack. I keep pointing to my chest… to the picture of Adam on my chest implying that he is the one I’m talking to. He is the one that is calling me. She didn’t understand and thought I was just pointing frantically to my boobs for some unknown reason. I immediately pull over to the side of the road in order to prevent an accident and I say, “Oh! It IS you… Um… what’s up Adam. How’s it going?” (I’m so eloquent in a crisis.) And he said (paraphrasing here since I was in complete shock), “Look, I got your fax and we thought it was very funny. I’ve been on the phone all morning and I’ve called around and I just cannot find anyone with an extra ticket. I’ve tried for hours now and as you know, LA is a huge industry town and it seems there is a guest list for the guest list. It’s absolutely mad. But I wanted to call you and let you know that I did try.” Well, what do you say to that? I just sort of awwwwed and squealed, “I can’t believe you tried getting me tickets and that you actually picked up the phone to call me. That is so unbelievably sweet!” And he said, “Well, your fax was lovely and I really tried to get you tickets but the good news is that we’re coming back round in the autumn and I’m sure I can get you on the list then. It would be lovely to meet you.” Now, I wasn’t thinking clearly at this point. I didn’t think of saying, “That’s okay, how about a drink right now! Do you like chicken? Join us for lunch!” or even “Okay, how do I get a hold of you in the autumn? Or will you call me?” I simply said, “I’d love that. That is sooooo lovely of you. I’m just in shock.” And then there was a weird silence because I didn’t know what to say and maybe he thought I might want to ask him some groovy esoteric question or something but I just said, “It’s so lovely of you to call Adam. You’ve made my day! You’re so sweet!” and he said, “It’s no problem really. You take care of yourself and I’ll see you in the autumn” Before he hung up, I said, “Adam?…. You really ARE my favorite!” Adam let out a hearty chuckle and said, “Thanks very much Amy. Lots of love. Bye!” As soon as I hung up, I screamed to my friend Lisa, “I can’t *****ng believe it!!! Adam ******Clayton just ******ng called me!!!! That was Adam ****Clayton!!!” Lisa was convinced it was his assistant or something but I know it was AC. She still didn’t believe it.

I skipped lunch and just called every human being I’ve ever met to tell them that Adam Clayton called me. As it turns out, U2 played LA the following autumn as promised in November. Sadly, I was on the other side of the country living out a different dream! I was shooting Glenn for the documentary! I ended up dedicating the movie to all the musicians who followed their passion, which helped me follow mine. The first in the credits is of course, Chris and Glenn, the Beatles, then U2 (especially Adam, my favorite)! It’s fun to think about what it would have been like to see U2 as AC’s guest, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Adam, if you’re reading this, hook a sister up this time round!!!! And, if anyone out there knows him, tell him to call me again! He’s got the number. Perhaps I could pitch “One plus Three Others For the Road” to him.

Check out the merchandise page for some hot new additions for spring and summer!

I’m going to be on the road for ten weeks or so but will definitely update the site with screening information, so please check back frequently!

Take care and maybe I’ll see you on the road!

Keep Rockin'!
Amyx

 


[Archive] [Next]

 

 

Who is...? | What is...? | OFTR Book | Biographies | Press | Photo Gallery
Diary | Trailers | MerchandiseLinksContact Us

Copyright ©2002-2010 PlusOne Productions. All Rights Reserved