VJs Power Blog

As I left the wonderfully entertaining Ironman 2 screening over the weekend, I heard a woman tell her friend, “Wow.  That was a great script.”

They didn’t focus on the special effects, amazing tech toys, or explosions.

It was a great story.

When I media train authors, corporate executives, or entertainers, I always get back to the reason WHY someone wants to talk with them and learn about their products— they’ve got a great story to tell.

Ironman 2 is smart, sexy, irreverent, action-packed, and visually gorgeous, with great performances by everyone from Robert Downey Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow and Sam Rockwell, to Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle and Mickey Rourke.  And of course the ever talented actor/director Jon Favreau, who once again pulled it all together.  Screenwriter Justin Theroux brought Stan Lee’s characters into our L.A. world, and the audience loved it.

The story took us on a wild ride—with laughter, action, sadness, and triumph.

As the end credits rolled, the audience applauded.

‘What?? No 3-D?’ the clueless film critics whine.  Sorry creativity-smashers.  You lose.  There wasn’t a single complaint in the house.

I rest my case.

Writer / Director Jason Reitman has found a playful way to deal with the onslaught of questions asked during his current press tour for his new movie Up in the Air with George Clooney.

He’s made a pie chart.

The colors of slices indicate how many of the reporters questions have been about the film, vs. Clooney vs. the U.S. economy vs. his Dad, legendary director / producer Ivan Reitman.

I remember seeing Jason at the screening of Thank You for Smoking where he talked about how he had gone off to medical school on the East Coast, thinking that’s what he ’should’ do—but he was miserable.  His Dad told him to do whatever he loved—which happened to be the film industry—and the rest is history.

Jason Reitman brought us Juno.  And Thank You For Smoking.  And now, Up in the Air.

Don’t worry Dad.  That East Coast education still paid off.  Where else would you learn to do a pie chart?