Toronto *** SW EpII: AotC: Countdown thread ***

Star Wars Episode II is 129 days away.

Seattle's already sitting in line. YJN has plans for a 24hr line. Other cities have plans for parties, dinners and an assortment of events surrounding the opening of the film.

Last time around we manned a two week line and held a party the evening of. So what do you all want to do this time 'round?

Let's get started.

 

Here we go again...

I guess we have to establish what needs to be done.

1. Where should we line up?
2. How long should we line up for?
3. How to get the word out?

 

...what went well with the last line and what we could do better this time...

 

Oh my gosh, my girl friend is back !!!

 

Does anyone know if there are any theatres
that will allow a group of people to line
up at. This might be the time to do some inquiring. Another thought is to speak to
SPACE and see if they can help our cause.
They may be able to approach a theatre on our
behalf. The publicity that the theatre would receive may be looked at in a positive way... I think. Whatever direction our group goes in, we must act soon, after all we have less than 5 months to go...

 

Who mesa?

We are, of course, restricted in terms of area. The Yonge-Eglinton area worked well last time, it was pretty centralized in terms of location and a good neighbourhood. Going south is an another idea but as people are saying the neighbourhood is not the best.

I hate big multiplexes though so the fact that we have to line up at one is just .... ARGH!

Is a meeting in the works for any time soon?

 

Well, as for the "where" question:

When a bunch of us did the theatre excursion way back when, Yonge & Sheppard Silvercity was a really strong candidate; everything we needed was within 10 minutes, and there were many Darth Vaders of space for our use.

Empress Walk and Yonge & Eglinton were nice too, except they lack a certain amount of space to line up in. The Uptown and the Varsity don't really have much space and a little too much street life, and as for south...?

Tragic, maybe you could flesh the list out...you took the notes, right?

I like Crazy Mike's idea of entering into a more formal partnership with Space...that might help a lot with getting the word out as well.


As for "when":

This is going to be influenced by Celebration II. How many people are going? If it's a lot, we may not want to do a two-week line (that weekend would overlap on our first few days in line). If a lot of us are going to Celebration, maybe 10 days would work? It's a nice round number, and a week just doesn't seem like enough.

Just my few cents.

Cris~

 

I think you mean the Yonge and Sheppard Grande, the SilverCity is at Empress Walk.

The problem with both the ones around Sheppard was that there really isn't that much in the way of food, and space at the front outside the SC is a little smaller than would be nice.

My personal preference would be to get in touch with the SilverCity Yonge and Eglinton people and investigate that option first. It's near home, and the area has the best selection of food etc. Also personally I'd go for a 10 day line, shortened for Celebration but it's more than a single week. A nice round number too.

 

Actually - food selection up Yonge & Sheppard way was comparable - maybe a wider selection at that as both Empress Walk and Sheppard Grande are within walking distance from one another.

Now - with any theater we go after for a line lasting longer than 16hrs., our requirements remain:
* 24hr-restaurant in vicinity (5min. walk),
* at least 4 metres (or 2 Darth Vaders, pick your unit of measurement) of sidewalk space,
* central location with transit and parking close by.

Afaik, these are the only theaters that meet all three requirements: Silver City North York; Grande at Sheppard; Silver City Yonge & Eglinton; Varsity Cinemas. If I've missed a theater, please post the details.

I do have notes on each of these theaters, and a full list of pros & cons. imho, Grande at Sheppard is the place to be, but will wait until when it's not 1am to hash that out

---

Possible periods of time for lining up are:
day - begin 6am day of first showing.
roughly 24hrs - begin the day before the first showing.
roughly 100hrs. - begin the Friday before the first showing.
a week - begin Wed. the 8th of May
Aw krunk it - May 1st... 6am.... sidewalk.

I think that we can work any of these timeframes out. What type of line we have and how it's organized will largely be dependant upon the duration of the line though - so that's probably the most important thing to decide on.

 

*** Location ***
I would have to check out exactly what is around The Grande before I said there, but I would lean towards that.

It is a nicer theatre than Silvercity Y&E, it's not that much further north than Y&E.

Silvercity Y&E, it is near home. We are familar with the area, if we can't line up at the York than the theatre is the next closest thing.

I would suggest arranging a meeting with both the Silvercity Y&E and The Grande. This way, if we are turned away or decide not to go to one, we don't have to scramble to get approval from the other.

In conclusion, check into both theatres at the same time so we don't put all our eggs in one basket.

If the locations are similar, than it comes down to, which will produce the best atmosphere for the lineup and which theatre seems to be most supportive of our endeavour.

*** Atmosphere ***

What defines a good atmosphere for the lineup (what worked well last time)?

--Street & sideway traffic. EPI Line had a great amount of this. Some of the best stories and memories I have is from the street traffic. From cars honking, people throwing eggs, drunks, zealots, "Mike Harris doesn't care about our protest against the parking lot" women, etc. Street traffic also attracted more people to the line, I would think.

--Safety. Even with all the bars and clubs around, there were no instances (correct me if I'm wrong) of any unruly activity. Save for the egg throwing people.

--Theatre. The theatre itself played an important role. Of the two above I would say the Grande has the better atmosphere.

That's all of that I can think of for now.

*** Space ***

I do like CrazyMike's idea of getting intouch with Space. The people who watch Space are likely the people who will most likely be interested in joining the line. A collaboration with them could help in that regard. Also, as Mike pointed out, it would give more clout when contacting these Megaplex managers.

*** Duration ***

I think May 7th would be a good day to begin the lineup. The main reason for this, is if tickets are going to go on sale for the 8th, we will want to have a jump on other people lining up for tickets.

If the tickets end up going on sale earlier, this is a moot point and the 8th would be better.

Starting on May 7 or 8 would give those returning from Celebration II enough time to recouporate for the marathon of the lineup.

If there is a significant number of people, capable of sustaining a 24 hour line prior to the 7th and there are one or two people that we know can be trusted to run the line for the time difference between the start of the line and the day the people from Celebration II return.

10 days is a nice number but near impossible for those returning from Celebration II.

In conclusion, if there is enough people to sustain an earlier start date, including at least two people who were an integral part of the first line up capable of maintain order, I could see a start date of May 6.

If there isn't, May 7 or 8 depending on the day tickets go on sale.

*** Conclusion ***

That's all I have to say at the moment. I have no clue if any of it made sense.

 

Hi Folks,

You get my vote for Yonge & Egg as I want
to come to the lineup and add my support.
I also work at the south west corner of Yonge and Egg too !!! I like my hubby Crazy Mike's Space idea. Please advise me if you require any help with contacting these folks. Mike also has a contact at the New VR, I cannot remember his name. Is it Don Wright ??? I feel it is important to follow up with these folks asap in case things fall through then we can look at other avenues.

Lynn

 

Hi Lynora,
Getting more involved are we now...

If SilverCity at Yonge and Eglinton is the best choice, may I make a suggestion of an
attack plan. #1 We contact Space and see if
they will help us out with SilverCity.
If the answer is No, #2 will they help us out with any theatre. I can even beg them to come and do a photo shoot of my Star Wars
room. If the answer is still
no then we are out of luck with Space. We
can then approach the New VR. Since they are
out of town I do not think we will have any
luck with them but maybe Don can speek to someone at Space on our behalf. #3 We then approach SilverCity ourselves and keep our fingers
crossed....

Either way we should do this soon.

then there is Liz West at CITY TV....
She has already been over to my place
in the past. Lynora can approach her.


What do you think gang....

 

You go (snap, swing, snap) girl...er...boy!

Nice to see both you and Lynora getting involved!

Honestly, I don't have too much of an opinion this time with regards for location. We'd have a hard time measuring up to the York for all the necessities. Obviously, Yonge and Eg is the closest to that location,so all the amenites remain (is Fran's still open 24/7?)

I'm off to Celebration II (anyone need a bed? I got an extra) but expect to be taking so time off around the release date.

Otherwise, I'm definitely in (girlfriend time involvement not withstanding )

 

My brain isn't with it enough to do anymore than respond to Ken...

Is Frans still open at all?

 

Space is a great idea!

I remember Don - we did an interview months before it all began and he was the greatest (and...I STILL OWE HIM $5) I believe he was doing something else with CityTV (maybe he went from them to the new VR?). I should have his card somewhere..but then again that was when he was working for Space.

I believe that Frans is not there anymore. It's amazing how different Eglinton looks since the lineup. Depressing almost...

Either the Grande or Silvercity Eglinton are going to have crazy street traffic - we'll be straight on Yonge! Think of the eggs.

Regarding the New VR - they will go for anything in the area - I actually talked to a guy about it once and have his card somewhere - of course the chances of finding it again are slim. I am sure the others liners besides me live in the VR so they could always do a slant at it that way.

We should have some sort of outline before we do the initial contacting, though our fame will hopefully precede us. Do we want to have some sort of meeting about this first or just choose those who will contact? I'll be home this weekend.

 

I'd say try contacting either Famous Players and ask them to help out. I'm sure the movie theater chain wants the publicity. TV Stations wouldn't get much out of their work except for story here or there.

Later,
SLam

 

I will not be with the lineup this time around until perhaps the very end, however
as Lynora has posted, she is hoping to be
there. Unfortunately she has a fairly high
profile job that does not allow her much
time to do much of anything other than work
but she has assured me that she will be there from time to time !!!

Lynora and I like to be a little more involved with plans this time around of course only if the powers to be want us to
be after all too many chefs spoil the cake.
Living in Burlington does not make it that
easy to meet with the group, but we have
the email...

by the way sweetie... I mean Lelila,
Don Wright now works at the New VR

Mike

 

What do you mean by "high profile" it is more
like overworked...

By the way, is there any idea how many people
might be in the initial line. It might be a
good idea to tell who ever we are dealing with what the numbers are like...

 

YO!
Where ever the line is, count me in! My mom said if i finish my homework, then I can stay in line for as long as I want! So I'll be there! For sure!

How about Paramount Theatre?

 

I would vote against the Paramount because it is too far south, the area is not the best for lining up and nor is the theatre.

Unless another theatre in Toronto has a digitally projected print of AOTC, I would want to see it there at some point to see what digital will be like vs. the film print.

 

Well I think that I Have made more posts to this thread than any other in a single day.

More input people please....

 

Tiger_A_K tell your mom not to sweat the homework thing too much I brought mine to line every day and with the wide variety of people there you will always find some help!

I suppose that it's true that we don't necessarily have to approach Famous Players through Space. I found our reception from York to be rather warm and I forsee no serious problem with Famous Players - a symbiotic relationship. Of course, things never quite work out that way so just forget that last sentence.

If we are going to contact Space we have to have in mind what exactly we want them to do. There are a lot more things they can do for us than we can do for them. We can't exactly give them media exclusive and things like that. I'd envision more of a Sponsorship type thing if anything. They would certainly have a lot more sense than ***** ******* and her crowd. Not going through that again.

*Cheers* Yay Don!

 

Not three days and the conversation is beginning to fracture into several tangents. I'm happy as hell. Listen - if at any point this becomes too unweildy to handle in the Snowballs format of forums, we do have the Delphi as a backup. Just say the word.

Now on to Business
---

Tangent One: SPACE

Contacting Space is a great idea, Mike, and one I most definitely think we should do.

One of the aspects we lagged on last time around was our handling of the media. We knew it would be a madhouse. We knew there'd be attempts to exploit us. We knew people would try to manipulate us. I just don't think we knew HOW BIG of a manipulative, exploitive madhouse it would become.

This time we know. This time I think we can handle it.

And I think the handling of it begins by building associations with the folks who treated us right. CityTV, Pulse24, SPACE and CBC Infoculture were all really kind to us. Let's give them the stories. Let's give them the interviews. Let's give them our time and attention. As for the rest of 'em... "here's a copy of our media kit, I'm sorry but I'd rather not talk on camera, good day."

--
Tangent Two: Where do we go from here?

SLam is right - while the media will be instrumental in letting the rest of the world who isn't online know that we are out there, they won't be of much assistance in getting us a theater. That is why we will need to speak with theater management.

First step is to choose a home and figure out how long we want to be there. Second step is to see who amongst us wants to do all the schleping and grunt work and throw those sorry lot into an organizing committee. Third step is to have that committee approach theater management about our intentions.

 

1. What theatre(s) do we want to consider lining up at?

Silvercity Y&E and/or The Grande

2. How long should the line up be?

May 6, if there is enough people to hold the fort while the people going to Celebration II return.
May 7 if tickets go on sale at the theatre on the 8th.
May 8, if no tickets go on sale.

 

How many people are going to the Celebration
II thing...