NYC-Here We Come!

I hope everyone had a great, wonderful and fantastic weekend. Make sure you read this email to the very end because I have passes for our NY premiere at the bottom. That's right! Some of you will be able to join us this Thursday at the NY premiere of "America the Beautiful," which takes a look at America's unhealthy obsession with beauty.

Over the last few days, I've been in the thick of things getting ready for this Premiere. I can't believe it's finally here. Sometimes I think about calling in sick, like I did as a child when I thought the test would be too hard. But I won't. I promise. I'm going to face the music.

I've been informed (I have spies too) that the beauty industry is trying to figure out how to handle ATB coming to their backyard. Let me help you. It's quite simple:

Start showing images of all types of women in your magazines. Women of all sizes are beautiful, aren't they?

Stop promoting reckless diets on TV that don't work anyway. Start promoting healthy living.

Take out the toxins in cosmetics. If Europe can do it, so can we.

Start reinforcing positive messages to young girls. Things like: being a lady, manners, respect, honesty, integrity, pursuit of intelligence, culture, etc. You get the message.

I promise if you start doing the aformentioned things, you'll notice that the world will start to become a better place. Enough lecturing. Back to the matter at hand.

Some people have told me with great certainty that there was a snowballs chance in (you fill in the location) that the beauty industry was going to allow me to come to NY and promote a film that challenges their culpibility in the erosion of women's self-esteem.

So being a visionary, I came up with a plan to combat that. Remember I told you awhile ago that a special guest was joining me in NY to help get press and spread the word, well the special guest is the 2008 Miss America, Kirsten Haglund.

Miss America 2

I know what some of you are thinking, Miss America? I got the idea from the eating disorders community. She was speaking at the IAEDEP Conference in Florida where ATB was showing. I didn't get a chance to meet her, but everyone there was talking about how intelligent she is. She was there because she had a very bad eating disorder and was hospitalized at one time in her life. Because of that, her platform as Miss America is to raise awareness for eating disorders.

So I thought, hey, she has a lot to say about the images we're being bombarded with because she was effected personally by them, why not have her join me in my quest to get the word out about the film in NY.

That was my brilliant plan. Have the publicist pitch the filmmaker of ATB and his sidekick Miss America to the press as a team. I figured they'd book us both and we could get our messages out since they run parallel to each other.

Well, I underestimated how well the fashion, media, cosmetics and advertising industries in NY know each other. What turned out as a brilliant plan turned into a LOT of we only want Miss America for the interview. Hmmmm. So in Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis and every where else I go, I'm all over the television and radio, but not in NY. In baseball that would be considered a shutout!

Right now the score is:

Beauty industry - 4 Darryl Roberts - 1

I get a point for coming up with the brilliant idea in the first place. I know you've heard the saying "it's not over until it's over." I have another plan. This one rocks as well. I can't talk about it right now because it only works as a clandestine operation. If successful, it will get the word out in a major way.

I promised you that I would fight this fight until my shoulder blades itched. My goal and purpose is to enlighten and save as many girls as I can and have them to stop feeling bad about themselves. Yul Brenner said in "The Ten Commandments," - "So let it be written. So let it be done."

So I'm going to NY to be the caddy for Miss America. I thought in the book "The Art of War," it said that you were supposed to bring the fight fast and furious in your adversaries face, creating a sort of shock and awe. Wait a minute, I just remembered, one day a friend of mine invited me over to play Scrabble and watch "Sanford and Son," while I was intensely reading. I ended up skipping two chapters of the book that day. That's where the plan went wrong.

To be fair, I must admit there are a couple of brave souls that have agreed to interview me in NY. One daily paper even agreed to interview me without Miss America. Boy are they going to get a scoop.

I feel like I'm living the message of the film all over again. Several press people have asked, can we interview the model. Or will Paris Hilton or Jessica Simpson do an interview. I haven't had one yet ask for an interview with Dr. Anne Becker (Havard sociologist) that did the Fiji study in the film. This is the study that showed how 3 years of television destroyed Fiji's culture. As a matter of fact, they haven't asked to interview anyone that really have something to say about our obsession. The requests have been exploiting about youth, beauty, and celebrity over the airwaves.

Sometimes we say that people in Los Angeles are shallow. Lost. In need of salvation. But when you think about it, the industries in NY are the ones wreaking mucho havoc on us. Movie stars don't have to be overly beautiful. Just quirky. But the fashion and advertising industries would have you believe that a broomstick with a dress hanging off of it is the epitomy of beauty.

Enough talking about it. I'm ready to go to NY to see what the future holds.

The film opens officially in New York on Friday August 1st. I need everone in New York to see the film and if you don't live in New York, send this email to everyone that you personally know that does.

If we don't do well opening weekend, they'll throw me out of the theater so fast, you'll think that I'd stolen something.

The film opens August 1st at:

Cinema Village Theater
12 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003

We'll know where our second theater is in a week or so. Okay, say a prayer for me, because in 3 days, I'm on a plane to our (ummm...Miss America's) Red Carpet Premiere in NY. Yowza!

By the way, as I type this, I'm listening to a song on repeat. It's a really annoying habit that I have that drives my staff out of the room. The song is "Dizzy." They don't write lyrics like this anymore:

"Dizzy. I'm so Dizzy. My head is spinning. Like a Whirlpirl it never ends. And it's you girl making it spin. You're making me dizzy."

As I sit here alone because it's the 112th time in a row that it's played, I realize that maybe I'm the one dizzy.

I promised you passes to the premiere. Well here's the situation. On paper the premiere is booked to capacity, but as we all know some people won't show up. If you click on the link, print the invite and bring it to the theater, we'll let people in on a frist come, first serve basis until the theater is full. We'll start letting people in at 6:50pm, even though you may want to get there a little earlier. I've gotten tons of emails from people in NY asking when the film was coming to the Big Apple, so here you are:
CLICK HERE TO PRINT A COMPLIMENTARY PASS FOR TWO

I look forward to meeting you on Thursday. This is going to be fun!

Darryl Roberts

"America the Beautiful" - Jessica Simpson / Dove

Well. Well. Well. What do you know! Before I share a story with you about a fashion/beauty editor at the big newspaper in St. Louis, I'd like to share a small victory that I had at a film festival. At the film festival my assistant Jason was in a taxi going home and the driver asked him "what film were you here for?"

Jason responded "America the Beautiful."

The driver told him "I had these 2 women in my cab this morning and they were going home to Los Angeles." They said they'd seen "America the Beautiful," and one of them said that she was canceling her plastic surgery appointment as soon as she got back."

When I heard that story, my sufficiencies were sophonsified. Not too long after that,
On another note, the other day I was minding my business doing some work on the computer and an email popped up and in the subject line it said...JESSICA SIMPSON.

My first thought was maybe she wants me to intervene to help her get her husband back. So I open it and it's this message from her manager..."Jessica Simpson, and I am tryingto figure out what participation
Jessica did in your film? We have no documentation of this film, nor release signed by Jessica. I was surprised to see this listed on her credits as part of the cast. I would love to know what her involvement is in the film, as I can not find anything other than some articles that said you interviewed her??? Please respond asap, as I need to get this handled."

After reading this, my first conscious thought was of a creep...vibe...setting...in--So...very...
Akward.

I immediately asked Jason if we had a release for Jessica Simpson. All the
while my heart racing 1,000 beats per minute. I actually expected
a call/email like this from Paris Hilton's people. Not Jessica Simpson,
she seemed so sweet when I interviewed her. After we found Jessica's release, I immediately emailed the manager letting her know that we have full legal permission to use Jessica's likeness in our documentary. I even put out an invitation for Jessica to attend our premiere
in New York. I told the manager that I would personally treat Jessica to some Goober's and
Chicken of the Sea Tuna. Well I never heard back from her. I guess it's safe to say that
Jessica won't be attending the premiere.

In the process of finding Jessica's release, I found a priceless piece of footage
of Jessica that I shot. I actually forgot all about it. It will premiere in the film
for the New York showing. Remember Jessica, if your manager hadn't emailed
me, I wouldn't have stumbled across this footage.



This is me lost in NY - just 3 hours ago. I was on my way to the big cosmetics meeting.

DOVE COSMETICS:

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned that a cosmetics company wanted to speak to me about the film. How many people guessed Dove? Those of you that did get a gold star!

About 2 weeks ago the publicist for Dove contacted me and said that one of the Dove Models had seen the film in Chicago and he also said that he'd read the Roger Ebert review and was aware that Dove was featured in our film. He even sent me the Roger Ebert article to show that's how he'd heard about everything.

I should mention here that one of my favorite activities growing up was solving mental puzzles. I may not be a genius, but I do know how he really found out about Dove being in the film. But for the sake of keeping peace, I didn't say anything.

So Mr. publicist insisted that he and the people from Dove see the film because maybe we could work together....


I stopped at a Planet Hollywood and boxed with Sylvester Stallone before the Dove meeting. Sylvester knocked me out which was remarkable because he is a statue. I was sure that this was symbolic of what was to come.

I had two inherent problems with going to the Dove meeting. The first one was, some lady in the film had mentioned that Dove was using larger women in their initial campaign to sell firming lotion. I figured they wouldn't like that and also I have a big section in the film about phthalates (toxins) in cosmetics.

Environmentalists are proving that phthalates in cosmetics cause breast cancer and various allergies in women. VERY FEW cosmetic companies are phthalate free. VERY FEW! So how akward is it to sit in a meeting with the publicist of Dove, the brand manager of Dove, the filmmaker that makes all of the Dove video's...hmmm... and several other people whose identities are completely unknown to me. While the film was playing, everyone was writing notes in their tablets.

I wanted to holler out..."class is in session ladies and gentlemen." But I knew they wouldn't think that was funny.

Being the hopeless romantic (optimist) that I am, I came up with the perfect plan to pitch to them after the meeting.

I'd tell them that the women that insinuated that their marketing was disingenuous, was only voicing her personal opinion, but I (being a huge visionary) see a way that we can join forces and conquer the world. I'd explain that after spending 5 years doing the film, I'm deeply committed to helping women and young girls in any way that I can. I'd then say - "I'm not accusing you of anything and I'm sure you're not even aware of it, but I suspect that there are some ingredients in your products that are possibly doing women harm. Let's test them and if they're there, we can make an announcement to the press that you're going to remove them and then we can lock arms. In that Rodney King "Can we all get along kind of way." We never got close to this point.

After the film was over, there were no harmonious offers to conquer the world. Only - "very well done," and "wow! we need a couple of days to digest this. Wow!" The last time I heard this was when I was 12 and I played hookey from school and got caught by my mom. So "I need a couple of days to digest this," is rarely good. I got that feeling in my stomach that you get when you know your spouse is about to ask for a divorce.

But I must say, they were really nice. They gave me some hot buttered popcorn and a chocolate cookie.

It brings up the point that the beauty industry isn't neccessarily these evil people out to destroy the world. Some of them are hard-working, nice people doing a job to keep a roof over their heads. Maybe we should be looking at the tenets of capitalism. When a companies main goal is profit...profit...profit...there has to be a victim in the equation. And it's usually us. That's simple mathematics.

Myself and the Dove team, left the building, going our own seperate ways, giving new meaning to the term riding off into the sunset.

GIRLS SCOUTS:

On a brighter note, last week the Girl Scouts of America emailed me and said they'd like to showcase ATB to their girls nationwide. They felt it would be a very important tool for them. How cool is that. Doing something for the Girl Scouts. We've come a long way with this film. Did I ever mention that the entire film was edited in my second bedroom. Only in America!

NEW YORK DEVELOPMENT:

And the New York opening (August 6th) is shaping us nicely. Next week after the 4th of July, I'm going to share with you how you or anyone that you know in NY can get tickets to a pre-screening of "America the Beautiful." You/they can become personal disciples in helping to spread the word. New York is going to be our toughest city yet. The entire industry is there and I assure you that I haven't seen the last of them.

For now, I'm signing off. I hve a 6am flight in the morning back to Chicago. As they say...back to reality!

Darryl

Last Thursday with "The Emily Program"

I won't forget last Thursday anytime soon. I flew to Minneapolis to screen "America the Beautiful," for an awesome eating disorders treatment facility called "The Emily Program."

About three weeks before the June 19th screening, one of their employees called me and informed me that they wanted to add a 9:30pm show in addition to the 7pm show that they already had scheduled. I didn't have the courage to tell her that it's extremely hard to get people out on a Thursday night to see a documentary and it'll be hard enough to sell out the 7pm show (264 seats), much less an additional show. But being the team player that I am, I just said "sure."

Well, to make a long story short. Not only did they sell out the 7pm show, but the 9:30pm show was 90% sold out as well. For the record, I want to say, the Emily Program Foundation rocks!

Theater line

We started out the day in Minneapolis doing media interviews. One notable interview was radio station 107.1 FM - The Lori and Julia Show. Imagine going to a radio station where your intent is discussing America's unhealthy obsession with beauty and upon entering the studio, the first thing that you see is a wall filled with pictures of Lori and Julia's "Hunky Hot Men of 2008." YIKES!!! I said to myself, this is going to be a loooooong interview. I tried to convert them, but they were too far gone into the land of hunkdom. For the record though, Lori and Julia were very nice.

Lori And Julia

After witnessing lines wrapped around the corner at the screening, and 2 sold-out shows, both with rousing standing ovations afterwards, I have to add the Minneapolis screening to my top 5 "All Time," screenings of "America the Beautiful."

In no particular order the top 5 screenings would be:

The Artivist Film Festival in California
AFI Dallas Film Festival Screening in Texas
Emily Program Screening in Minneapolis
The Chicago Theatrical Premiere of "America the Beautiful"
The Sneddon Theater Screening at the Durban International Film Festival (South Africa).

Within 24 hours of getting back to Chicago, people had already started posting articles/blogs about the Minneapolis screening. And 4 days later, I've already gotten 64 emails from people that attended the screening. They've expressed to me that "America the Beautiful," is not a movie - it's a neccessary movement. When we expand our theatrical run this fall, I'm going to insist that we come back to Minneapolis!

Here is a link to a blog that equates "America the Beautiful," with saving young girls:


Girl Media Maven

Darry acceptd Action Award from the Emily Program Foundation

I received this "Action Award," from Dr. Jillian Croll, president of the Emily Program Foundation. This is the first year that they gave out the award and it's for the awareness that "America the Beautiful," is bringing to the eating disorders community. I have to admit, I love making a difference in the world. The award was carved in a 50 pound rock. Not only did I have to carry that treasure back, but I missed my flight while airport security tried to open it to make sure nothing was inside. Their powerful scanners couldn't penetrate the massive hulking fixture. After 27 minutes of trying to open it, they took my word for it that I wasn't planning anything devious with "The Hulk.".

ATB Logo

Kitty Westin (left), president of the National Eating Disorders Coalition, attended the Minneapolis Emily Program Foundation Screening of "America the Beautiful," with her two lovely daughters. Speaking of Kitty, once it's set in stone, I'll have some amazing news to share with you.

ATB Logo
This is Jeanette Trompeter from Channel 4, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis. She seemed to be a very nice woman and I think she's on the board of the Emily Program Foundation. Don't hold me to that though.

ATB Logo

This was the mastermind behind the entire evening. She was the publicist and organizer of the Emily Program Foundation Screening. Lindsay shared with me that she'd never done anything like this before. Wherever you are right now, let's stand and give Lindsay a standing ovation. Great job!
Packed House at the Lagoon Theatre

During the Q and A in Minneapolis, a woman asked an interesting question - "why aren't there any African-American women here?"

This was a tricky question to answer because to arrive at a reasonable explanation could easily become non-starter or specious at best or at the very least "intellectually dishonest." So I told her I wasn't sure.

It was a very astute observation. After playing in 20 film festival screenings from South Africa, Maui and everywhere in between, it's true, I haven't seen many Black women.

I told her that in Chicago, starting June 20th, (the following day) we were opening the film at the ICE Theater in a Black neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. I was hoping that Blacks would come out to support the film if it showed in their neighborhood. Well, I stopped by the 2:15 show on Friday and there were 4 people in the theater. The Saturday 7:15 show had 25 ppl and the Saturday 9:45 show had 6. It was brutal. It's a phenom that I can't explain.

The way that that the theater business works (because remember their primary business is concessions - selling popcorn), is on every Monday they look at each film's gross (from the weekend) and the one's that aren't pulling their weight get thrown out on Thursday to make room for new movies coming in on Friday. There was no doubt in my mind that I was outta there. But the manager of the theater (a really nice guy) said let's keep "America the Beautiful," here one more week and try something different. The something different is to get the Black talk radio station in Chicago, WVON, to promote the film for this upcoming Friday, June 27th. He said the only way to get Blacks to come to a commercial house and watch a documentary is to promote it on talk radio. It makes sense, talk radio - talky documentary. So I look forward to seeing what happens next Friday. I will let you know.

After that I'm off to New York. On Tuesday July 1st at 4pm, I'm meeting with one of the cosmetics companies featured in the film. I'm thinking about hiring some of Barack Obama's secret service guys to go with me. Naaah, I'm sure it'll be peaceful. I haven't faced the industry yet. But you never know. Maybe human decency will override corporate greed and they'll agree that there's work to be done to help women and especially young girls and decide to join me in my quest. Don't laugh. I can be a little pollyanna at times.

I will keep you abreast of the latest developments, especially one regarding a special announcement for our July 17th VIP Special Screening in New York. The film opens in New York on either August 1st or 8th and we plan on lighting up the skies with publicity.

A 6 year old walked up to me after a screening in Chicago and she said "Mister can I tell you a joke?"

I said "sure."

She said, "Where do you find a dog with no legs?"

I said, "I don't know."

She said, "exactly where you left him at."

I laughed so hard, that I had to immediately find the restroom.

Until next time,

Darryl Roberts

Ebert Interview

I'd like to bring something to your attention. "America the Beautiful," isn't supposed to exist. At least not in the form where you'd ever actually see it. I've had to fight all the conventional wisdom of Hollywood. This is how it's supposed to go - 1. You make an independent film. 2. When you're done, you get John Sloss as a producer's rep. 3. John Sloss uses his clout to get you into the Sundance or Toronto Film Festival. 4. You win a special jury prize or an audience award at one of the festivals. 5. Your film then gets picked up by one of the independent Hollywood distributors. 6. The independent distributor releases your film in NY and L.A., then you come out in 25-50 additional cities. The industry has very little tolerance for films that don't follow this exact trajectory.

Well we had no other choice but to skip steps 1 through 4, but "America the Beautiful," is fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of steps 5 and 6. The entire industry is amazed at how we did it and one day I want to share the entire story with all of you. But for now, I'll just say, no one person or even industry knows all and don't let such a person/industry destroy your vision.

As if we weren't lucky enough just to be getting a national release, last week I received an email from Roger Ebert's wife, Chaz, saying that Mr. Ebert wanted to interview me. My first thought was who in the world would send this kind of prank email at a time in my life when I can be vulnerable. But I decided to play along and guess what, it was real. Keep in mind, Roger is the holy moly, the cotton candy, the Genghis Khan of movie critics. I've seen hundreds of movies based on his thumb tilting up. So when she asked if I could be at their house at 5pm, my first thought was to sleep in the car a little ways down the street to make sure that I wasn't late. But then I thought, naah, that would be unseemly, it's best to exercise some decorum here.

Before sharing the link to his interview which is in today's Chicago Sun-Times, I'd like to say that by popular demand, "America the Beautiful," is opening at the ICE Theater in Chicago next Friday June 20th. When you read Roger's article you'll see the significance of opening in that particular theater. It was such an honor to be interviewed by a legend. I'll try to live up to it.

By the way, yesterday a cosmetics company contacted me wanting to see the film. They said that they'd heard all about it. I guess they couldn't wait for me to get to NY. I will keep you posted on that saga. But you must promise me one thing. Since I spent 5 years putting the film together to inform and empower you, if the cosmetics industry totally disrupts my life, you'll at least offer me a warm meal. I wouldn't mind sleeping on the street, but not eating would be shock and awe!

Without further ado...My interview with Roger Ebert.

Click here to read Roger Ebert's Article

See you next weekend at the ICE Theater at 87th and the Dan Ryan.

With love,

Darryl Roberts

Last Days at the Landmark

I've
always wondered what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a Mike
Tyson knockout punch. I finally got a chance to feel that feeling this
past weekend. Our 3 week winning streak at the Landmark was ended by
the mezmerizing opening weekend of "Sex and the City." Our primary demo
is 18-34 women and so is "Sex and the City's." So this particular
weekend women in Chicago chose to attend Cosmopolitan parties and see
"Sex in the City," instead of going to see a documentary that explains
why that's so important in the first place. I'm not blaming you at all,
because I almost did it myself.

Personal note to Sarah Jessica Parker: "You could have allowed some of the women to come see our movie this weekend."

Seriously,
it was a great 1 month run at the Landmark. This Thursday will be our
last day at the Landmark (2828 N. Clark), so if you haven't seen the
film yet, you have 2 more days.

We're about to play in 100
theaters across the country in 35 cities and if we're as successful in
the remaining cities as we were at the Landmark, then we'll emerge as
one of the top grossing documentaries of 2008.

The next city in
our national theatrical tour is New York. New York is normally a very
tough market and I'm going to need all of your help and support on a
grass roots level. I think we should be fine because the YWCA, the
oldest organization in America fighting for the rights of women, is
joining us as a national promotional partner. They have 23 centers in
the state of NY and they're going to mobilize women enmass to support
"America the Beautiful." You'll be hearing a lot about the YWCA in the
weeks to come.

Also a national celebrity (contract not signed so
I can't mention who), is joining me in NY to do publicity and help get
the word out. I must say, I'm grateful for all the support that I've
gotten for my little movie. The turnout in Chicago, put us on the map
as a major player in the theatrical documentary world.

I've been
warned that the fashion and cosmetics industries aren't going to be too
happy with me coming onto their home turf calling them out for their
part in the travesty that I call "The systematic assault on women's
self-esteem." But I promise you one thing. No matter what happens,
I'll keep you up to date and I won't buckle.

After spending 5
years putting this film together, the one thing that I do know is that
I'm not going to rest until there's a national commitment from the
fashion, cosmetics and dieting industries, to end eating disorders in
young girls and a pledge to help women realize their full potential
instead of having a low-self esteem deriving from the way that they
look or an unhealthy body image. If the beauty industry wants me to go
away and stop exposing them with this film, then work to stop that from
happening, then I'm gone. That's my promise to you.

In the
meantime, Chicago thanks a million for making this a film that's now
going to get a national release and I'll see everyone in New York the
first week of August.

Darryl Roberts

"America the Beautiful" STILL #1 at Landmark Theater

Once again thanks for helping to spead the message of "America the Beautiful." I met some really cool people at the Landmark this past weekend. One of them was a 14 year old boy (scroll down to see him). After watching the film, he asked me what he could do to help women and the world. That floored me. It also made me realize that we ourselves, without waiting for "the powers that be," to rescue us, can make a difference in this society.

The Q&A's after the screenings this past weekend were very insightful. One of the more frequent questions that I'm asked is "what can we do about the toxins in cosmetics," and "where did you find the guys on the couch." If you haven't seen the movie, you have to see them to believe it.

Our demographic is now 40% men. It started off being 5%. But men are really coming out to see the film and they enjoy it too. Also after the Windy City Times review, I'm starting to get a lot of gay men coming to the screening. I met one gay couple that asked me "by criticizing our bodies, are we setting a bad example for our daughter?" I honestly didn't know how to answer that. But we had a great conversation in the lobby. I also got a chance to meet a lot of out of towners since it was labor day weekend. They will become disciples when ATB hits their cities.

The Q&A sessions went so well, and I enjoyed meeting all of you so much, that I'm going to do it again this weekend. This will have to be my last weekend doing it, since I'm preparing to go to additional markets. More about that soon. So if you can, come out this Friday or Saturday and we'll discuss the film after the 7pm or 9pm show. I'm looking forward to it since all of you have great things to add to the discussion. And yes, I'll have more movie posters. People love the Statue of Liberty poster. I'm always asked if I designed it and I have to tell everyone about the genius David Friedman in Oregon that created it.

Also while I'm thinking about it. I want to share this letter with you. It was sent to me by a woman that had seen the film this past Saturday. She sent this to me the same night. It really moved me:

Dear Mr. Roberts-

The experience of seeing your movie this evening was truly remarkable. I live in the neighborhood and sometimes go the the Landmark to catch whatever movie "is next" and tonight it was this film called America the Beautiful. I was expecting some sort of lame country film or perhaps a - well, I don't even know what. I had not read any reviews, heard of it from anyone, or even bothered to take note of the subject matter. My point is: I walked into your movie with a completely open mind.
Your movie struck me deeply in a very personal way. I lived in New York during the 90's where I worked in the fashion industry and saw for myself from the inside of the scene what the gritty reality really was. Some of which you touched on. I applaud you for revealing it in a way that is relatable to the viewer. I distincly remember the morning I woke up, stared at the ceiling of my Manhattan apartment, and felt compelled to refuse to use my talents to propogate the lie that is the Beauty Machine. I left New York to settle in Chicago where I changed my career from Fashion Designer to Hairstylist. I still deal in the commodity of beauty, but am mindful of the impact I have on an individual's percecption of themselves.
I was amazed by sincerity of your observations. I struggled with low self esteem in my 20s and sought professional advise. To my astonishment, I was simply advised to "not open any fashion magazines for one year". Nothing more, nothing less. I thought this person was nuts, but I did it anyway.... I abstained from subjecting myself to magazines. A year later I realized that my depression had lifted somewhere along the way and I began to have a profound respect for the sheer power of the simple seemingly innocent act of flipping through a magazine. I have tried to explain this phenomeon. Your movie gives a voice to that.
I guess I just want to thank you for all of your hard work in putting this project together. America the Beautiful is an important movie. I consider it a privledge to have seen it with my own direct vantage point. You have alot ahead of you, but it seems like you understand the importance of strength and integrity. What you have to say is very very important.
It's likely I will be in to see it a few more times...there are just so many little details and nuances to catch.
Thanks again!

I'll see you all this Friday or Saturday!

Darryl Roberts

This is unbelievable!

This is unbelievable, on our second weekend, we were the highest grossing film at the Landmark Century Theater for the second week in a row. This is amazing because Phil Donahue opened his new documentary there and he was there to greet people. I figured we'd be dead for the weekend, but women (and men in big numbers), came out to support the film. I even saw some people that came back for their second and third viewing. I got to meet a lot of people at the 7:10pm and 9:45pm show on Saturday. Everyone thought I was doing a Q&A, so we ended up taking over the Landmark and talking in the hall.

I really want to thank you for your support. Chicago has put independent films and documentaries in general, back on the map. I could not have done this without you. Like I said last week, a movie isn't a movie unless someone goes to see it. Well, technically it is a movie, but you know what I mean.

Since this is a holiday weekend coming up and so many of you had so many intriguing questions to ask, this Friday (May 23rd) and Saturday (May 24th), I'll be doing a Q&A after the 7:10pm and the 9:45pm show. One of the things that I'll share with you is why I turned down $1,000,000 for the rights to the film because the company wanted me to take out the scene that talks about the toxins in cosmetics that are suspected of causing cancer in women.

Also, soon I'll have some really good news to share with you about the film's expansion. Don't want to jinx myself until the ink is dry. Also a major personality is talking about coming on board to help me promote the film. I will share that news with you shortly too.

I've noticed that a lot of mother's are bringing their teenage girls to see the film. After the film, I hear them discussing the effects of the images in the media and how it makes them feel bad and effects their self-esteem. Everytime I hear a conversation like that, it let's me know that I did the right thing by spending 5 years and shooting 900 hours of film to make this movie.

So once again, with your help, let's make "America the Beautiful," # 1 - 3 weeks in a row. See you Friday or Saturday. I have some new reviews and pictures below.

Darryl Roberts