I wish that this could be a much longer post but I’m up against an extremely tight deadline for the ‘Blueberry Girl’ book. It seems that if I don’t turn in all the finished paintings by the 15th of this month then the release date will be moved to Spring of 2010. Yikes! That bit of information has added glowing wings to my hands and untold hours at the drawing board.
Anyway I wanted to thank everyone who came by my booth at the recent San Diego Comic Con and helped to make it such a successful event for me.
And very soon I’ll need to ask your help in saving my ‘Fairy Princess’ sculpture, but more on that later.
The Thursday night screening of Stardust ended in a standing ovation and then the premier in LA on Sunday night was a surreal event (at least for me). Here’s a shot of Neil and I. At the last moment I discovered that I didn’t have any button studs for my tux shirt or we would both be dressed to the nines.
Two days after arriving back home I hosted four additional screenings of the movie at the local Abingdon Cinemall. This event was produced through the good graces of the folks at Paramount, Steve Weston, who own the independent cinema and three very important regional, non-profit organizations: Appalachian Sustainable Development, The Washington County Library and the William King Regional Art Center. A good time was had by all.
I also want to encourage everyone to go and see the Stardust film, this Friday if you can. Take your friends and your friend’s friends. The more bodies that pack the theaters the better for all concerned. Its a really fun ride with lovely acting, a smart script that features equal elements of humor, romance, horror and adventure and some of the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen.
Enjoy,
Charles
0 thoughts on “Stardust premier”
I loved the movie and it was great to get to see your studio (and read your books and comics). I’m going to get a babysitter and take the wife out to see it again this Friday.
Good luck meeting your Blueberry Girl deadline! The paintings are beautiful and utterly fitting.
Hi Charles –
Ever since you showed my friends and I the pencils for “Blueberry Girl” at ICFA last year, I’ve been looking forward to the finished project. This book is going to be really special. Between your amazing drawings, Neil’s beautiful poem and the spot-on symbolism, relevance and tone of the entire work for young women, I can tell you I’ll be buying copies for the daughters of my friends when it comes out. (And one for me, of course.)
And since I too would hate to have to wait until 2010, may those glowing wings speed your hands in a high-quality-but-you-still-gotta-eat-&-sleep-sometime kind of way. Yikes, indeed. And good luck to you on it!
PS: I’ll be taking time off on a deadline of my own for “Stardust” on Friday afternoon.
I’m delighted for you, Charles.
I’ve worked on enough films to know that even with great stories and casts, they sometimes, for reasons hard to know, just don’t work — nice to hear that this does.
Too bad you have to chain yourself to the drawing board in this hour of glory…hopefully you enjoyed the last few weeks to their fullest.
that was fun in abingdon!
so what about this “help in saving my ‘Fairy Princess’ sculpture” bit?
I’m not sure what Charles meant with regard to saving his Fairy Princess statue (the statue in the foreground with the fairy riding a horse), but at this writing the statue is listed as a preorder from Things From Another World, manufactured by Dark Horse in a very limited edition of 500. Here is the URL: http://www.tfaw.com/Profile/Charles-Vess-Fairy-Princess-Statue___269381
The movie is a classic, right up there with Wizard of Oz and Neverending Story and Princess Bride and others. I’m proud Charles is now an Abingdonian, and hope he remains comfortable here when the world is knocking on his door. “Stardust” has high resonance and is filled with newly-minted classic moments. It is a treasure for my children and grand-children. Thank you.
It was great seeing you at ComicCon. Glad you survived & made it to LA – love the photo of you there! You look even cuter than Neil – and with a much better tux jacket – and I don’t say that lightly, my friend!
I loved, loved, loved the movie! And word so far is that everyone else is loving it too! I can’t wait to see this film again and again. Thank you so much for letting us see the sneak preview in beautiful Abingdon.
Sending you lots of arty energy for Blueberry girl. May your brushes fly across the page with wings of inspiration.
I went with my 12-year old son on Saturday and we loved the movie. He has not yet read the book. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I plan to get the DVD when that comes out. I hope you are contributing something to that. A lot of it looked very much like your illustrations.
I was disappointed to read the movie listings and see that it was on far fewer screens that Rush Hour or Bourne Ultimatum in our local area. I presume this was the case elsewhere and that contributed to the relatively poor box office weekend.
Neil Ottenstein
Thanks you very much for all your favorable comments on the Stardust movie. I’ve seen it something like 6 times and am still immediately drawn into its world. Right now, I’m hot and heavy on my Blueberry Girl deadline so I just took a moment to say, if you liked it, tell all your friends. Maybe the word-of-mouth buzz will generate more film goers by next weekend. We can only hope!
Best,
Charles
Hey Charles – back from my tripping….uh, trips. Great to hang out in SD, I will send the photos asap. The movie is finally being trailered here, they showed the trailer before The Simpsons Movie which we saw last night – looks a visual feast! As Paul says, I am delighted for you (and Neil) too, sorry I didn’t say that to you in person! Talk soon….