Speak in your own voice.

ryan — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:55:00 -0400

The one mass e-mail I can’t wait to scroll every week comes from CinemaSalem, our local indie movie theater here in Salem, MA.

Every week, its author demonstrates not only what a brilliant informal humorist he is, but what a genius entrepreneur and PR guy (each month they give away $1000 of ticket proceeds to a local charity).

He doesn’t take himself seriously, and so he speaks in his own voice. So, even though I’m a Netflix nerd and don’t often go to the movies, I always look forward to these newsletters.

Spam that is the opposite of spam. I love it.

Here are just some highlights from this week’s message. (They’re always very long, which I love. Terseness is often a sign of a good writer, but it can also be a sign of someone with nothing to say. The true test of a good writer is whether he can say a lot without simultaneously saying nothing at all.)

Who else should attend these midnight previews? Anyone who loves movies and likes to have fun, including portrait photographers, car mechanics, tailors, diamond cutters, Supreme Court Justices, sign painters, roofers, and surgeons.

On the other hand, as a public service, we should point out that 8 am, Friday morning, May 4, might NOT be a great time for you to schedule your headshot sitting, root canal, tuneup, clothing alteration (especially involving straight pins), diamond cutting, final appeals, creation of your big billboard, roof repair, or open-heart surgery.

Besides the fun, energy, and excitement, the primary advantage of attending is enhancement of your personal coolness (which already is in good shape, subscribing as you do to this newsletter). There is a right and wrong way to exhibit this coolness. The wrong way is to go to work on Friday morning and exclaim, “I’ve already seen SPIDERMAN, you losers. It was a total blast, but I’m kinda wiped, so if you notice me nodding off during the surgery, by all means, speak up!”

The proper way to exhibit your coolness would be to wait until an annoying person says, “Hey, I’ve got tickets for SPIDERMAN tonight.” You reply, “Oh, cool. Is SPIDERMAN 4 out already?” The annoying person replies, “Oh, no, this is SPIDERMAN 3”, to which you reply, “Oh, I already saw that last night with a ton of my friends at CinemaSalem. It was great!” If the person is really annoying, you can add, “I think the most surprising part of the movie was [insert total, complete spoiler here]. Who would ever have seen THAT coming?”

...

The documentary, BEYOND EMPIRES, is targeted for the BBC and PBS, and is being directed by Christopher Gilbert, a native Australian whose accent is worth the price of admission ($5) for the 7 pm event on May 10. Other voices you’ll hear that night (in person and on videotape) will be Muslims, Hindus, and Christians of several nationalities speaking about the impact of this young German, and the relevance of his story to our troubled times.

In truth, most of the production money for this documentary is likely to come from corporations, foundations and major donors, but developing grass roots support for the film is an indispensable part of making it happen, which is why CinemaSalem has been chosen to host the first of five such events around the country.

The overall goal of the documentary is to tell the inspiring story of Ziegenbalg, and to make him a household name, even if it’s mispronounced in every household throughout the world.

(One final note, the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning feature film, WILD HOGS, is still playing at the AMC Liberty Tree Mall Cineplex.)

Thanks for supporting CinemaSalem!

-Paul Van Ness

My favorite bit is that at the very end he recommends a competing business to his customers who might benefit from the information.

At the end of these newsletters each week, I keep asking myself whether there is a movie on the list I can go see just to support this guy’s awesomeness, even though I wouldn’t otherwise have wanted to go out to the cinema. Clearly, for me at least, this newsletter serves its purpose quite well.

NotRocketSurgery: Tag entrepreneur

Speak in your own voice.