(11/29/07) What Would Jesus Buy? coming to a theater near you! - WWJB continues to make its way across America this week - going into 12 more cities on Friday! I was in Portland, OR for the premiere there and it was a great weekend and I wanty to thank everyone who took the time to come out. If you haven't seen the film yet, it's currently playing in: New York, NY - Cinema Village Los Angeles, CA - Sunset 5 Irvine, CA - Westpark 8 Portland, OR - Cinema 21 San Fran, CA - Lumiere Berkeley, CA - Shattuck Lincoln, NB - Ross Media Arts Center And opens this Friday -...

(11/16/07) What Would Jesus Buy? OPENS TONIGHT - Hey everybody, have been unplugged for months shooting Season 3 of 30 Days (I am doing two episodes this season) - but some great news on the movie front which we have been working on for months. The new independent movie we produced which is all about the commercialization of Christmas, "What Would Jesus Buy?" OPENS TONIGHT in NYC at the Village East Cinema (12th Street and University.) If you can make the 7 or 9 PM sceening, I will be there for a Q&A, along with the film's heroes, Reverened Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, and director...

(05/07/07) Me and Conan tonight! - Hey everybody, it’s me – the worst blogger in the history of blogdom back with an update of some big news that’s going on. First off, let me just say that “What Would Jesus Buy?” rocked SXSW and since then has played at Hot Docs in Canada. Coming up next is the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois and Silverdocs in DC … so be sure to check it out if you have a chance. NEXT ON THE AGENDA: I’ll be on Conan O’Brien tonight (May 7th) talking about the first theatrical release on the distribution label we started last year called...

(03/06/07) SXSW - Here we come!!! - Thank Goodness I didn’t post my Oscar picks. I only got 10 out of 24 correct, nearly bringing up the rear in the office Oscar pool. (Which was pretty healthy – the winner took home $342!) Actually, the person who did the worst in the pool (3 out of 24) got 10% of the pot (38 big ones). Right now, we are packing our bags, printing posters, finishing the sound mix and color correct and getting ready to rock and roll with a new movie at the SXSW film festival. We have a whole crew going down to Austin –...

(01/28/07) Happy New Year and all that Jazz - My cup runneth over … and not just because its filled with all of Laken’s bodily fluids, but because the New Year has begun with a wave of great news. First of the firsts – the movie I produced, “What Would Jesus Buy?”, a doc all about the commercialization of Christmas, will premiere at the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX on March 11th at 9 PM. If you’re going down, be sure to get your passes and tickets quick because I’m sure the festival is gonna sell out fast. The film, directed by Rob Van Alkemade (who won a...

(12/11/06) Back from the Abyss, Season 3 and Fatherhood - I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. It's only been 4 months, but who's counting? I've been traveling the world working on a new film and just got back to the states. Movie's gonna be fantastic - should be out next spring/summer ... can't say much more now, but as I can update you I will. I also got the call from John Landgraf and Eric Schrier, the BMOC's over at F/X, and they wanted to let the show's creative team, Ben Silverman, RJ Cutler, HT Owens and myself, know that they were going to bring 30 Days back for a THIRD SEASON! Awesome news...

(08/27/06) The Main Squeeze on Cell Block D - It's hard to believe, but the season finale of 30 Days is THIS WEDNESDAY night on FX. In the close to season 2, I get locked up in the big house, and let me tell you something ... I don't recommend it. I did my time in the Henrico County Jail outside Richmond, Virginia under the supervision of Sheriff Michael Wade. As you will see in the show, it was an indescribable experience; one that I hope I never have to do again. It's an incredible hour of television and I hope you all tune in. Alex comes for a...

(08/09/06) Episode Three is in the can - So, here we are three weeks into season 2 and the response has been overwhelming. More than 2.2 million tuned in for the premiere and the replay that immediately followed it and the talk about the Immigration and Outsourcing shows keeps swirling through the cyberspace. I know a lot of people have been asking me how they can see repeats of the shows or where they can buy them, well iTunes is giving away ... as in FREE, the Immigration episode. The next two (Outsourcing and Atheist/Christian)are downloadable for something like 0.99 cents I think. ALSO - this Saturday on...

(07/26/06) Immigration Episode Premieres Tonight! - It has been an incredible week of press and anticipation building up to tonight's season premiere of 30 Days. After a whirlwind week of Letterman, Kimmel, Good Morning America and more newspapers and radio stations than I could count, the big day is finally here. I am incredibly proud of tonight's show, I believe it dives into the debate in a way we've never seen nor had access to and I applaud the bravery of both Mr. Frank Jorge and the Gonzalez family for their courage and openness in addressing this topic. Some of you may have heard Frank saying...

(06/28/06) 30 Days Season 2 Premieres JULY 26th! - Set your VCRs, DVRs and block out your calender. It's officially official that the premiere of 30 Days season 2 will be July 26th. We have been working like crazy to get the episodes finished and I can now tell you what this season holds. On July 26th - the first episode is about and is called "Immigration." In the show, a border patroling minuteman (who just so happens to be a legal Cuban immigrant) moves in with an undocumented Mexican family in East Los Angeles. This is one of the greatest hours of television I have ever seen in...

(05/10/06) I hit Keith Richards with a coconut - Bula - So, Alex and I went to Fiji last week, got married, threw a coconut at Keith Richards, and survived a tsunami. Oh, I'm sorry, I went over that first part a little fast. It's true, we finally made it official and got hitched on Tavarua Island in Fiji on May 3rd and the only "relation" there was my best pal from West Virginia, David Stacy, and his wife, Aileen. No caterers, no floral arrangements, no doves getting released, no tuxedo, no band, no family to worry about, no travel arrangements to make for people, no maps to draw,...

(04/16/06) Home Sweet Hotel and OPRAH! - I've been criss-crossing the country for weeks now, shooting interviews and going to various locations for the second season of 30 Days. This week I was in Jefferson City, MO and Buffalo, NY before trudging back west to the house we're renting for the next couple of months in L.A. (thanks FX) while we complete the series. (And luckily this time our cat didn't hide in the closet for weeks on end after we got here.) I calculated that in the last two years, I've spent nearly 70% of my time away from home sleeping in hotels ... and the...

(03/29/06) Best Five Days Ever (Yes, I'm being facetious) - STOP IF YOU ARE COMING TO THIS BLOG FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HEARING OF THE SPEECH AT HATBORO HORSHAM HIGH SCHOOL, THEN GO TO THE PREVIOUS BLOG ENTRY "A LETTER OF EXPLANATION" FIRST, READ ALL OF THE OLD ENTRIES, AND THEN COME BACK TO THIS PAGE TO SHARE. THANK YOU. Well, it's now Wednesday and I can honestly say that my mom has never been prouder. (I am kidding, of course.) In fact, the first phone call I got Sunday morning was from my disapproving mother. She's the greatest. In an interview with the Philly Inquirer that ran yesterday...

(03/26/06) A Letter of Explanation - To the Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators of Hatboro Horsham High School, the Hatboro Horsham Education Foundation, and anyone else who has now heard of the events of last Friday in Pennsylvania, Throughout the year, I travel to various colleges and high schools to talk about my experiences in making Super SIze Me, the impact it has had on me and the community, and what kids can do to make a difference in their own lives. That was my goal when I went to speak to the students of Hatboro Horsham High School. As I told both the principal and superintendent...

(03/19/06) Return to Civilization - After a very difficult 30 Days, I am back home in New York City. I can't say much about it, but I can honestly say it was eye opening beyond belief. It was pretty emotional and will hopefully be as moving for you as it was for me. It was tough because I went straight from shooting my episode into shooting the "Public Nuisance" pilot for Comedy Central. I would have killed for a week off after my "30 Days" ordeal, but it wasn't in the cards. At least I went from heavy to comedy - that was the saving...

(02/05/06) Sundance, Oprah and out ... for next 30 Days - So we didn't win the PGA Award ... we got beat by 60 Minutes. Hey, if you're gonna lose to someone, I'd rather it be Morley and the boys. We did however get nominated for a GLAAD Award for the Gay/Straight episode (my favorite from last season ... not that I play favorites.) So we may just redeem ourselves. The past couple weeks have been amazing - after the PGA Awards, Alex and I flew to Sundance for the day. I had to go there for a quick meeting en route to Chicago and when I drove into town, the...

(01/10/06) Happy New Year - I am back in the saddle and back in New York. I had one of the most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas' and New Years ... maybe it was because I didn't see my family. (I'm kidding Mom - you know I love you.) After wrapping the movie I was working on, Alex and I drove to Big Bear, CA where we spent the next week holed up in a cabin watching movies, eating great food, playing Scrabble (where I went undefeated) and sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. Here's the rundown of my flick list: I finally watched Whale Rider (such a beautiful...

(12/20/05) Up and Moving ... Too much Moving actually - So I am up and around, no heavy lifting, with all the black and blue having subsided. Thanks for all your kind words of support and recovery, I think it helped. (Well that, plus some fine pampering by the beautiful Alex.) I was supposed to be in London all last week with a return trip in January, but fate plays a part in all those decisions – in a way we can’t really understand. Instead, I was thrust into the middle of the movie I am currently producing, throwing on my director cap after the film’s helmer became incapacitated. I...

(11/20/05) Laid Up for a While - It's Sunday morning and I awoke this morning with my entire groin area black and blue and in massive pain. No, I didn't spend all night out at an S&M club, but I did have hernia surgery on Friday and am now laid up in a hotel until Tuesday. Doc said I couldn't walk up the 6 stories that takes me to my east village shoebox in the sky, so now I'm sleeping in a hotel, mere blocks from my apartment, just b/c they have an elevator. (And a DVD player - if I'm gonna be on my back for...

(10/18/05) Slaving Away for the Man ... - Luckily, the man is me - so it ain't so bad, but I've still be going like wild fire over the past few weeks with lots of irons in the fire. See, that's the hard part - when you work for yourself, you got nobody else to blame for things! Or as my friend Rainier says, "If I don't do it, I'll just have to do it." You may have heard, but my production company, Warrior Poets, just signed an overall TV deal with Sony Pictures Television. Now, all of our TV projects will go thru their studio (a big...

(09/19/05) Back Down South - It's Monday night, feels like I just got back to town and I'm already on the road again. Tomorrow I speak at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC and the University of South Carolina in the same day. By tomorrow night I should be pretty beat, but it's great to get out and actually talk to the kids who are where I was 15 years ago ... young and full of hope, passion and drive (not yet warped, angry and jaded by the world at large ... don't wory though kids, those days are soon to come!) I went to Nebraska...

(09/06/05) It's Official - I am the WORST Blogger EVER - I have been terrible. It's true. Worst blog updater on the whole web. I know. It's true. Is updater even a word? Who knows. But what I do know is that after going on vacation in Hawaii for a week, we had to come back and pack up the house and move back to NYC. Blogging was not at the top of my list. BUT NOW - I am back in NYC, grounded, got my priorities in line and am back on it. Worst part of the trip - I flew back on the plane with cat, who decided to...

(07/30/05) Next Stop ... New York City - Season One of 30 Days was a huge success, averaging more than 1.4 million viewers each week (and that's only the premiere at 10 PM). Add in the replay at 11 and all the other showings throughout the week, and the show reached bewteen 3 and 4 million people each and every week! That's amazing. Thank you all for your support and great messages. Still no word on season two, but I did hear that quite a few of you had written to them to express how much you wanted the show to return, so thanks for that. If you...

(07/19/05) The Big Finale - I can't believe it, but tonight is the season finale of "30 Days." The climax of the season is our Binge Drinking Mom, a parent who so desperately wants her college freshmen, beer guzzling daughter to understand the ramifications of her actions that she (mom) transforms into a party girl overnight to try to teach her show her the errors of her ways. It's powerful stuff and a great end to the series....

(07/13/05) $40 Fill Up - So, I go to get gas yesterday, first time I've had to fill up in over a week. And I pull my little Passat up to the pump and proceed to fill it up to the tune of $40. FORTY BUCKS! I can't remember the last time I spent that much cash at the tank, but I'm sure it must have involved a rental of some kind and four wheel drive. I was blown away. And as bad as I had it, the guy next to me spent over fifty in his Escalade! Do that every week and you're dropping...

(07/06/05) Up next ... Straights and Gays in America - I remember when a friend of mine in college told me he was gay. We'd been friends for months and shared just about everything with each other, so when he told me I wasn't shocked ... surprised maybe, because here was this guy who was down with the ladies telling me that he was gay. I did what anyone in that situation would have done (not run away or scream or punch him in the face); I asked questions....

(06/26/05) Sunday Night in NYC - I just walked into my apartment in New York and it feels like summer is in serious full swing. It's more than 80 degrees and its 11 PM. I was panting on my way up the stairs and by the time I hit the 6th floor landing, the sweat was rolling. Thank goodness a couple of friends of mine stayed here last week and put the AC in the front window while I was gone - I was dreading having to do that by myself. Big week coming up, The Daily Show on Tuesday, Fox and Friends on Wednesday morning...

(06/22/05) Get Pumped Up on Wednesday (June 22nd) - Tonight on "30 Days" we examine the issue of aging and steroid use in America. When you hear steroids, you probably think of some juiced up bodybuilder or some baseball player testifying before congress, but in U.S. millions of people take steroids everyday to get back to their "Glory Days." In tonight's episode, we follow Scott, a former aquatic prodigy looking to get back to the good 'ol days, as he dives head first into a regimen of human growth hormones, testosterone and nutritional supplements. It's an episode that will blow you away. Thanks again for such a warm response...

(06/17/05) Thanks for watching - About three million of you watched the premiere (and second run immediately after) last night of FX, making it the biggest audience they'd ever had for a non-fiction program. Thank you for watching. There are going to be five more eye-opening episodes coming over the next five weeks, so if you liked the show, please pass the word onto your friends and neighbors....

(06/15/05) 30 Days premieres TONIGHT at 10 PM (est) on FX! - Just got to NYC from Washington, DC where we had a screening of tonight's premiere episode at a movie theatre sponsored by the Center for American Progress. Senator Ted Kennedy also attended, as did Steven Kest, Executive Director of ACORN, and John Podesta, CEO of the Center and former Clinton Chief if Staff. What a night!...

(06/04/05) Making Friends and Influencing People - Today was an incredible day ... a dream come true actually. 16 years ago I graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in my hometown of Beckley, WV, and today I gave the commencement speech for the the class of 2005. It was such an honor and one of those things I'd always imagined and hoped for and now it's happened. It was made even more special by the fact that my niece, Caitlin (the daughter of my oldest brother Craig) was in this graduating class. She is such an awesome kid - you'll see her in the premiere episode of...

(05/30/05) Who wants a Siesta? - It's Monday night in Los Angeles. Alex and I spent Memorial Weekend south of the border in Puerto Nuevo, Mexico - a small fishing village south of Rosarito famous for its lobster (and smelly ocean). We needed a getaway, a place to just hangout and forget about everything that's happening and this was it. A four hour drive from LA and a world away from all I've been doing with the book and TV show. Check out the book website here, you can read reviews and get a copy if you haven't done so yet: http://www.donteatthisbook.com Back to my siesta....

(05/24/05) Press On - So, I did the View last week and it was hilarious. Now this week I've been making all the NYC rounds for the book: the Today Show doing an interview with Al Roker, the CBS Early Show with Hanna Storm and tons of radio and print interviews covering not only the book, but the TV show. ABOUT THE TV SHOW: So we sent the first three episodes of the show to journalists this week. Still some work to do on the shows but I gotta tell you, it really rocks. I think you guys are gonna be psyched when you...

(05/18/05) Holy Crap, I'm an Author - Tomorrow, another unbelievable occasion in a year filled with unbelievable occasions will come to pass ... I will officially be an author. My book, "Don't Eat This Book" hits stores and I am still trying to think back to how all these things have come to pass for the guy who was homeless and sleeping in a hammock in my office only four years ago. I've been writing my whole life, since I was kid. Stories, short stories, plays, poems, you name it. I loved it. Always have. Maybe it was my English teaching mother who turned me into this...

(05/11/05) Crunch Time - The cat's outta the bag and the word is out about the first episode of 30 Days. On the June 15th premiere of the show on FX, my fiancee Alexandra and I move to Columbus, OH where we live on minimum wage for one month. The episode asks the question, "what's it like to live on $5.15 an hour?" And I'll tell you right now, it ain't easy. The episode explores a variety of issues surrounding the minimum wage - I think its pretty smart and gets "reality" tv back to its roots which is documentary filmmaking. Future installments will...

(05/01/05) The City (and the Director) that never sleeps - I have been in heavy duty 30 Days production mode for the last week: editorial notes, music meetings, graphics review, promo shoots and finding an animator for this bear of a program. RJ Cutler and everyone working on the show at Actual Reality pictures continue to pull the rabbits out their hats as we manage to make 6 one hour documentary programs, each culled from hundreds of hours of footage, for a lot less money than any of us thought possible. This is the first show to be released under my new production company, Warrior Poets, and I am thankful...

(04/24/05) Back from the Unknown - Here I am. Back from the depths of production-ville living to tell a tale. For 30 Days I was sequestered while taping the premiere episode of the show (which hits FX on June 15th), but sad to say, I can't say too much, at least not right now. There will be much to talk about very, very soon as FX will be releasing a press release about the upcoming season of 30 Days in the next week, so keep your eyes peeled. Since returning to the electronic world, (THIS IS MY FIRST DAY OFF!!!) I have been traveling like crazy...

(03/05/05) Oh what a night PART 2 - So, now that the pressure was off and we knew for sure we didn�t get the Oscar, we get let our hair down and enjoy ourselves. Alex and I spent about an hour mulling around the bar outside the theatre, talking to all the other losers and rejoicing in the year we�ve all had. Lucky doesn�t even begin to describe it. Blessed. Fortunate. All of above. We toasted one another�s efforts with champagne, smiles stretching across all our faces. We watched the last hour of the awards show, the top prizes being awarded to all the predicted winners, although I...

(03/04/05) Oh what a night - PART ONE - Well, we didn�t take home the little gold man, but what a capper to undoubtedly the best year of my life as filmmaker. I predicted weeks ago that Ross and Zana would take the honors, especially after having the year they had, winning massive critical acclaim, taking top prizes at every festival the film was shown and helping those kids. I am so proud of them and all that they have done and believe me when I say, after having met them at Sundance last year and subsequently spending lots of time with them at various festivals and screenings over...

(02/27/05) The Big Dance - This is it. The big day. Can't say I was able to sleep very well last night, the feeling of Christmas and a birthday and New Year's and every other excited emotion coursing through my veins, but I managed to squeeze out a couple before staring at the clock for the last 90 minutes. Friday was filled with interviews and photo shoots - I got to meet Dennis Hopper that day - DENNIS HOPPER!! - a huge highlight for me. He's taking photos of nominees and compiling them into a large coffee table book for Tsunami refief. My shoot with...

(02/25/05) Super Duper Free Shwag Day - Started the day with an early morning interview on 93.1, the Arrow, here in L.A. on the Johnny B morning show. We talked for nearly an hour about all things Oscar and then gave away 10 of the Ecuationally Enhanced DVDs. Teachers love it - I think we could have given away hundreds. After that it was back to the house for a conference call regarding a future movie project (more on that later) and then off to teh Century Plaza Hotel where Extra (the TV show) had a suite filled with all sorts of great free promo stuff....

(02/24/05) Big Winner, Fat Dinner - I spent night before last speaking to students, parents and teachers at UNLV. For me, that is one of the most rewarding things to emerge from this entire film experience: getting to go out and talk to people about the choices we make everyday. (Most of which are unhealthy ones.) Even the Hamburglar loves Super Size Me ... Ropple, Ropple The event was a huge success, which I now gauge by how many protestors show up at the event. That night, the campus young Republicans were there in full force handing out McFood to people as they entered the room...

(02/22/05) The Home Stretch - Alex and I packed our bags up last Saturday and flew, with our cat in tow, to Los Angeles where we?ll hang our hat for the next six months while shooting and editing 30 Days for F/X. We rented a sick house in the Hollywood hills, I decided that if I was going to be out here for that long, then I was going to get the full L.A. experience: pool, hot tub, chef's kitchen. Alex is very happy. The cat on the other hand is another story. Since we?ve gotten here, he's spent 90% of his time in a...

(02/09/05) Talk about the Surreal Life - Ever since the nominations came out last week, my life has been shifted back into interview overdrive. It�s crazy. I�ve spent the last week talking to journalists all over the world, talking about what an incredible year this has been for documentaries and how excited I am just to be a part of it. I also started recording the audio version of my book, �Don�t Eat This Book,� which is set to come out in May, same time as the book is published. You ever have to talk non-stop for 8 hours straight? It ain�t easy, and I pride myself...

(01/26/05) Holy Crap! We're going to the OSCARS! - WOW! WOW! AND OH MY GOD! With tears streaming down our faces, Alex and I screamed and stared in disbelief at the Oscar.com website which listed SSM as a Best Doc nominee yesterday morning. The first person I called was my mom, then on down the family list, dad, my brothers, my grandparents. Alex and I immediately met friends, agents and everybody who worked on the film at Balthazar (a shmancy NYC restaurant in Soho) where we proceeded to have a champagne breakfast celebration that ended up lasting twelve hours. And I treated myself right for lunch too, ordering up...

(01/24/05) Golden Globes pix and going back to Cali - Just when I thought it couldn?t get any weirder or stranger or more surreal than the night Alex and I spent at the Critics Choice Awards along comes the Globes and this night was ten fold surreal. First, my agent David Gersh called me early in the week to see if I wanted to go with him to the shindig ? I was scheduled to go to a screening of SSM at the Rivertown Film Society across the river from NYC in Nyack, so I jumped on the phone and called the festival to see if I could have some...

(01/20/05) Vacation is over ... NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!! - Happy New Year!!! I know, I�m a few weeks late and I�ve been the worst blogger on the planet, but so much has been happening and now I�m finally back on the chain gang. FIRST THING FIRST: I had the best vacation ever. Alex and I went to WV to see the family unit first (she got me an I-Pod and my mother got me this crazy plush stuffed animal pig head for my office, AKA the lodge, imagine a fuzzy pink doll of pig mounted for your wall � it�s hilarious � photos to follow soon) then we were...

(12/11/04) One Week until Vacation - Have been racing the clock to get as much done as possible before Alex and I leave for a much needed three week vacation on December 17th. After Thanksgiving, I hit my last three colleges of the fall: St. Thomas in Minneapolis, the University of Cincinnati and the University of New Hampshire. All of them went great, with around 300-400 people at each discussion. Was back in NYC for two days, just long enough to tape a few more interviews for some year end specials and pack up my office. Can you believe that? In the middle of all this...

(11/27/04) Happy Thanksgiving from one Bad Villian - I spent Thanksgiving with Alex and her family in Eugene, Oregon, eating all the delicious fixings that make Turkey day so great. Two years ago I was sitting on my mom's couch in WV after having just stuffed myself with all the trappings of the day when I got the idea for SSM; and last year, it was the day after Thanksgiving that I got the call from Sundance telling me that we made it into competition. So, this day is pretty special to me. Alex's dad has a photo on the living room table of she and I on...

(11/21/04) North to Alaska - After leaving Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, I was off to Eastern Washington University, which is just outside Spokane, for a talk with about 400 students. Thursday, I was back on the plane and heading to Alaska, a place I'd been dying to go for years and my next to last state. (The only other one I haven't been to now is Maine and I plan on hitting that one over Christmas!) First stop was Ancchorage and the University of Alaska, Anchorage, home of the Seawolves! They have a sweet logo for their mascot that is inspired by the indigineous...

(11/16/04) Workin' it L.A. Style - I�ve been in Los Angeles for the past two days having meetings about the upcoming FX show as well as talking to studios about future projects. I would love to find a home for any and all TV programs we create. After meeting with about ten possible outlets, a few front-runners have emerged. I�ll let you know what comes from that in the upcoming days, but right now I don�t want to let the deal out of the bag. I went to Crenshaw High today in South Central, Los Angeles. Right down the road from my former alma mater, USC....

(11/13/04) Sheffield International Doc Film Festival - This is one of the best doc fests I�ve been to � it�s intimate and accessible and easy to navigate. The folks who run it, as well as those who attend it, are genuine and open, and the movies are pretty fantastic too. Here's the fest link: http://www.sidf.co.uk I got into town around 6 PM Friday and was met by Abbey, my official handler at the festival. Her job is to make sure I�m having a good time and that I show up when I�m supposed to. Who have they been talking to? I�m Johnny Punctual! She took me to...

(11/11/04) UK DVD VIP ASAP � AKA Guess who�s going back to England? - Wednesday Night, back on a jumbo jet streaking to jolly old London. I can�t sleep on this plane. I don�t know why, but its impossible for me. Wide awake, looking around at all the sleeping slugs around me, and I can�t even lay out for a little while. Maybe its because Alex isn�t with me. This is the first int�l trip that I haven�t had her with me since the whole SSM journey began. Since I�m only going for three days, we both decided that it was just crazy to spend the money. I finally saw Open Water on the...

(10/25/04) Another Working Weekend in NY - Story of my life these days, but a day-off usually means I only work five or six hours. That was Saturday. Was up at 9 AM to go look at some possible office spaces and then to my office where my assistant Jeremy and I sqeeuzed three weeks of catch up into four hours. ITS ALL ABOUT STACKS: When you only have that much time, its about delegating responsibility to others as well as determining the firing line and for me, that's done with stacks. This has to be done right now, this next week, this not for a month...

(10/22/04) Back to School - I was in back from Japan and in NYC for all of 12 hours before heading back out onto the road Monday morning. This week: four colleges in four days. Monday: University of Kansas. BEST ADVICE FOR STUDENTS: Came from this event. They guy who was driving me around , Anthony, lives with like 6 other people and they divide up the week so each person cooks one of those days. I thought that was a brilliant idea and something every college student should do. And no heating up shit that was in a box, you have to actually go...

(10/16/04) Asia Days 4: Toy Junkie - Today is my day-off � supposedly. That�s why I was up at 5:45 AM to have a conference call with the production team and network regarding the TV show, 30 Days. We talked for about an hour about things we need to fix in the pilot and moving forward. After I hung up the phone with them, I was on the horn for three more hours with my agency, my office, a screenwriter about a future project, an activist who we�re helping finish a movie and our international sales company. Nice day off. Well, its 10 AM now and time...

(10/15/04) Asia Days 3: Horsey and Me - A quick run at the gym first thing this morning and then 12 more interviews today. My favorite was with a magazine called Davinci where the interviewer was this ball of energy, bouncing in his chair and foaming at the mouth he got so excited at times. I loved it. He was overjoyed to be speaking English with me and to be sharing his stories, meanwhile, his editor looked on, staring at him and me like Kwai Chang Caine from �Kung Fu.� Like any second he was gonna jump up and hit me in the head with a stick. He...

(10/13/04) Asia Days 2: Tokyo Mo - We got to Tokyo on Monday morning and were met at the airport by Tetsu, VP of Klockworx, the coming releasing SSM in Japan. We snagged a cab to the city and it hit me how OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive this city is. As soon as your but hits the seat in the cab, the meter starts at 660 Yen ($6!) Total fare to get us to our hotel in Ebisu: 22,000 Yen - $200!!! That's insane! You can go all the to JFK for 40 bucks! I decided then and there that I would not take cabs the whole time we're...

(10/11/04) Asia Days 1: South Korea and the PIFF - Saturday 10-10 After 24 hours of travel, Alex and I arrived in Pusan for the Pusan International Film Festival. Pusan, a coastal town very reminiscent of a larger and dirtier San Sebastian, Spain, was bustling with people, even at 10 PM. Exhausted, we showered and headed out immediately to meet Michael Werner and Wouter Barenrecht, the sales geniuses behind Fortissimo Films and the duo that has put SSM in more than 50 territories worldwide. After a couple of drinks, the lag started setting in like a champ and the bed was screaming my name. YOU KNOW ITS A BAD PARTY:...

(10/09/04) 4 Colleges, 3 States, 2 High Schools, and off to Asia - This week was hectic, a truly taxing bit of travel, interviews and lectures. I came up with an idea I was very excited about for colleges and high schools this week which I think would be great to educate kids and help prepare them for the future. SURVIVAL 101 and SURVIVAL 102: Mandatory classes for EVERY highs school senior and college freshman. In the class, we teach students the life lessons they�ll really need once they leave school. How to cook, how to shop for food (complete with field trips to grocery stores), how to buy vegetables and fruit, the...

(10/03/04) Back from Spain and on the road again - SAN SEBASTIAN FEST WRAP-UP: The rest of the film festival was incredible, I met John Sayles (who is the coolest) and we had sell-out screenings of the movie. I met Marisa Paredes, one of the most lovely Almodovar actresses, on one TV show and I did a live TV debate about food and health with some of the most famous chefs, doctors and writers in the country on another. McDonald�s called every media outlet in Spain and threatened to pull their advertising if they kept talking about the film. Sounds to me like SSM is doing its job and Ronald...

(09/20/04) Dios Mio! We?re in Espana! - Sunday, Madrid - Alex and I arrived in Madrid Sunday morning at 7 AM and were met by the distributors sister, Amelia and her husband. They were kind enough to drive us to the hotel which was right across from the Museo Prado. There were no rooms available, so we sat in the lobby for a couple of hours, half zombie ? half excited to be here. When we were finally able to check in, it was a summer camp room, two twin beds pushed together to form a makeshift grown-up love bed....

(09/18/04) School Tour off and Running � now on to Spain - WARNING: SUPER SIZED BLOG ENTRY AHEAD It was a great and busy week of travel and talking as the first real week of the college tour was kick started into high gear. Five schools in five cities in five days. It was a week of sell-out crowds and packed houses across the board as I started speaking to students, parents, locals and faculty about the dangers of a fast food diet and the need for change. Each of the campuses I spoke on had multiple fast food restaurants right on campus that kids can use their meal plan to buy...

(09/11/04) The School Tour Begins - U of U - I was in NYC for all of one day after flying home from New Zealand for 22 hours straight on Wednesday. I spent all day, around 17 hours at my office playing catch up for the last three weeks: e-mails, phone calls, stacks and stacks of mail, and watching the latest cut of our FX pilot "30 Days", which is looking fantastic. I left the office around 11 PM, went to one of assistant editors going away party and got home at 3 AM - giving me 2.5 hours of sleep before I had to get up again to go...

(09/09/04) The Stuff of Legend - Can I just tell you this - my last day in Wellington, New Zealand was probably the greatest day off I've had on this entire PR tour. First, Alex and I get dropped off at Wingnut Films, Peter Jackson's production company, where we meet Carter Nixon, long time production assistant for the company and our official man-about-town for the day, FIRST STOP: WETA WORKSHOP...

(09/07/04) Kiwis, Gold Medals & KING KONG - New Zealand - I've been in New Zealand since Thursday, when Alex and I arrived after 23 hours of flying from Sweden. I had just enough time to shower before heading off to my first interview on the nationally syndicated NZ radio show - Leighton Smith. He's an anti-Michael Moore conservative who asked tough questions but still believes in the core message of the film. He just bought a winery an afterwards gave us a tasty bottle of Syrah to take home. Good on ya Leighton. All over NZ there are posters and advertisments for McD featuring Sarah Olmer, the...

(08/31/04) Sweden Part II - Abba Dabba Do - MONDAY Interview magic day. We did interviews in the penthouse of another swank rock star hotel called the Vidmar (Pia Nordstrom, marketing guru for Sandrew Metronome said we would have been staying here, but this hotel doesn�t have a gym, one of my four requirements for a hotel on the road.) Bummer. The elevator had one of the greatest inventions ever, buttons for you to change the music. Choices ranged from Reggae to Rock to Pop to R&B to Jazz to Drum & Bass to Techno to Lounge to Standards. That�s an idea everyone should tap into � next up...

(08/30/04) Welcome to Sweden � now get out of the river - Stockholm, Sweden � We arrived in Stockholm on Sunday morning to be greeted by giant double decker tour buses that boasted huge ads for McSalads on one side and their feelings of inadequacy manta for reinforcement slogan �I�m Lovin� It� on the other. Par for the course � definitely looks like Super Size Me opens here in few weeks. We had a day to ourselves and decided to take in some of the city via a few of the beautiful inlets and canals that encircle the city. Many people refer to it as the �Little Amsterdam.� I think all of...

(08/28/04) At the Finnish line - Helsinki, Finland - SSM is part of the Espoo Cine Film Festival, a small yet very fun fest on the outskirts of Helsinki. Also at the fest were our old Sundance pals The Yes Men and Motorcycle Diaries (which I am still dying to see.) We sold out our screening and McD here has just begun their massive Salad campaign in newspapers, TV - you name it. Coincidence? I think not. Every country we go to this is what they do: bombard the masses with propaganda about how healthy they are now. It's a joke. They gave employees a letter...

(08/26/04) Ice, Ice Baby - Reykjavik, Iceland - How often do you get to go to Iceland? Never, right? So how psyched was I when they added this little country with a total population of 280,000 to the schedule?! Answer: Very. It is an amazing place, an entire country build on volcanic rock where there are few trees and no forests, where they still speak the oldest language in the region: an ancient Norwegian dialect that is closest to Viking talk as you'll get, where little ponies roam the countryside and where, at this time of the year, its light for about 18 hours a...

(08/23/04) Vienna - home of those little sausages - So we made it to Vienna, Austria ... but our luggage didn't. Apparently, it never left Scotland! When we got to the airport on Saturday, Miki, our Austrian press liaison for FilmLaden suggested we buy some clothes at the hotel since everything in town closes at 6 PM (my watch said 6:20 ... just missed it.) You ever try buying clothes at the airport that you'll actually wear? It's damn near impossible. So, Alex and I resolved ourselves to look like cheesey tourists, buying t-shirts and jackets with bad pictures on them - not quite as busy as a NASCAR...

(08/20/04) Edinburgh Film Festival - On the road again ... After two weeks in NYC (well, not all in NYC, I traveled to West Virginia for the completion of the TV pilot for the FX Network) - Alex and I are back on the road. This time for three weeks. We left Wednesday night and arrived in Edinburgh Thursday morning - actually having enough time to check in to the hotel, get in a quick workout, pick up our IDs from the fest office and WATCH A MOVIE before starting the day's interviews! I know, I couldn't believe it myself. A movie? At a film...

(08/14/04) DVD News and the Fall School Tour - Many folks have been writing in asking when the DVD will be released and if there will be edits made so they can show it in schools. Getting this film into every school in America is a priority of mine and we will be doing an edited version, a "Family Friendly" version that will eliminate any offensive material so that we can show this to kids nationwide. The theatrical version of the DVD will launch on Sept. 28th and will contain more than an hour of bonus material. The "Family Friendly" version will be made available in either December or...

(08/04/04) DC, Brazil and Subway - It's been two weeks since my last update and so much has happened: 1. Washington, DC - we screened the movie for members of Congress, the Senate and their staffs. It was fantastic - more than 400 people showed up. I presented a copy of the film to the Library of Congress and the following day there were briefings at the Capitol for even more staff members. What a ride. I also met with Senator Tom Harkin about Menu Labeling, health and nutrition education in schools and his program that gets fresh fruits and vegetables into schools for FREE! He's...

(07/21/04) Mr. Spurlock goes to Washington - Having survived Las Vegas and managing to keep my shirt - I returned to NYC last Friday just in time to do three hours of interviews with journalists from Columbia, Brazil and Thailand. SSM hits those markets soon. Saturday, Alex and I flew to Burlington, VT for the wedding of Jonah Tobias (he's the genius who did all the motion graphics for the film.) He and his now wife Lisa had a beautiful ceremony in the woods, performed by a friend of theirs who is now an ordained minister (via the internet). You gotta love the net for that. Sunday,...

(07/13/04) VIVA LAS VEGAS - Tuesday night - and yeah, I know, I've been a complete punk at updating my blog. I apologize. Just flew into Vegas from WV where we began shooting the pilot episode of 30 Days. Should be pretty incredible. I'm in Vegas for the VSDA trade show. (It's where everybody who has a video or DVD goes to sell it to Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, etc.) Our DVD is being distributed by Hart Sharpe video and will be out this fall. They've already locked in all the majors so look for it in a store near you in a couple of months....

(07/08/04) MTV, DVD and the 10 million mark - Back in the city for a few days before I have to jet off to start shooting the pilot for "30 Days" for FX. Just enough time to squeeze in some more interviews, pet my cat, do my laundry and get the first chapter of my book finished. No problem, right? I was blown away to learn upon my return to the states that SSM had eclipsed the 10 million dollar mark while I was away. That's great news, because the more the film can stay in theatres and attract viewers, the more possibilities there are for really getting the...

(07/04/04) Happy 4th of July - Have been in grey London since Wednesday and have clocked a whopping 16 1/2 minutes of sunshine since I got here. A typical London summer. From Wed to Friday, I packed in the English and Irish Press averaging 25 interviews a day. By the weekend, I was ready for some time off - and what better way to spend it than by going to see Jerry Springer: The Opera. That's right kids, its finally become a reality - there's a musical based on the life and times of Springer that has taken over the West End and brought a twisted...

(06/27/04) Holy Shit! A Doc is the Number One Movie in the Country! - I woke up this morning in Amsterdam, the first that I'd been able to connect to the internet in days, and was blown away by the news I read. Fahrenheit 9/11 had not only become the highest grossing documentary of all time in only its first four days, but it also bacame the first doc ever to break the top 5 and INCREDIBLY was the number one movie in the country! Beating out White Chicks, Dodgeball, The Terminal and The Notebook - each of which were showing on three times the number of screens. Wow....

(06/23/04) Off to Europe - It's Wednesday morning and I was up at 6:30 AM doing an interview with ABC. This morning I have a radio tour with most of the final major markets we're in (Albany, Philly, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Memphis) and then its off to Europe again. Last night, I went to a benefit for the Jacob Burns Film Center. Check out their website here: http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org They are doing so many great things to get the arts back into the hands of children and last night I was so excited to be a part of their charity auction. Alex and I donated a dinner...

(06/21/04) Monday Night in NYC - It's Monday night in the NYC and emotions are running high. Just got back home from seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 and I feel so emotionally stripped: angry, sad, depressed ... the full gamut of emotions. It's an incredible movie and Michael will win Academy Award for it. It's a fine piece of filmmaking. HOLY SHIT NEWS: Did you guys hear that the Carlyle Group bought Loews? That's right. The Carlyle Group, one of the biggest and most conservative investment groups (wait until you see the movie!) which the Bush clan has long had ties just BOUGHT one of the biggest movie...

(06/19/04) Back in the US of A - For a few days anyway. Saw the news when I got here that SSM had become the third highest grossing doc in US history. Crazy. Each day I am dumbfounded by this whole experience - last week it was the news that Ronald McDonald was putting out an exercise video (did you guys hear this????) and now this. What a trip. I will be in my apartment for a whopping twelve hours before jumping on another plane to fly west. Sunday, Scott (the SSM DP) and I will head out to interview Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) for...

(06/18/04) A beer, a brot and a movie - sounds like heaven - What with every paper in Europe dedicated to the news of the Euro Cup, I was glad to see that journalists still wanted to talk to me about the movie. FIRST STOP, BERLIN: I had never been to Berlin and when we arrived at the hotel (after meeting our German press attaches Caroline and Andrea � never had an attach� before), Alex and I had a whopping three hours to do whatever we wanted on Wednesday afternoon. We walked over to the Reichstahg (sp?) where the line was around the block, and then we went to the last remaining city...

(06/16/04) Three in Pairee - The past two days in Lausanne had been bliss � and the hotel, the Lausanne Palace (http://www.lausanne-palace.com), was so posh and foo foo that neither of us wanted to crawl out of bed to the car waiting outside. Alex and I got to Paris on Sunday afternoon and were met at the airport by Harold Manning. He would be my interpreter for the next two days. A filmmaker himself, his wit and sense of humor were immediately infectious. He reminded me immediately of a French Alan Cummings, having many of the same mannerisms that endear him to audiences. We checked...

(06/13/04) Chocolate and Watches - 3 Days in Switzerland - I have been terrrible at updating the blog, but this is the first time I've had access to a working modem since I left NYC on Wed. Alex and I arrived into Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday morning where we began our first day of press in the city with the distributor and publicist. It went great, despite the massive jetlag I was pulling. The highlight of the day came that evening when world reknowned chef Peter Brunner prepared a vegan dinner just for us (and mostly Alex). It was superb - pix will be up shortly. The next day, I...

(06/09/04) Daily Show and More updates - It's Wednesday and Alex and I leave today for another 10 days of whirlwind promotion. Before heading to the airport, I will tape the Daily Show. (I am so psyched about this! This is the greatest show on television.) The show will air tonight. For the past two days, I have been cramming in press between meetings, mixes and edits for the DVD and a trip to Dallas, TX where we screened the film for the folks at Blockbuster. They love the film and are very excited about putting it out. The day I flew back to NY (yesterday), USA...

(06/06/04) Finally - some Aussie Picks - It's Friday in NYC and today we rolled out into some more theatres - total count is now 205 screens in the US and Canada. The movie also opened in Australia yesterday (the 2nd fattest country in the world). Alex getting her Koala on. I apologize for not being on top of the pictures, but ever since I got back to NY I've been running around like a crazy mofo; last minute interviews, meetings for the 30 Days pilot and some much needed summer movie watchin'. DAY AFTER TOMORROW: Holy laughable scenario and dialogue Batman. Did you see this? Unbelievable....

(06/02/04) Back in NY - SSM hits $5m - Arrived back in NYC last night after 26 hours straight of travel from Brisbane to Sydney to L.A. to NY. Haven't had a chance to update the blog for days as I had no internet access in my last hotel (which was not so cutting edge). The final days in Brisbane went smashingly well, lots of good press, sold out Q&A screening and I got to feed kanagaroos and hold a Koala bear (the highlight of my trip!) Big Thanks to Kristy and everyone at Dendy Films for taking such good care of Alex and I. When I arrived at...

(05/29/04) 11 Hours in Sydney - Spent the day doing press in Perth, got to take the afternoon off (two whole hours!), ate some kangaroo and then flew back to Sydney. Didn't get to our hotel until 11:00 PM, but since I slept the 3 1/2 hour flight in a big biz class chair, I was ready rock. I went out with Priscilla, Alex, DJ Tsing (who was spinning tonight at Bourbon in Kings Cross) and a friend of Alex's named Hamilton. Come 3:00 AM - I was ready to scoot. Tomorrow (today actually) we fly to Brisbane - the final leg of our Aussie tour....

(05/28/04) 22 Hours in Perth - After spending less thna 24 hours in Adelaide, we're off to Perth, where we will spend a total of 22 hours. We don't even bother unpacking at this point, just grabbing the necessities out of the bag and trying to make our constant travel as simplified as possible. Here is my favorite airplane warning sheet to date: No radios. No phones. No Walkie talkies. No welding masks. AND NO FURBEES! I knew those fuzzballs were trouble. BEST NEWS OF THE DAY - Today Super Size Me expands into a total of 197 cinemas in the states, just in time for...

(05/27/04) Made for Adelaide - Was up at 7 AM (still in Melbourne) trying to catch up on some e-mails before the rush of the day overtakes me. I was whisked off to the first of three radio station interviews at 8 AM ? my body only half awake as I ride in the back of the cab. Here I am with the top jocks from Radio Nova in Melbourne DON?T LOOK AT THE ROAD: Still haven?t gotten used to driving on the other side of the road. Traffic seems more ?Italian? than ?English? here, with cars zipping full bore between lights and taxis zig-zagging...

(05/26/04) Morning in Melbourne - Can't sleep these days. Don't know if its jetleg, excitement, or what but I am wired for sound 24/7. Was up at 6 AM and in the gym, trying to burn some of this kinetic energy my veins are pumping. Busy day of press here but I'm so thankful that Alex is flying in today. Was stoked to see that teh Aussies are using Fat Ronald on their posters down under - here's what they look like: Gotta love Ron English, he painted one helluva poster. More later......

(05/25/04) SSM Breaks 3m in the U.S.! - That's right! As of today, it's official. SSM has broken the 3m dollar box office mark in the U.S. And to make matters even more exciting, check out what they're doing down under:   THAT'S RIGHT! Nutrition labeling on the wrappers! My prediction: these will be in U.S. before the year's end! NOTE: Check out the confusing misinformation on the wrapper where they give the calories, fat and sugar for a "Half Serving". Who do you know that has EVER said, "boy, you know what. That Big Mac is so tasty, but I think I'll save that other half for...

(05/24/04) Just Landed in Sydney - 14 hours later from take off in Los Angeles, I arrive in Sydney. Business class treated me right I was able to sleep about 8 hours of the flight. We left Saturday night (May 22) at 11:00 PM and arrived Monday morning at 6 AM. For me, the 23rd never existed. There was a girl on out plane whose birthday was the 23rd - bummer. Was stoked to see that SSM made about 950K in the box office this weekend, putting us back in at number 10 in the top ten. NOTE: We're showing on the least amount of screens...

(05/22/04) SSM breaks the 2 Million Dollar Mark! - We were bumped out of the top ten by Sherk 2, as I predicted, but we're still the #11 movie in the country. We have the 3rd highest per screen average of $1,831 per screen behind Shrek ($6,846 per screen) and Troy ($2,049 per screen). The movie that could keeps plugging along and is set to have another strong weekend....

(05/21/04) 140 screens in North America - Today the film expands to 140 screens in North America. My hope (and that of the folks at Roadside Attractions/Samuel Goldwyn and IDP - the folks distributing the movie) is that this roll out will continue until mid-June. Bowling for Columbine peaked out at around 246 screens. I would love to see us break 200 in the next few weeks and keep on truckin'. Chillin' with Snoop on the Best Damn Sports Show Period...

(05/20/04) Westward Ho! - I was up at 6:15 to take a shower and start packing my clothes. I leave tonight for Los Angeles where I will spend the next two days getting my final cracks at the press before leaving for Australia on Saturday....

(05/19/04) Super Size cracks the TOP 10! - More interviews today (surprise), but the highlight of today was a the Media Rights Awards Ceremony where Netflix asked me to present an award on their behalf. I was honored and it was such a cool event. Chuck D hosted the evening�s festivities and there were tons of thought-provoking films shown....

(05/18/04) A Landmark Day - I hit the office early, a round of phone interviews lined up in what�s known as radio tour. It�s crazy. It started around 8 AM when I get a call from a guy named Guy. He works for the company that books and schedules and controls the tour. His job is to get one person on the phone after another that way I never hang up the phone. Each interview lasted about 10 minutes. By 10 AM, I had already done 12 interviews....

(05/17/04) Cleaning, meeting, and talking about eating - Got to The Con early to get the conference roomed cleaned up, and to finish the headstart I�d gotten on my office over the weekend. At 10 AM, producers from a company called Borderline showed up for a big meeting about the show 30 Days. We�re scheduled to start shooting the pilot in the next five weeks and we wanted to have a quick Pow Wow....

(05/16/04) We're #11! We're #11! - Yeah, I know, it's not number one, but its still pretty damn cool. I was stoked this morning to hear that "Super Size Me" is the number eleven movie in the country! We're only playing on 117 screens and we're moving up the ranks. It's really incredible. And we've made $1.5 Million dollars so far at the box office! A great feat considering the amount of screens we're on and a great end to a busy weekend....

(05/14/04) 117 and counting - It's Friday night and for the past two days, I've been NY working more press than I ever thought possible. Yesterday morning started with a radio tour at 8 AM where I did 10 interviews in two hours. Today it all wrapped up with the O'Reilly Factor. (I did three interviews at Fox today alone!)...

(05/12/04) Time to Fly - Was up and on the phone doing interviews at 7:30 AM. At 9 AM, I did my final L.A. TV interview by the pool and by 10:30 I had checked out and was driving to LAX. I hadn�t driven my car since I rented it on Sunday and drove to the hotel. What a waste....

(05/11/04) Press it up Pressy - The alarm on my phones SCREAMS in my ear. It�s 6 AM! It�s 6 AM! Get up you lazy bastard! You got work to do! I showered and was on the phone at 7:15 for my first phone interview of the day, an early morning rock show in one of the new markets that the movie opens in on Friday....

(05/10/04) Monday in L.A. - I was up at 5:30 AM and was on the treadmill in the Avalon Fitness Center less than ten minutes later. The TV droning on in the background, more dead in Iraq, what will happen to Kobe or Michael ? my mind is a million miles from here. All I can think about is box office. How did the movie end up? What were the final tallies from the opening weekend....

(05/09/04) Back to L.A. - Got up this morning and packed my bag... again. Actually, these days I never really unpack. My suitcase just kind of sits in the living room in a state of flux waiting to be re-filled with clean underwear....

(05/08/04) Sleeping In - Simple pleasures. I was always told that the key to being really happy and satisfied in life was to enjoy the simple pleasures that surround you everyday. For me, today, its sleeping in. (not really �in� I�d say since I still got up at 9 AM, but �in� by comparison to my schedule for the past three weeks). I haven�t slept past 6:30 AM since the beginning of this press melee and I haven�t been going to bed that early either, averaging about four to five hours a night. So 9 AM is a gift from heaven....

(05/07/04) THE BIG DAY! - Today's the day. The movie opens in 9 cities on 41 screens. I don't think I slept more than 15 minutes at a time last night, thoughts racing through my head. "Have I done enough? Did I talk to enough people? What more could I do to get the word out this weekend?" When it gets to this stage, I think you really have to let go because the reality is its completely out of your hands. I went to the CBS Early Show this morning to talk about the film - here I am with Harry Smith....

(05/06/04) Best Super Size day EVER!!!! - I started my day with Katie Couric on the today show. It was great. She interviewed me immediately after McDonald's eliminated Super Size options in March, so it was great to finally meet her. She was trying to be tough with me, but that's what I expect from big network reporters. They can?t show favor, especially to someone who is targeting a sponsor. (Me and Dave Letterman, is that crazy or what?!)...

(05/05/04) Take Me Home - I was in the car and en route to O?Hare at 6:30 AM. I couldn?t get on that plane fast enough. By the time we landed in NY at 11:30 AM, I had managed to catch up on a little sleep, a little reading and a little more sleep. Two MTV Grads and a Conan Alum...

(05/04/04) The Windy City - Another action packed day that started at 6 AM with interviews on the NBC, CBS and ABC morning shows in Chicago. Then an interviews with WGN and then on to Mancow, Illinois� top jock....

(05/03/04) It's a Wash ... ington - I was up and out of my DC hotel room by 5:30 AM. Our first stop, DC's hottest morning rock and roll station. After an on air thirty minute interview, complete with folks calling in and talking about their favorite McDonald's items from love shack around the globe, I was off to the next stop on the day's packed agenda. The Four Seasons sure knows how to treat a guy!...

(05/02/04) Super Size Me packs the house in DC - Alex and I arrive at the hotel at 9 AM, about an hour before both our flights. We sleepily swagger into Tudor�s Biscuit World (the ONLY place to eat at Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV.) I treat myself to a WV tradition of biscuits and gravy � Mmmm, gravy. My tummy loves it, especially after a night of vodka tonics....

(05/01/04) One Week to Open - I woke up this morning and laid in bed, enjoying the first day in weeks that I didn�t have to be up before 6:30 AM. The bed in the Charleston Marriot felt fantastic � a bed made for sleeping in. (I think I could�ve been sleeping on a sheet of wood and been just as happ!) I looked at the clock � I still don�t have to be anywhere for hours. I can�t help but think of all that�s happened....

(04/30/04) Take Me Home - Alex and I were up at 4:45 AM, off to Newark to catch a plane to West Virginia. Too early if you ask me, but these days I don't have much say in the matter.  ...

(04/29/04) Just Another Day at the Office - I am traveling so much now that any time I actually spend in The Con office is spent playing catch up to week's worth of mail and questions. My desk is a disaster - a mountain of stacks that resembles Banzahf's office in the movie. (Please God, don't let my office go that far.) (Office dog Hobbes does his bit in promoting the film)...

(04/28/04) Beantown Bound - Was up at 4:30 AM, having grabbed about three hours worth of shut-eye, somehow made it through he shower, got dressed and met the car downstairs. NOTE: When you're driver asks YOU how to get to La Guardia, you know you're in trouble....

(04/27/04) The Big Night - Jumped out of bed this morning so excited I could hardly contain myself. Tonight was the big night, the big New York premiere of "Super Size Me" and I couldn't wait....

(04/26/04) Tonto in Toronto - Hi Ho Silver - AND AWAY! Was out of the hotel by 6:45 AM, loaded in the back seat with Laura Heath, head of PR for Super Size Canadian Distributor Odeon Films, and off to the days first sit down. (Check out the street ads in Canada!)...

(04/25/04) Oh, Canada - Was back up at 7 AM and on my way to Laguardia Airport. At least I was able to spend seven hours in my apartment, at times like this you gotta find the positives! I was stoked that the folks from Hot Docs bought me another plane ticket to come up to the festival, I really wanted to be there. (Wild-posting in Canada)...

(04/24/04) HEADLINE: Canada really is a different country! - Today sucked. I was supposed to fly to Toronto for the premiere of our film at the Hots Docs Film Festival, the largest Docfest in North America. When I got to Phoenix at 11:30 AM to connect to my plane, I was told that without a passport or birth certificate, I couldn't board....

(04/23/04) San Francisco, here I come! - When my alarm goes off after being asleep for only three hours, I want to smash things. (Namely the alarm clock.) I staggered through a shower and shave, luckily managing to not chop off any needed facial parts, quickly got dressed and rolled. Alex is rocking at the San Fran screening...

(04/22/04) Packing the House in L.A. - Was up and out of the hotel by 7 AM, starting my second day of Super Sized L.A. press magic. Shot through another 20 or so interviews today and ended it with a kick ass screening at the Artivist Film Festval. It was another long, packed exciting day....

(04/21/04) Funky Junky in L.A. - There was nothing more Hollywood than the what I experienced today: my first press junket. What a day, 22 interviews in all ... and tomorrow I get to do it all over again....

(04/20/04) Off to L.A. - After all those interviews yesterday, I was sacked out by 10 PM, so that only means one thing: stupid me is getting up stupid early to go to the stupid gym!...

(04/19/04) Sleepless in Seattle - What a day I had in Seattle on Monday. 15 interviews in one day! I got up at 6 AM and cold showered myself into consciousness....

(04/18/04) Morgan's Official Opening Blog - When the folks at Indiewire asked if I�d be interested in participating in their new �Blog Board,� I jumped at the chance. As I dive into this whirlwind of promotion, opening, press and more, I agreed that it could be a really interesting experience to share with my fellow filmmakers.