Palm Springs Film Festival: Brangelina, Clooney, Oldman, and more

On January 7th I attended the Palm Springs Film Festival.  It is about a 2.5 hour drive from Los Angeles, but Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Michelle Williams, Charlize Theron, and Jessica Chastain were all scheduled to be honored at the event and I'll drive 2.5 hours for a chance to get Brad and Anglina's autograph any day of the week.  

We got there pretty early and they were still setting up.  

In a few hours the arrivals began.  Octavia Spencer was the first to come and I got her on my Help 11x14 cast photo I'm trying to put everyone one and also on a combo 11x14 picture of her and Jessica Chastain I printed with the intent to get both. 

Tate Taylor came next and he is the director of The Help.  I called him over and he came right to me and signed my 11x14 cast piece and my 8x10 cast piece. 

Melissa McCarthy showed up next.  I did not know she was going to be there, but I really liked her in Bridesmaids so I got her autograph on a dollar.  She is really nice and seemed ecstatic to be spending time interacting with fans. 

Next to show up was George Clooney and OH MY GOSH do old ladies LOVE George Clooney.  I was in the front row and I swear I was getting crushed from the people behind me who were mostly retired Palm Springs females all desperate for a glimpse of the Clooney.  I managed to get 3 signatures from George, but in the chaos I didn't get any individuals done just created more work for myself by doing some combo shots that now need more people. 

Gary Oldman was next and the guy is always nice.  I have a lot of 11x14s already signed by him, so today I decided to get some 8x10s.  Without even struggling I got all 6 8x10s I brought signed.  The guy is great to autograph collectors. 

Next up was the main event.  Brad and Angelina.  Usually Brad and Angelina go to the end of a line start signing and move quickly and efficiently in one direction not stopping and not changing direction.  Today, however, was not the usual.  They got out of the car and were really erratic with their signing.  Signing to the left, then turning right, then skipping back ten feet to the left, then stopping and walking a bit, then coming back and signing for a 3 foot section.  No rhyme or reason to it whatsoever.  I ended up getting 2 Angelina's but for the life of me I could not get Brad.   Next time Brad Pitt. Next time. 

I thought drops were done and I was pretty bummed to have not gotten Brad, but then as I'm chatting with some friends I hear people calling "Olivia" "Olivia".  I turn around and see Olivia Wilde getting out of a town car.  She walked over and signed a few autographs.  I had one photo along with me and she signed it and I got a picture with her.  Which I was pretty happy about since every time she goes some where in LA fans tend to act crazy when she's around. 

Drops were now done so some friends and I went back to a few park benches to sit and talk about what we got.  We were there about 5 minutes and when we noticed someone was signing back by the rail.  We ran over and saw Jessica Chastain had come back out from inside the film fest because she didn't sign for us on arrivals.  Incredibly nice of her.  She signed a bunch of autographs and took some pictures with.  I added her to my cast 8x10, 11x14, my combo 11x14 with Octavia, and my individual 11x14 I had brought.  

Jessica took my day from good to great, and I drove the 2.5 hour home happy. 

Michelle Williams signed a few autographs but not in my section. 

Glenn Close and Charlize Theron didn't sign for us.  They aren't the friendliest of celebrities to the fans.  But I don't mind when someone doesn't sign. It's their choice.  

Haywire Premiere: Antonio Bandera, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, and more

I went to the Haywire premiere on Thursday night and had a pretty good day, I got all the people I went for and also a few surprises.

Joe Manganiello came and I had my True Blood cast 11x14 on me so I had him sign it also got him to sign a dollar bill.  He was happy when I asked him to sign the dollar and told me he is in a movie "Magic Mike" coming up with Channing Tatum where they play male strippers.  He then wrote his character name from Magic Mike on the dollar bill: "Big Dick Richie".

Christopher MacDonald showed up and I had my Fanboys 11x14 along so I got him to sign it and also had him sign a dollar bill as well. 

Adam Rodriguez from CSI: Miami showed up and I had him sign a dollar for me.  He wrote something else on it, I'm not really sure what it says. 

Daniela Ruah showed up and when I saw her I sprinted to my car to get my 11x14 photos.  She was really nice and signed them for me. 

Then the cast started to show up and sign. Antonio Banderas showed up and I got him to sign two 8x10s for me.  

We had to beg Gina Cerano to sign and it looked like she wasn't going to do it until her Grandpa pointed to us and then she came over.  She signed two 8x10s for me. 

Ewan McGregor came and surprisingly was really good about signing.  I got him to sign three 11x14s for me. 

Lastly the best signer of the night. . . and star of the movie . . . Channing Tatum.  The guy is unbelievably nice and was awesome to fans.  I got him to sign six photos for me.  

A pretty good day if I do say so myself. 

Beneath the Darkness Premiere Dennis Quaid, Bai Ling, Brett Cullen, and more

The Christmas lull in Hollywood is over and events are back on in full force.  I went to the Beneath the Darkness premiere tonight and was happy just to be getting autographs again.   Other than a few autographs here and there I haven't really done much since about a week before Christmas.

The night ended up being a very productive night.  One of the first to show up was Jennifer Gimenez.  She is incredibly nice and signed some photos for people who had them.  I didn't have any photos along but I got her to sign a dollar for me.

Next to arrive was Madison Leisle who has a part in The Walking Dead spinoff.  I added her to my cast piece that Jon Bernthal had already signed for me when he was on Kimmel. 

Next to come through was Team USA Volleyball player Morgan Beck.  She signed a bunch (which is rare for an athlete).  I only had one along and she signed in nicely and put "USA!" on it. 

Next was Greg Collins who has been in lots of movies and TV shows. I didn't know he was going to be there, but had along my True Blood cast 11x14 I carry with me at all times and he gladly signed it. 

Next were 2 people I was very excited for Brett Cullen and Bai Ling.  I'm a big fan of Lost so any time I see someone who was on the show I'm happy.  Brett plays Goodwin who is a crucial character, and Bai Ling just has such a cool autograph.  I got both Bai and Brett to sign my 2 Lost 11x14 cast photos I'm working on, Bai signed an 11x14 Playboy cover, and I also had Brett sign a Dollar Bill for me. 

And lastly the main event, Dennis Quaid!!!  I'm a big baseball fan and thus enjoy baseball movies.  Dennis plays Jimmy Morris in The Rookie, and while it's no Field of Dreams or The Natural, I liked the movie.  I really wanted to get Dennis to sign a baseball for me, but I want all my baseballs signed in blue ball point pen on the sweetspot.  The problem is it gets quite chaotic when big name celebrities sign and you get pushed and shoved and sometimes cannot even get one autograph from them (let alone get them to switch from a sharpie to a ball point pen).  I knew my ONLY shot at this was if I was the first person he came to.   He finished up his last interview on the red carpet and we called him over.  He headed in my general direction and I extended my arms as far as I could showing him the baseball and the pen, and BAM he took it, signed the sweetspot, and handed it back.  Victory!

He then grabbed a sharpie and the sea of photos came flying from the 3 rows of collectors in the fan pit.   I was able to put away my baseball and pull out my Footloose cast pieces I've been working on since the premiere.  I had 2 8x10s that I needed him on, and I was able to get 1 done but it was just too crazy to get the 2nd one in there.  

All in all another good night graphing.  Not too many individual items, but I added value to many of my cast pieces and was able to get a really premium item with my Dennis Quaid sweetspot baseball.