Whew! This is the first chance I've had to sit down and write anything since "ThongGate". I call it ThongGate because this could very well be the ruination of a political career - and for that I am truly sorry. But I digress.
If you haven't been following the news in the past few days, let me update you. My silly little film "Thong Girl 3: Revenge Of The Dark Widow" has been causing quite a stir... around the world! I kid you not; we have had correspondence and web hits from as far away as China, Australia, Poland and even Afghanistan. I think bin Laden has had way too much time on his hands at Club Med Tora Bora. Anyhow, we filmed a scene from the new movie in Mayor Don Wright's office at Gallatin City Hall. Let me add that we DID have the Mayor's permission and full cooperation. He knew that we were filming a movie about a crimefighting superhero who protects Music City from bad guys and those who would hurt Kenny Chesney and other hat-wearing country music stars. What he DIDN'T know was that she was called Thong Girl and wears a red bikini and a cape. He didn't ask me and I didn't tell him - much the same way that if you asked me who Catwoman or Elektra was, I wouldn't go into their wardrobe. I mean, let's face it; superhero hottie chicks these days are dressed to tantalize. And so is Thong Girl.
Well, what I didn't know is that the Mayor is in a heated battle for re-election this November and one of his opponents or their foot soldiers got wind of this and alerted the press. It started with the Gallatin News Examiner and then went to the Tennessean and then to every local television network and then to the radio stations and so on and so on... all the way to the Weekend Today Show on NBC! That's right, we were on national television.
I have been getting calls from all over the country for radio and web interviews. I've already done three radio shows; I was interviewed by WTVF News Channel 5 locally and I'm still getting requests for more interviews. My 15 minutes has turned into 20 minutes.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I am not ecstatic for all of the attention. I've been working on this project now for nearly five years and this is not a bad thing to say the least. At least it's not for me. But, believe me when I tell you that I am so sorry for what this has done to Mayor Don Wright. He is a good man and he really loves to help indie filmmakers and he's all for the little guy. His city has played host to numerous indie films, and the people of Gallatin have been incredibly generous with their resources. I have several friends that have spent their time and money filming in Gallatin. I just hope this hasn't tainted the town's opinion of local filmmakers and their pursuit of their cinematic visions. I will keep doing as many interviews as I can as long as I'm asked so that I can stress the fact that Mayor Wright was doing nothing wrong by letting us film in his office.
Oh, yeah, and did I mention that this has been blown way out of proportion? This is a silly comedy action hero movie based on a character I created that wears a modest red bikini and a cape and red boots and patrols the skies of Music City fighting bad guys. There is no sex, nudity, no excessive cursing or violence. A lot of people are passing judgement not having seen the movie. But why does that surprise anyone? Remember "Passion Of The Christ"? A lot of people were passing judgement without actually seeing the film. Thong Girl is a PG-13 romp that's done tongue-in-cheek (pun intended) and with more than a small dose of campy cheesiness.
Let me wrap this up by saying that I'm grateful to all of you who've supported me and my crew through all of this. Maybe it will blow over and maybe it won't. This is an election year and come November it might all hit the fan again. But, mark my words; if Mayor Don Wright is re-elected I want Thong Girl as his running mate in his bid for the Presidency.
Please check out the Thong Girl website at thonggirlfilms.com if you haven't already and there is now a trailer for TG2 online on the movie page and on You Tube and we'll have some merchandise on the Store page in a day or so.
We just finished shooting another scene for TG3 last night and I still plan on having the film completed by January of next year. I hope you'll come to the premiere and see first hand what all the fuss is about and judge for yourself. See you soon. Glen
