A team of filmmakers band together to make one man’s dream of meeting Drew Barrymore a reality. That man is filmmaker Brian Herzlinger, and together with fellow filmmakers, Kerry David, Brett Winn and Jon Gunn, he presents his quest before a viewing audience. The result is My Date With Drew and we recently spoke to Brian Herzlinger, Brett Winn and Jon Gunn about it.
When did this obsession with Drew Barrymore begin?
Brian: Wow… well obsession is a strong word. My crush on Drew began when I was 6 years old, and I saw her in “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”. Which is cool, because she was 6 at the time as well, and it’s age appropriate.
Jon: Everyone who knows Brian knows that his lifelong dream is to meet Drew Barrymore. He’s been crazy about her since he was a kid. And that’s what really makes the movie work -this is a sincere quest. Everything about it is honest and real, and I think that comes through in the movie. We really wanted to help Brian make this dream finally come true.
Who did you find cuter in “E.T.”? E.T. or Drew Barrymore?
Brian: Drew Barrymore is cuter, but I will say that it’s close…especially when E.T. is wearing that cow girl outfit…
Did chasing Drew Barrymore around ever make you feel completely ashamed of yourself?
Brian: Never! I was going after that dream that everyone has had at some point in their life: trying to get to meet someone who is totally out of your reach, someone who was on the posters on your bedroom walls growing up. This is a lifelong dream for me, and I decided to try and make it come true…nothing to be ashamed of there.
Jon: The amazing thing about the movie is that everyone can relate to Brian’s quest, since we’ve all had a shameless crush on someone unattainable at some point in our lives. And Brian was so open and honest about his journey that people have embraced the story instead of judging it. Except for me. I judge Brian.
Brett: – It was amazing to see how many people
actually wanted to help Brian make his dream come true. As soon as they heard what we were doing, most people were quick to say “hey… I know someone who knows someone who may be able to help.”
What were some of the major problems in getting this film made?
Brian: The biggest obstacle we had to overcome was getting permission to use all of the songs from the ’70’s and ’80’s that we loved growing up that we wanted in our soundtrack. It actually came to the point where I called Jon Bon Jovi at home and begged him for a song, and Jon Gunn called Eric Carmen at home to get “All By Myself”. My favorite story is when I was trying to sneak into the “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theatre to ask Drew out on a date in person, armed with fake passes. Afterwards, Brett and Jon tried to sneak in as well , armed with the video camera to get some footage of the afterparty. Well, they got nabbed by security for the fake passes, and Brett was almost arrested. Makes for a great DVD Bonus feature.
Jon: The biggest surprise for us was that getting
the movie made was not the biggest obstacle we had to overcome. Getting the movie into theaters has been much harder. But thankfully, Andy Reimer at DEJ saw the film and believed in it. So now we all get our dream come true – a
theatrical release.
Brett: Throughout the course of the film, so many people told us no… “NO it will never have a theatrical release… NO you can’t use any of those songs… NO you can’t shoot here”, and yet we DO have a theatrical release… we DO have the songs we wanted.. and we did get the shots we needed. I think we all learned the importance of perseverance when you’re really passionate about something.
Are there any screenings of “My Date With Drew” coming up?
Brian: I believe that radio and TV stations will be
giving away tickets to our Premiere on August 2. After that, anyone and everyone can see “My Date With Drew” when it hits theatres on August 5!
What’s up next for you?
Brian: Kerry David and Jon Gunn have a lot of projects in development under their company, “Lucky Crow Films”, and Brett and myself have a number of projects as well under our company, Rusty Bear Entertainment”. All four of us will be executive producing a TV show inspired by “My Date With Drew”, with me as the host.
