Indie Film Hit 'BOTTLE SHOCK' Defies Industry Expectations and Means Good Business...

Indie Film Hit 'BOTTLE SHOCK' Defies Industry Expectations and Means Good
Business for Wine Country

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- BOTTLE SHOCK, the independently
produced and released movie about the infamous 1976 Paris Tasting where the
California wines beat the French, steams into its second month of independent
distribution playing in hundreds of theaters across the U.S. and Canada, and
racking up over $3.6 million dollars in box office receipts to date. While
BOTTLE SHOCK is connecting with enthusiastic audiences fueled by strong word
of mouth, the film is also creating a noticeable "BOTTLE SHOCK" effect in
terms of increased tourism and wine sales in Napa Valley where the film was
shot last summer.
Just as underdog California wines stunned the world by triumphing at the
legendary Paris tasting, BOTTLE SHOCK'S robust ticket sales have surprised
most film industry experts. Despite being self-distributed by the filmmakers
on a shoestring budget through Los Angeles-based Freestyle Releasing, the film
has significantly outperformed virtually every film that was purchased at this
year's Sundance Film Festival. That includes high-profile movies that were
snapped up by Hollywood studios and independent distributors such as THE
WACKNESS (Sony Pictures Classics), AMERICAN TEEN (Paramount Vantage), FROZEN
RIVER (Sony Pictures Classics), TRANSIBERIAN (First Look) and HENRY POOLE IS
HERE (Overture).
"BOTTLE SHOCK has turned into kind of a cultural phenomenon, both tapping
into and fueling the current fascination with fine wine and food," said film
marketing veteran Dennis O'Connor, who oversaw the film's release. "It has an
amazing cast, a rousing underdog story, a breathtaking setting and a great
soundtrack. Plus, I think Americans secretly love to watch their fellow
countrymen beat the French at anything."
Director Randall Miller and his wife Jody Savin, who co-wrote and produced
BOTTLE SHOCK, believed strongly in the film's potential, even after it failed
to land a favorable distribution deal at Sundance. "We knew it was a fun,
upbeat film that audiences really enjoyed," says Miller. "So we decided to
take a chance on self-distributing. The response has been overwhelming."
BOTTLE SHOCK focuses on the cast of characters at Chateau Montelena which
had the winning white wine at the Paris Tasting. Visits to the winery and
wine sales are up significantly. While winery representatives would not
provide specific data, they did acknowledge the film is good for business.
"The movie BOTTLE SHOCK, and all the buzz and news about the film, has
certainly increased our brand exposure," said Greg Ralston, Managing Director
of Chateau Montelena. "We've seen an increase in visitors this summer who have
seen the movie and who want to taste our wines. We're delighted with the
goodwill and consumer interest the movie is bringing to Napa Valley."
Gustavo Brambila, played by talented actor Freddy Rodriguez in the film,
was one of the first Mexican Americans to earn a wine degree from U.C. Davis.
His first job was serving as assistant winemaker to winemaker Mike Grgich at
Chateau Montelena in 1976. When Grgich left to start Grgich Hills, Brambila
went with him, working at Grgich Hills until 1999 when he started his own
winery GustavoThrace with partner Thrace Bromberger.
Bromberger reports increases in wine sales, increases in tourism to the
Wine Country, and significant interest from the Latino community in the many
accomplishments Gustavo's story represents: "GustavoThrace had its best sales
month ever in August [2008], up 43% over August 2007, and September is already
up 39% over the same period a year ago. We've had a huge influx of customers
coming to find us after seeing the film, and a tremendous number of new
distributors inquiring about picking up our line of wines for distribution
around the country. We are seeing visitors in our tasting room from the Bay
Area who've seen the film and say they haven't been to Napa in years; as well
as visitors from all over the country flying out because the film showed them
just how beautiful this area is. And we've had many calls of congratulations
and requests from Latino organizations about Gustavo doing appearances and
pouring wine at special events."
Unlike Santa Barbara County wineries which were little known prior to the
film SIDEWAYS, wineries in Napa Valley have been major tourist destinations
for years. That said, with all of the new wine areas around the world drawing
growing numbers of wine-tourists, including strong competition from
neighboring Sonoma where nearly 80% of the filming actually took place, Napa
has been working on repositioning itself as the world's original and leading
wine country destination. Even though it's very early in the game, evidence
abounds that BOTTLE SHOCK is already helping.
Calistoga Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Rex
Albright says, "We've seen an unprecedented level of excitement in visitors
from all over the country who like the film and want to see Chateau Montelena,
Calistoga and other Napa Valley landmarks for themselves. Since the movie
opened, we've had more people each week asking about the winery; I think
people respond to the underdog quality of the real story behind the film."
It's not just tourists who are more interested than ever in Napa. Last
summer as BOTTLE SHOCK was set to begin principal photography, Stag's Leap
Wine Cellars (which had the winning red wine at the Paris Tasting) was
purchased by a partnership between Italy's Villa Banfi and Washington State's
Chateau St. Michelle. And this summer, just prior to BOTTLE SHOCK's
theatrical release, an announcement was made that France's Cos d'Estournel
would be purchasing Chateau Montelena, establishing the quip "if you can't
beat 'em, buy 'em".
BOTTLE SHOCK is directed by Randall Miller and stars Alan Rickman, Bill
Pullman, Dennis Farina, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Chris Pine and Eliza
Dushku. BOTTLE SHOCK was filmed entirely on location in Napa and Sonoma.
BOTTLE SHOCK was screened at Sundance to five enthusiastic audiences, and also
played the Maui Film Festival (Best Ensemble Cast Award and Heineken Red Star
Award for Innovation, Originality, and Vision in Filmmaking) and the Seattle
International Film Festival (Best Actor Award to Alan Rickman). Los
Angeles-based Freestyle Releasing is handling the U.S. theatrical release.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: HYPERLINK http://www.bottleshockthemovie.com
SOURCE Freestyle Releasing

New York Press, Janice Roland, janiceroland@falcoink.com, or Steve Beeman,
stevenmbeeman@falcoink.com, both of Falco Ink., +1-212-445-7100; or Los
Angeles Press, Guido Gotz, ggotz@mprm.com, or Elise Freimuth,
EFreimuth@MPRM.com, both of mPRm Public Relations, +1-323-933-3399; or Food &
Wine Press, Corinne Bourdeau of 360 Degrees Communications, +1-310-454-8933,
corinne@360DegreeComm.net, all for Freestyle Releasing