MUSKOGEE — A cryptic Internet message to promote a locally made horror movie got the kind of reaction Orson Welles might have appreciated.
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The end came quickly this week for Shawnee-based Outsiders Productions' strategy to use the YouTube video site to market the premiere of its new horror film, "A Beautiful Day.”
The short, apocalyptic film was to debut April 25 at Muskogee's Bare Bones International Independent Film and Music Festival. Instead, it's been pulled from the lineup after its Internet trailer caused concern among Muskogee residents and led to an investigation by police and the FBI.
"Meant as a publicity stunt, and it just went bad,” said Brad Holt, community relations director for the Muskogee Police Department. "They didn't mention anything about a movie. It sounded like a threat.”
Billed as a warning to Muskogee, the video featured bold text and a synthesized voice saying, "People of Muskogee. Open your eyes. April 25th is a day you'll come to remember.” Along with images of dark forests, it included the message "the end is coming.”
The film synopsis, now removed from the Bare Bones Web site, describes "A Beautiful Day” as "a mind-bending homage to classic suspense and religio-horror” and "an unforgettable walk into the stuff of hell.” It was filmed in Dale.
The video, removed Thursday from the site, was designed to match the tone of the film. The problem: It made no mention of the movie itself.
Without context, the video came across as a possible terrorist threat, Holt said. Muskogee school officials alerted police to the video after word spread among students.
Muskogee police contacted the FBI and began investigating with federal agents, Holt said. He was notified of the video and viewed it Wednesday evening; by Thursday, authorities had determined it was not a threat but a film trailer.
"We were on it before I think a lot of people found out about it,” Holt said. "If it had went one more day, I'm sure the phones would have been ringing off the hook.”
The video included the attention-grabbing line "the wicked of the world will be separated from the children.” April 25 is prom night for some area schools, which only heightened concern, Holt said.
FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said, "We did take a look at the situation and determined there was no threat or danger to the community.”
He said the FBI investigation is now closed and no charges are expected against the filmmaker who posted it.
James Bridges, technical director and associate producer for the film, said he posted the video on April 4. It was meant to be the first in a series of mysterious snippets that would gradually reveal more information, a marketing tactic used for movies like "Cloverfield” and "The Blair Witch Project.”
He said he didn't look at YouTube again until Thursday morning, and was surprised to discover the video had been viewed 1,800 times.
"We saw all the comments and then saw that people were thinking it was like a terrorist threat ... and so we immediately tried to contact the police department there in Muskogee to let them know that's definitely not what this is.”
He also added a disclaimer to the trailer: "This is in no way a threat to do harm on anyone. This is a lame attempt at publicity for a movie.” But he quickly decided to remove the video.
"It wasn't a hoax. We weren't trying to scare people as a hoax,” he said. "We're not trying to be the next YouTube crazy, stupid incident. We were trying to actually promote our movie.”
While Bridges was trying to contact the police, authorities were tracking him down. He spent Thursday morning talking to the FBI and police. He said he received threatening e-mails, even after people were told it was a movie trailer.
While he is disappointed that "A Beautiful Day” and the company's two other films were pulled from the festival, Bridges said he understands.
Festival director ShIronbutterfly Ray said the incident was reminiscent of Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds,” which caused panic when listeners took it for a real alien invasion.
"They're actually very creative and talented filmmakers. ... It was just poor judgment, I believe, on their part,” she said. "We are sensitive to the needs of the community ... and they did not want it to show here.”
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Why can't Muskogee have an international film festival? OKC has a WORLD airport! LOL By the way, can anyone explain why there are a couple of glass pyramids in the garden area of the Will Rogers statue at the airport? (Know they are actually skylights for the underground tunnel, but really odd place for them). People at the airport don't have a clue either as to why.
Why on earth would the people of Muskogee not want the film to show there. The trailer caused such an uproar you would think people are curious to what the film is about. It was irresponsible marketing, but not showing the film is silly. It is obvious no harm was meant to anyone and lessons were learned... I would want to sit back and see what all the fuss was about.
Just goes to show that anyone with a camcorder and an internet connection is a "great" filmmaker. But I do like the music videos and music posted at You Tube. I find music unavailable elsewhere. They seem to stay under the copyright radar where other sites would get in trouble. I also don't like film festivals for this very reason. Anyone with a camera is instantly Francis Ford Coppola. I used to attend independent film screenings on the O.U. campus. Most of the time, the student made films consisted of 4 students sitting, playing cards or video games, smoking cigarettes, and cussing. If they weren't inside they were sitting on a park bench or front porch, all smoking and cussing. Grey Frederickson once told me he wanted to see someone make a short movie where 4 students were sitting at a table, smoking, playing cards and the room gradually filled totally up with smoke that you could no longer see the students or anything else. As for War of the Worlds, the aftermath was a whole swath of laws across the nation outlawing the act of creating public panic. These laws are still on the books and still used today.
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