Road-Testing 5-25-77: A Filmmaker’s Cross-Country Odyssey

Help writer/director, Patrick Read Johnson release his award winning film, 5-25-77.

Fairfield, Iowa (I-Newswire) June 10, 2012 - A long time ago, in a galaxy just off the Illinois Tollway...

Do you remember your first big dream of escaping your small existence for something greater... out there? How about your first love? What if you had to choose between the two?

That’s the conundrum at the center of the film, 5-25-77. A coming-of-age tale, from writer/director Patrick Read Johnson (Dragon Heart, Angus, and Baby’s Day Out), 5-25-77 is the story of the final life-changing year of the only science-fiction-obsessed teen filmmaker in the rural town of Wadsworth, Illinois(population 750), and the amazing series of events that propel him toward a date
with destiny… May 25, 1977.

The day a little movie called “Star Wars” opened in “theaters everywhere”.

Starring John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks, Waiting, and Bones), Austin Pendleton (The Notorious Betty Page, My Cousin Vinny), Colleen Camp(Apocalypse Now, Election), and Neil Flynn (The Middle, Scrubs), 5-25-77 pits the teenager’s desire to escape “fly-over country” by heading to Hollywood, against his fear of leaving everything he knows and loves behind to chase an unlikely dream.

On May 25th, 2012, on the 35th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars, Patrick Read Johnson departed Wadsworth, Illinois, in the film’s 1975 Ford Pinto, heading west, to begin a 30-day cross-country test-screening campaign designed to raise money and awareness to finally bring his long-awaited film to
the screen. See the trailer for 5-25-77 here: visit http://youtu.be/Ihkni2Yc_no

His final goal? To arrive in California, and deliver copies of 5-25-77 to the “Three Wise Men" of movie-making, who most helped and influenced Johnson during his pursuit of becoming a filmmaker himself. The identity of the wise men will be revealed, once he successfully reaches each of their doorsteps.

Interested in keeping up with Patrick's journey? A team of documentary filmmakers are following Johnson as he travels across America to save his film, and they are recording and sharing his experiences with the world via their website, heartsofdorkness.com, as well as their various related social networks. The highlights of Patrick's road trip will eventually be compiled in Hearts of Dorkness, a documentary that will also cover the making of 5-25-77.

Thus far, Johnson has held successful test-screenings in comic book shops, independent theaters, and under the stars in Fairfield, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Devil’s Tower, Wyoming; and Boulder, Colorado. He is heading toward Austin, Texas, and from there, he will be turning toward California, by traveling through the Southwest. Patrick has been met with generous support by long-time and newly-created fans of 5-25-77, but in order to keep going, he is dependent on continued contributions through his FundRazr.com campaign. Visit http://fundrazr.com/campaigns/1JIQb

Patrick will soon be launching a campaign on Kickstarter.com, which will reach a broader internet audience of individuals who value the efforts of independent artists enough to fund projects at sometimes double, triple, or even 6 times the amount artists request. Patrick hopes that through his awareness-building test-screening road trip, the momentum of support for his film will build to the level
needed to raise the funds needed to finish 5-25-77.

Between the Kickstarter and the visit to the 3 wise men in California, Patrick Read Johnson will keep driving until his film, 5-25-77, is where it belongs: finished, available, and enjoyed by audiences everywhere.