Hollywood Connections:
Get Your Kicks and Tickets on Route 66
and Other America’s Byways

One idea for byway organizations to make a Hollywood connection for fundraising is to consider hosting a byway-theme film festival. Another idea involves a more direct link to Hollywood.

The film partnership of Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios is releasing a film initially called Route 66, now titled Cars, in June 2006. The film was inspired by a year 2000 cross-country trip on the Route 66 byway by filmmaker John Lasseter. Lasseter is quoted in the Detroit News as saying, “Hopefully, it’ll (the film will) get them (kids) out on car trips and trying to find these great places (referring to towns along the byway).”

Ford Motor Company provided Lasseter with inside access to the auto industry and to the automaker’s design studios and product labs. Lasseter and Ford’s Chief Designer J Mays have appeared together at classic car exhibitions, auto customizers’ trade shows, and car dealerships.

What relationship would the byway organizations propose to the film producers?

The National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) set a precedent for an affiliation agreement by connecting with MGM Studios and its Christmas season film, Polar Express. The film advertised a $3 discount on a pre-cut or u-cut Christmas tree from participating NCTA members when film-goers presented their ticket stub to the grower. The growers received movie promotional materials, including a wall-size poster, and funding to promote the movie at their local theaters through advertising in local media. One grower anticipated a 15 percent increase in Christmas season sales the year the movie debuted. Learn more about the NCTA-Polar Express partnership.