Several stories about Herman, USA besides the one below are on this web site. Here are links to all of them:
Story 1, Story 2, Story 3, Story 4, Story 5, Story 6, Story 7, Story 8, Photos. The story below appeared in Herman's weekly newspaper, The Herman Review, Thursday, July 19, 2001.
Herman, USA hopes to
capture regional audience
by Nick Ripperger
It seems that Herman, USA, has finally discovered Herman, Minnesota.
After more than two years of being shown in film festivals and at special screenings, the movie Herman USA, which is based (loosely) on Herman's real-life Bachelormania craze of 1994, will be distributed to a number of theaters in the region. And the town on which it is based will actually be acknowledged as being integral to the film's success.
According to Jeff Hohman, one of the movie's producers, Herman, USA will "premier" in 15 theaters in Minnesota and surrounding states on September 14. Its financial backers are distributing it themselves through a Minnesota theater booker.
The first cities where it will play include Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Fargo, Bismarck, and Eau Claire. After the movie has run in those theaters, it will be shown in 15 more. Hohman said that it is possible the movie might be shown in Morris, if not in the first wave, then possibly the second.
After running in the 30 theaters, the producers plan to pull it, with the hope it will reopen it again the following spring.
As he discussed the latest developments over the phone earlier this week, Hohman genuinely seemed more excited than he has been for some time about the movie's prospects for gaining an audience. The reason for that, it would appear, is that the movie's backers have hired an established public relations firm, Grubb Cleland, to promote it.
And the PR firm's campaign will focus on, guess what? Tying in the movie to the real Herman.
In spite of how obvious it has seemed to Hermanites, up until now the filmmakers have made very few connections with the town.
For financial reasons, the movie was filmed three summers ago in New Germany closer to the Twin Cities. But prior to and since then, no one associated with the movie has ever even visited Herman. Every impression they conveyed is based on media hype and on ideas about small towns in general. But to their credit, they actually did a pretty good job.
And now, to promote the movie, the public relations firm wants to "reawaken the spirit" of those days when the media made Herman the romance capital of the world.
In that vein, they want to locate memorabilia from the time, including the book where the visiting women signed in during the fair. If they can contact some of those women, they hope they will share their experiences. As part of the promotion, if a woman attending the movie can prove that she was at the fair in 1994, she will get in free.
Who they really would like to hear from, though, are Hermanites who went through what happened in 1994 and have stories to tell. Particularly if they are interesting "human interest" stories, according to Hohman. It's possible those people might be asked to participate in promoting the film.
Anyone who would be willing to be contacted by the PR firm should call the llerman Review and leave their name and phone number.
The PR firm apparently is going to make a concerted effort to get the cities where the movie will be playing into the Bachelormania spirit by promoting the movie in the local media and by staging "festive" events such as bachelor games (whatever that might mean).
"We're trying to make this a lot of fun," said Hohman.
Prior to then, a 2 minute, 30 second trailer of the movie, which has already been produced, will be shown in 125 theaters in Minnesota and surrounding states during August and September. The trailer, which Hohman described as "really building up Herman," is "creating quite a stir," he said.
Hohman characterized the original event as the "little engine that could." He hopes the movie, which was made in Minnesota outside the Hollywood mainstream, is also a little engine that can.
He admitted that he and other people involved with Herman, USA, have become frustrated with the Hollywood mentality of "it's a good movie, but . . . ", the "but" being that there aren't any big name stars in it.
In the various showings the film has had over the past couple of years, including some major cities, "Every audience has liked the film," said Hohman.
So, "At the end of the [30-theater] run, if the numbers are good, we plan send the trailer, posters, whatever, to every distributor that turned us down and say, 'Here's your chance to do it.' "
And just as the summer of 1994 has been described as a magical summer for Herman, the producers hope to make some magic happen again.
"If not, at least we gave it a try."
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