Local resident Fred Karger’s efforts to find a gay buyer for the Boom Boom Room night club and Coast Inn took him to Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood earlier in the week and to Las Vegas on Wednesday. Supporters are vying for an audience with actors George Clooney and Brad Pitt, traveling to promote their new film, “Ocean’s Thirteen.”
Laguna Beach Independent
Dear Friends -- well it has been quite a week since we first kicked off our campaign to try and persuade George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Buy the BOOM!!! with our ad last Monday in Daily Variety. The ad has triggered an outpouring of support and interest in our efforts to find a buyer who will keep the historic Coast Inn and the landmark Boom Boom Room as gay businesses.
We have received worldwide coverage in old and new media and tremendous support here at home. We did several local and national television and radio interviews. And in searching google there are literally hundreds of stories written on our quest for a buyer. They are from all over the world and we have received many calls and emails from potential buyers and press from the UK, Asia, Italy, Canada and throughout the U.S. We have meetings coming up, and have put some of the serious buyers in direct contact with the property owner.
Still no word from George and Brad to our appeal, but they had very busy week launching the very successful release of Ocean’s Thirteen!
Below is a list with links to of some of the major coverage that we have received worldwide. Also below is a copy of an incredible Editorial from this week’s Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the front page photo from the Laguna Beach Independent.
Thanks for all your interest and help as we work to SAVE the BOOM -- Forever!!!
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
http://www.savetheboom.com/
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot
EDITORIAL: Boom efforts applauded
It's getting down to the wire for the survival of the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn, two establishments that have been the bedrock of the gay community in Laguna Beach and beyond for some 60 years.
Gay activist Fred Karger, founder of Save the Boom!, is hoping that a gay angel — or more than one — will come forward with the money and wherewithal to purchase these ocean view properties and keep them as they are. Steven Udvar-Hazy, the billionaire airline businessman who bought the scenic sites a year ago, has decided he'd rather not try to redevelop them, and has put them on the market.
Price tag: $19 million. It's anyone's guess what will happen to the properties at this juncture, but a gay buyer is being actively sought. Now Karger has gone so far as to take out an ad in Variety asking actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney — who might just have $19 million or know where to get it — to step forward and "Save the Boom."Pitt and Clooney — currently in the spotlight due to the release of their new "Ocean's 13" film — were originally linked through the rumor mill to a possible purchase of the Boom and Coast Inn before it became the property of Udvar-Hazy. That rumor was vigorously denied by the stars' publicity machine, but it made headlines around the world for its connotation of the two hunky actors joined in a possibly gay venture.
Karger's ad may be a bit tongue-in-cheek — or a bit cheeky — but it's doing the job he probably wanted: getting even more publicity mileage for his year-long campaign for somebody, somewhere to keep the Boom alive. The Boom has a long history of linkages to Hollywood stars, of course, the most famous, and tragic, being Rock Hudson, who held court there during his golden days before he was felled by AIDS. While the Variety ad has generated a lot of buzz, we doubt that Pitt and Clooney would want to be front and center in a "Save the Boom" bid. Karger, a former publicist, is pulling out all the stops to try to save his beloved Boom Boom Room from erasure, and we give him a "thumb's up" for his heroic efforts to keep part of Laguna's storied and romantic past in the present. Maybe he should take out another ad, this time asking Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen Degeneres to make an offer. Having just left her TV talk show perch, Rosie just might like "the view" from the bar at the Boom Boom Room.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt Media Coverage
KCBS2. com + KCAL -- http://cbs2.com/business/local_story_155050223.html
KNBC-TV -- http://www.knbc.com/entertainment/13436604/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Editorial --http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/06/08/opinion/cpt-editorial08.txt
Laguna Beach Independent Front Page Photo -- http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/
O C Register --
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/lagunabeach/article_1720548.php
TMZ -- http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/03/pitt-and-clooney-mixed-up-in-gay-bar-fight
Defamer -- http://defamer.com/hollywood/gay-real-estate/brad-and-george-get-another-shot-at-purchasing-the-gay+owned-business-of-their-dreams-265705.php
E! On Line -- http://boards.eonline.com/Insider/Boards/thread.jspa?threadID=52300
Curbed LA -- http://la.curbed.com/
Towelroad -- http://www.towleroad.com/2007/06/brad_pitt_and_g.html
Boi From Troy -- http://boifromtroy.com/?p=6446
The Advocate -- http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid45717.asp
San Francisco Chronicle -- http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clooney-and-pitt-asked-to-save-oc-gay.html
KNX (CBS) News Radio -- http://www.knx1070.com/pages/539666.php?contentType=4&contentId=573422
KPPC - Southern CA Public Radio -- http://www.scpr.org/
Misc Coverage --
http://news.google.com/news?tab=wn&client=safari&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=en&ncl=1116962591&hl=en
Towelroad – Grauman’s Coverage: http://www.towleroad.com/2007/06/lagunas_boom_bo.html
The Edge Boston -- http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ci=108&ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=20863
A Socialite’s Life -- http://socialitelife.com/2007/06/04/clooney_and_pitt_asked_to_save_gay_landmark_in_cali.php
Edge Ft. Lauderdale -- http://www.edgeftlauderdale.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=20863
Boxnet -- http://www.boxxet.com/Brad_Pitt/GAY_CALIFORNIANS_APPEAL_TO_CLOONEY_AND_PITT_TO_BUY_BAR.61213146.details
Clooney Project -- http://clooneyproject.livejournal.com/2007/06/05/
Clooney Studio -- http://clooneystudio.com/
QueerFilter -- http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clooney-and-pitt-asked-to-save-oc-gay.html
Gay Business News -- http://www.247gay.com/print_this_article.cfm?section=66&id=14976
GayLink News -- http://www.gaylinknews.com/storydetail2.cfm?storyid=14976
Huffington Post -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topics/Paul+Lynde
Houston Voice -- http://www.houstonvoice.com/blog/index.cfm?blogger=14
The Liberal OC -- http://theliberaloc.com/2007/06/03/doom-doom-and-gloom-gloom-for-the-boom-boom/
Yahoo Xtra -- http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/070604/6/kt1.html
SFGate.com -- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=17304
UKGay.com -- http://uk.gay.com/headlines/11660
Post Chronicle -- http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21284312.shtml
Asian News Intl -- http://www.aol.in/hollywood/story/2007060406509026000006/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment