“We Are Marshall” Press Conference

by Jennifer Squires Biller

Not often in West Virginia do Hollywood actors make an appearance. That all changed on April 1, 2006, when Warner Bros. Pictures rolled into Huntington to kick off production of its new movie We Are Marshall.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey, aka The Sexiest Man Alive of 2005, Matthew Fox (Lost), and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) to name a few.

The film is based on the true and tragic story of the Marshall University football team of 1970. Returning from a game in North Carolina on a foggy night, 75 members of the team, its supporters and the coaching staff were killed when their plane crashed, not far from Huntington. Instead of canceling the football program at the university, as many argued should be done, the school rebuilt under coach Jack Lengyel. The effort helped restore the spirit of a broken community and campus. The Marshall University football team went on to hold the highest winning percentage of any major college football program in the 1990s, winning the NCAA Division I-AA Southern Conference championships in 1992 and 1996.

“Very seldom do you read stories like this that are based on truth," McConaughey said. "I read this one. I got to the end of the story. I shut it, and I walked around and thought about it. I was inspired by the story. It stayed on my mind. I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Something that has helped me a lot is the credence, 'Just keep living.' For me, that’s what happens in this story. Through the game of football —people, a team, a community— comes together and gets back on the field — the proverbial field — and moves on with memory and hope."

What does this have to do with Tube Talk you ask? Well, your very own Tube Talk Girl is a native West Virginian and attended the press conference with McConaughey, Strathairn, director McG (Charlies’s Angels and The O.C.) and producer Basil Iwanyk. And one of my all-time favorite TV stars is in town, yes, Matthew Fox or “Foxy,” as he’s known in the cyber world, is involved with this project. So, I’ll be giving you plenty of updates. The movie is filming here during the month of April, before heading to Atlanta.

During the next few weeks, I’ll be posting stories from the press conference interviews and local encounters with the celebrities, all to shamelessly promote this film. Yes, I said shamelessly promote. I want you see the movie, not because it’s about a college in West Virginia, but because it’s one of the greatest stories of tragedy and triumph in human history.

It’s a story that deserves to be known outside of our borders.

So, stay tuned to Tube Talk for all the buzz on We Are Marshall. Then, when the film hits theaters, you’ll be ready to see it for yourself.

Tube talk girl can be reached by e-mail at jennifer@tube-talk.com.

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