Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`The TCM Classic Film Festival is a fine celebration of Hollywood’s Golden Age (and beyond), movie stars and historic locales. But clearly, it is so much more. Fans from all over the globe annually converge to enjoy motion pictures the way they were meant to be seen, to walk red carpets and witness hand-in-cement ceremonies with iconic actors and filmmakers and most importantly, to join in fellowship with like-minded people that appreciate the art of motion on screen.

“` Few fans create more of a difference with regards to bringing together these passionate film-goers than Kelly J. Kitchens.  The owner of a Media Relations / Entertainment Publicity company and a Film Publicist based in Dallas, Texas, Kelly has mobilized a movie fest contingent in a way that is very impressive. Her administration of the Facebook page: Going to TCM Classic Film Festival has thousands of followers and the number is rapidly growing; impressive by any social media metric. KELLY J. KITCHENS ->

“`Since 2010, her group meets the day prior to the start of the festival. They have outgrown their original location, poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and they now begin the trek in the parking lot of the Hollywood Heritage Museum. Along the way, actors (such as Barbara Rush and Cora Sue Collins) and authors have offered oral presentations and mingled with appreciative members of the group. She was even approached by the legendary Robert Osborne because of outfits they wore while attending the TCM fest red-carpet screening of A Star is Born (1954). No one should be surprised by Kitchens’ success.

“`Kelly’s cinematic appreciation begin early in life with an annual screening of The Wizard of Oz on television.  Her zeal for the flick included cassette taped copies of the audio, so she could memorize every second of the film. During allowed television time at home, Kitchens would watch  Our Gang / Little Rascals comedies and Abbott and Costello. She discovered a theatre that featured classic film matinees and this opened her world to the magic of big screen classics,  such as The Sound of Music and Astaire / Rogers musicals. Yearbook photo of Kelly with her Wizard of Oz collection ->

“`While in high school, Kelly was depressed over a family illness. Her English teacher well-versed in her student’s love of classic movies, assigned her to watch the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. Kitchens credits her teacher to this day for showing such empathy and compassion, which helped her through a clearly difficult time in her life. And her job on the yearbook staff gave the young journalist a clear path towards her eventual career journey. Kelly’s Facebook page clearly has elements of a reunion of like-minded individuals. And she remains satified with that metaphoric approach.

KELLY J. KITCHENS    BEN MANKIEWICZ   MARK WICKERSHAM

“`Kelly met her husband (Mark Wickersham) at a film festival.  Together, they map out movie festival-themed vacations and they are planning to attend the upcoming inaugural Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound. Sharing a mutual love for movies, the couple embodies the theme of the Facebook page members. I am thrilled to join other film historians, including Kari Bible and Marc Wanamaker, to be part of this loyal, fun and caring group.  Look for me in the latest reunion photo taken in April (part of the TCM yearbook class of 2023).

“`If you are searching for a career publicist, you can contact our subject at Kelly J. Kitchens Media Relations / Entertainment Publicy at kelly@kellykitchenspr.com. You will find a clearly dedicated and innovative advocate for your project or your career. The Going to TCM Classic Film Festival page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/112530958827676/media/albums. If you join and attend next year’s fest, you will be enveloped by thousands of amazing friends you never knew you had. And search out Kelly J. Kitchens… her hoopla is fabulous!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2023 at 10:16 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Bookmark this post: