When the DreamWorks Animation film Rise of the Guardians hosts its Louisiana Premiere event at the Strand Theatre tonight at 6:30 p.m., it will be a cause for celebration for many reasons. Shreveport-based author and illustrator William Joyce is an executive producer of the film, which tells the story of characters that he created in his book series, The Guardians of Childhood. In addition, tonight’s event is a fundraiser benefiting three arts organizations that have transformed downtown Shreveport: the Strand Theatre, Robinson Film Center and artspace. Joyce has invited Guardians Production Designer Patrick Hanenberger to join him in introducing the film. Tickets to the premiere are $100 each and a limited number remain available. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Strand Theatre box office at (318) 226-1481 after 10 a.m. today.
Unless you’ve managed to avoid exposure to any local news source whatsoever for the past few weeks, chances are you already know about tonight’s event. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to point something out:
William Joyce has a lot going on right now. He has a holiday blockbuster opening in theaters nationwide on Nov. 21, Moonbot Studios is finalizing a video game for Sony’s new gaming console, the Wonderbook, his book series The Guardians of Childhood is racking up rave reviews, and he seems to be nominated for a major publishing or technology award every five days or so. Joyce could be spending this time in any number of places, doing totally awesome things. Tonight, he and his team will be busy raising money for the arts in Shreveport. How fantastic is that?
If you want to say “thanks” to Joyce and his team, one way to do so would be to vote for the book based on their Academy award-winning short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, to win the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Picture Book. I voted this morning, and it took about 30 seconds.
Another way to say “thanks,” of course, would be in person. If you can’t attend tonight’s event, you can usually find Mr. Joyce at Robinson Film Center, artspace, Cush’s Grocery or any number of other local spots.
Images for this post were provided by Moonbot Studios and are used courtesy of DreamWorks Animation.
