William Friedkin Book Signing Shocker! Ace Says There Were F-Bombs! Yelling! And Madness! The Power Of Christ Compels You!
Oh dear… When you go to an event, you just never know what to expect. Ace headed out to meet one of his favorites, horror author William Friedkin. Now, Ace has met him before and had some amazing experiences.
This time however… That wasn’t the case. Doh!
Everyone has been there, but this one is a bit much. Check out Ace’s recap below!
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So, I went to a book signing with William Friedkin.
If you are a close personal friend of mine, you know I am Friedkin crazy about his work. The Exorcist has to be one of my personal horror favorites. The film overall is just very well done. Of course, Friedkin’s habit for perfection made the movie what it is. The French Connection and To Live and Die in L.A. are also films that will stand the test of time…
Now, the height of his film career ranged from the 1970s to 1980s. We fast forward to 2014. He is in the talks with the True Detective show runners to direct the series. He has been presented with countless lifetime achievement awards across the globe within the last year.
I have been to several of his speaking events at the Aero and Cinefamily, DVD signings, and book signings. So yes, I have gotten his autograph before. He has always been such a nice man.
I arrived to the book signing around an hour before the event was supposed to start. Fortunately, there was only a few others just waiting. I purchased my book and had a seat. The people at the bookshop were very nice. They notified everyone that Mr. Friedkin would no longer speak for a short Q & A segment before the signing. Regardless, everyone sat and waited.
It was only a matter of time before William Friedkin showed. At the time of the arrival, there were a total of twelve people that attended the signing. After his arrival, there would be no more joining in on the fun.
All Aboard…
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
The first person went up. He asked for his name. Mr. Friedkin signed his book. Then the fan placed the other three items and he signed those as well with personalizations. Friedkin, at the time, jokingly made a slight ebay remark.
The next person was also asked for his name. He tells Friedkin his name and then Friedkin asks if he would like his name inscribed. The fan asks if he would just sign the book as it is for a friend. Friedkin starts raving about how the item would end up on ebay and as he asked for his two photos to be signed as well, and Friedkin kept repeating that these would end up on ebay once again.
The third person walked up to Mr. Friedkin. He placed all his items on the table. He asked Mr. Friedkin if he would write some quote within the book. Friedkin claimed he wouldn’t use God’s name in vain. Therefore, he said he couldn’t. As he was signing the book, he asked if he was selling this stuff. The fan claimed he had too much respect for him. He agreed that some of the stuff would be for sale. Mr. Friedkin claimed he appreciated the honesty. He claimed, “I will do a couple.”
He also added, “I am normally not like this.” Then he uttered something about being stuck in traffic.
Therefore, Mr. Friedkin signed (picking and choosing) one of his posters, a couple lobby cards, a CD booklet, as well as the VHS cover. As he was signing the items, he screamed out “All these ebay motherfuckers.”
Yes. You read that right… “eBay motherfuckers.”
The next fan walked up with the paperback book. He gave his name and Friedkin asked if it would be personalized to him. He asked him kindly not too. He said that he is sharing it with his brother. Friedkin yelled “Yeah, sure…EBAY” once again. He picked and chose what he would sign. He claimed, “I will do a couple. I will sign this one and this one.” Then he asked, “Would you sign this one?” He blatantly said, “No.”
As I was walking up, he screamed once again, telling the owner, “See! Ebay motherfuckers.” The owner said that he could implement a policy of how many he wanted to sign. Mr. Friedkin said, “It’s just too much. Can’t sign all these things.”
Let me remind you, there is a crowd of 6-8 people in line.
As I walked up, he asked for my name. I gave him my name and thanked him for signing. I handed him the book, my two mini posters, an official lithograph with a film cell, and a behind the scenes photo. I asked him to personalize everything but the book. He signed the book. Signed the first poster and said, “this fucking thing is ending up on eBay.” I insisted that he personalize it. He grabbed my other photo claiming he wouldn’t sign the other foreign mini-poster. He was so frustrated that he creased the item. He didn’t personalize it. Then, I asked if he would personalize and sign my other mini-poster. He said, “No! How many fucking of (me) are there?” He then signed it. As he was signing it, I told him I have attended his screenings, DVD signings… I listed the places and events. Told him I loved his work. He thanked me and commented on me accumulating.
I walked away slowly as my admiration dissipated. I sat down for a moment. Of course, in shock.
As each fan walked up, I could hear the ebay comments and complaining about how he wasn’t getting a penny for some of the items he was signing.
Now, everyone has their bad days… We are all human. But, I have to ask the question: Does it excuse us?
I wish I was exaggerating about how bad it was.
The worse part of it… there was a total of twelve people along for the experience. Typically, there is an almost endless line of people. It could have been such a pleasant experience.
Of course, I have been to several of his sit down signings. Now I admit, like every memorabilia collector, I regret what I got signed in the past. When I first started this autograph thing, I got a lot of non-important things signed. It’s not that I don’t cherish them as much, but I always strive to improve my collection. I brought my un-opened box set, lithograph and film cell, as well as mini-posters hoping for another great experience. I only wish that I left them untouched along with the event.
I didn’t even ask him any questions to prevent the feeling that it would be a waste of his time.
Without being dramatic, it does alter your perception on their movies.
His new restoration on Sorcerer is on Sale August 5th.
I think I will just pass on this one…
This experience will just be an unpleasant reminder every time I hit play. There is no rewind button.
I’m sure Friedkin has good reason for his feelings. Some of these collectors pretend to be fans. He’s not stupid. Imagine if you met someone who professed to love your work. You sign a few things for this kid thinking what a nice experience it was being able to connect with a sincere fan. Flash forward a few days later, you look through eBay and see these cherished items now for sale. Way to ruin another celebrity.
Here’s what’s interesting to me. If you don’t want to do the book signing and deal with the “eBayers” fine. But don’t yell at people and drop the f word. Cancel the signing, it would be better than having the few fans there be upset!
Look, I don’t like the buying and selling as much as the next person, but he’s selling a book. He’s there to sell books. Everyone in line bought one, the author made money, what those people do with their books is their own damn business.
You want to limit the dealers, okay, but if your books and posters were selling for so much money I think more than 11 people would show up for the signing. Hell, I would guess the line would be out the door!
Seeing the people who show up for scrub names, if they can make .10 cents there would be people stupid enough to show up and try. So, I think William Friedkin should calm down.
When it comes right down to it, you’re there for a book signing. Not a book signing plus 3-4 additional items. I suppose it would have been different if you had met him outside of the event.
Maybe, Lorne, but couldn’t he have just said “books only,” or “one item in addition to the book?” Bottom line is he he didn’t have to act like this towards (mostly) FANS.
I agree with Jorge. These celebrities will sign for FREE and let dealers rack five to twenty each while they trample over the fans and then you PURCHASE an item and they get pissed about re-sale? Plus, the event was ruined for Ace who is a true fan. Lastly, William Friedkin needs a reality check –
Number of signed items on eBay including completed auctions: 70
Number sold: 4
Average sale price: $48
No one is getting rich off of you buddy.
Whats really sad is its not just Friedkin. Even A-listers like Samuel L Jackson complain about ebayers. As if every penny they don’t get themselves is a personal affront. If a celebrity cares so damn much about what people do with the signatures, they need to sell them directly themselves. Otherwise, they need to get some class (or in the actors cases, act like they have some) and just not worry about what others do. I wasnt even there and I’m soured on Friedkin for this behavior. It should be better to suffer an ebayer than to piss off your loyal fans. If its a stack of 25 things, sure, complain all you want, but a small group asking for a few apiece isnt the end of the world.
Just because a celebrity says something about eBay doesn’t mean they regret they’re not getting that money. It means they regret feeding into a cynical subset of people who are not fans but just looking to capitalize on someone else’s talent. It’s totally not great to get into the autograph business for resale purposes and it taints the experience for the rest of us.
Personally, aside from some crazy scenario, I never try to get more than two at a time, max. At a book signing, I probably would only try to get one in addition to the book. You do have to think what he must think when people are bringing three, four, five items to the table aside from the book and not having them all personalized.
As far as swearing and making the same jokes, that’s kind of Friedkin’s M.O. He has a reputation as an outspoken, no-B.S. kind of person and there are plenty of horror stories about his temperamental attitude on movie sets over the years, but that’s as much part of his legend and career as anything. I wouldn’t think much of it.
I have to say, while it sounds like he flew off the handle & reacted a bit harshly, I kind of think he’s justified. I go to a lot of book & album signings. I usually bring my one copy of the book or CD (I know by now that other memorabilia is frowned upon… plus I usually just like to have a memento from what the artist was promoting at the time). Occasionally I bring a second copy for a friend or relative. But never more than that. I always see people bringing BAGS of books to get signed. Like, double-digits. And it always infuriates me. Yes, once the store sells the book they can’t control what’s done with it. But I just think it’s so tacky to present an artist with 15 copies of their book to sign. It all but says “I plan on profiting off of your signature, which you’re so kindly giving to me for free.” Not to mention the fact that it holds up the line for the 95% of people there who are just getting their own personal copy signed.
I live in NYC & I tend to see the same people doing this over & over again. It drives me bonkers.
I know a lot of people reading this site may be those types of people. But I just think it’s terribly tacky. While it sounds that Mr. Friedkin acted like a complete asshole that night, part of me is encouraged to hear him calling some people out. Sorry.
(But I’m also sorry that some genuine fans may have been unjustifiably targeted by his wrath as well.)
I guess that’s why stores should definitely implement a limit on books (& a restriction on other memorabilia). Or the artist should at least set those requirements.