Mickey Cottrell, Hollywood Publicist, Owner of Inclusive PR, Suffers Massive Stroke; Community Creates GofundMe Campaign

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Mickey Cottrell, the beloved owner of Inclusive PR, and the springboard to many a young publicist, has suffered a massive debilitating stroke. His family and friends have created a GoFundMe campaign to assist in the long term medical care.

Mickey's publicity career began inadvertently when he called the local LA film critics to get their input on the programming needs of the local community as he embarked on transforming the classic Loyola Movie Palace into a revival house in 1981. 

The critics had never been asked this question by an exhibitor, and one by one, they took Mickey to lunch and poured out their cinema hearts’ desires.  During this time, Michael Ventura of L.A. Weekly wrote that Mickey's was "the finest film programming in Los Angeles." 

Since becoming a publicist, Mickey has opened over 200 films, including Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire, Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, George Washington, Bernard Rose’s ivansxtc and more recently, Tarnation, Funny Ha Ha, Ballets Russes, Edmond, Body of War, Chris & Don: A Love Story, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Easier With Practice, Bill Cunningham New York, Weekend, Keep the Lights On, The Girls in the Band, I Am Divine, and The Galapagos Affair. 

Some of Mickey’s successes have given new life to films that might not otherwise have had the chance, ranging in scale from big budget to minute.  He spent five months as Special Media Consultant on the release of Phillip Noyce’s The Quiet American, which included overseeing the film’s world premiere at the 2002 Toronto Int’l Film Fest.  Prior to the fest, Harvey Weinstein had no intention of releasing the picture, making its fate appear to be direct to your local Blockbuster.  

The day after the fest ended, Miramax, unable to ignore the remarkable reception from the national and international media there, was forced to change their minds.  The following morning, a front-page story in Variety blazed with the headline, “Toronto Buzz Gets Quiet Release."  Subsequently, the film's star, Michael Caine, was nominated for an Academy Award.  Mickey, hired as publicist for all elements of the film by its financier, was the picture’s principle trumpeteer and a vital source of clarity on a once fading project, now renewed by PR.

At the other end of the production spectrum, the 2004 Sundance Film Festival saw two triumphs for movies of a hugely smaller scale.  Mickey represented Down to the Bone, which won the Directing Award and the Special Award for Acting from the Jury.  A second film on the ‘04 roster in Park City was arguably the most important indie of that year: Jonathan Caouette’s micro-budgeted towering achievement, Tarnation, which also enjoyed endless praise on the Croisette at Cannes, a standing ovation in its Directors' Fortnight presentation, and was dubbed by Pascal Thomas, the president of the French directors’ guild, “THE event at Cannes this year!”  Tarnation went on to win the Best Documentary Award and its $25,000 cash purse at the 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival, followed by more applause at Toronto and NYFF.

At Sundance 2005, Mickey introduced four films, with the now celebrated Ballets Russes lifting crowds to their feet as it was to do at other key fests, including Toronto and the Hamptons where it took the Audience Award.  The film was picked up by the savvy, classy specialist Zeitgeist with Mickey kept on to oversee all national press, screenings for NYC and LA-based long lead, in addition to the Los Angeles release.  Three years later, again with Zeitgeist, inclusive pr opened Guido Santi and Tina Mascara’s Telluride hit, Chris & Don: A Love Story in both NYC and LA to rave reviews and great audience response.

At Toronto 2005, in addition to Ballets Russes, Mickey did his first Closing Night film for a major fest, undertaking Edison, there with its many stars in tow.  With Morgan Freeman, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J and Dylan McDermott in great demand for interviews and photo shoots, Mickey coordinated serving over 100 in-person outlets in less than 24 hours.

Other highlights of Mickey’s recent adventures in publicity include campaigns that stretched into a full year on Greendale, a film written and directed by rock legend Neil Young, and taking on The Thing About My Folks, penned by and starring Paul Reiser, opposite Peter Falk.  The latter opened film festivals in Florida, and Nashville, and took the Audience Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival before being picked up by Picturehouse.  Mickey also joined filmmaker Stuart Gordon and star William H. Macy for the fest campaign on  Edmond, adapted by David Mamet from his play, at Telluride 2005.  inclusive pr also opened the film in NYC, LA and Chicago.

Mickey has served as a member of the selection committee for the Los Angeles Film Festival, as well as taking on corporate clients as varied as Morton’s Restaurant and Cirque du Soleil.  Cottrell mc’d at LACMA for Summer 2000, introducing the Centenary Retros of Hitchcock, George Cukor and Noel Coward.  In 2006, Mickey was a juror at the Ojai and Bahamas Int’l Film Fests and in the Spring of 2007, for the fourth year running, was Roger Ebert’s guest and a panel speaker at the critic’s Overlooked Film Fest.  In March 2006, Mickey was a special guest at the Robert Osborne Classic Film Festival, where he did a panel and was interviewed by the Turner Classic Movies host. 

Bio provided by Inclusive PR

https://www.gofundme.com/InclusiveMickey