So today I sat down and rolled up my sleeves. In front of me, a HUGE stack of feedback forms. Hours of intense work staring me in the face.

Bring it on! I dived right in, determined to get the job done in ONE setting. Of course.

The tools at hand? Paper clips, post it notes, a yellow highlighter and most importantly a Microsoft Excell spreadsheet. This is where I wear yet another hat: Miss Organization in now in motion. Used to get 20 + over 20 in math back in highschool... Guess I have not changed much. The nerd is me is thrilled at the idea of compiling some stats.

I sorted through all the forms, and made two piles: Males on one side and females on the other.

I then took each pile and divided it by age range.

I then sorted each small pile by ratings. And then started adding it all up.

Six hours later, I was done. My spreadsheet showed stats for each gender and by age range and I was able to see trends and determine where my audience was. For the most part it was exactely what I had expected: A LOOOOT of great ratings and very very good numbers.

Numbers that spoke eloquently.

But I was in for a couple big surprises.

The male hotrod owners age group 20  to 30 surprised the heck out of me. I had written them off in my head thinking they would not like the film because it is a love story at the core. I thought the drama would be too much for them and the spiritual aspect of the film would require a more mature audience to be appreciated...

I WAS DARN WRONG!!!

Sorry guys, I stand corrected! I discovered these younger hotrodders were MY AUDIENCE by 100%. The feedback forms exploded in abundance of enthousiasm for the film: 100% rated it 5 stars out of 5 and 100% wanted to a)- buy the DVD b)- see it on the big screen and BRING ALL THEIR FRIENDS and c)- see a sequel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When asked if they would recommend it to a friend 100% selected the "HECK YEAH!" box.  Way to go!

Another big surprise awaited me right around the corner. Teenage girls.  Let me rephrase: 'Teenage girls that know nothing about cars'. There were not a large number at the Test Screening but there were a few and they absolutely went GAGA over the film, stating they stayed for BOTH showing (so basically 5 hours worth of DEUCE OF SPADES) and wanted to see it again and again and again... They also stated it had become their favorite movie of all time and that they were in love with Johnny Callaway (who can blame them? LOL). I was surprised to also see that they LOVED my character, the hotrod girl.  X 2...

Looks like I have an audience I never thought existed!

The old timers, as can be expected, loved the film and the majority gave it 5 stars, stating it was very period correct "brought back their youth" and "it's about time a Hot Rod film of substance comes out!"

So there you have it, DEUCE OF SPADES is a hit with both genders and age 14 through age 80.

Amongst the feedback forms were, needless to say, a few really funny smart comments. The one that made me laugh most was one guy who said: "the girl who plays the lead is not credible as a hotrodder or working on her car"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!

Can't wait to see that guy's face the day he finds out the "non credible girl" in question is actually the REAL DEAL, the car's real owner, a real hotrodder and has been wrenching on her own car for three years now and will be on Patrol Duty at the SCTA November meet, cause she also is a Sidewinders, America's oldest hotrod club.

But other than that, she is not credible ... I find it is hard for people to "think outside the box" for even one moment of their lives... And me... Weeeeelllllllll..

I LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX.

I must confess I am STILL laughing about that comment ...

Now that I was done with entering the data in my spreadsheet, I hit the "crunch" button.

And the winner is...... (drum roll)

NUMBERS TALK (AND THEY SPEAK ELOQUENTLY!)

Overall average rating of film 4.5 stars over 5

95% of DVD buyers said they want to buy DEUCE OF SPADES 

99% said it was very period correct (even the ol' timers who LIVED the era!!!)

73% want to haul their fannies to a local theater to see it AGAIN on the big screen

89% want to watch it again

99.5% would recommend it to a friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!

82% want to see a sequel


DANG. Overall pretty darn GOOD!

LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A WINNER ON OUR HANDS.

Below: Looks like the wind is blowing in my sails!!

And YES, she does work on her deuce herself
 

Below: Asleep under the deuce at the end of a straight 24 hour marathon spent rewiring. 

Below: Don't worry, volunteer hotrodder Jimmy was not in any better shape at the end of that famous 24 hour marathon... LOL  here litterally caught sleeping, his nose smashed against the 53 Chevy steering wheel LOLOL...