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Paper Towns, Agloe, and Touring: Thoughts from (Many) Places

2015-07-28 · letter vlog · John, Nat Wolff · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal update · tags: on location, self promotion, recurring series, timely hook, guest or collab

John recounts his week-long Paper Towns film tour (New York, Indianapolis, Columbus, Dallas), reflects that the book is about seeing others as complex while publicity commodifies people, and thanks viewers, the filmmakers and Hank.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Leaving vacation, drive to Lansing, New York: YouTube Space with Nat, Gregory Brothers collab, Young Turks interview

  • ★★ John left his vacation hammock and family, drove across Michigan to Lansing listening to The Mountain Goats, and flew to New York City. — 00:00:01 · New York City
  • ★★ In New York John met his friend and publicist Elyse Marshall, met Nat at the YouTube Space, collaborated with The Gregory Brothers and was interviewed by The Young Turks. — 00:00:16 · New York City
  • ★ An interviewer's pink shirt with a green fire-breathing dragon, like young Margo's in Paper Towns, made John's life feel weird. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Paper Towns

00:00:37 — Paper Towns is about seeing others as complex; the publicity machine commodifies everyone

  • ★★★ John says Paper Towns is about the challenge of understanding that others are as complex as you, which is especially hard inside the publicity machine, since it commodifies everyone it touches. — 00:00:37 · Paper Towns, perspective-taking, celebrity
  • ★★ John thought about this while seeing two-dimensional images of his friends, or possibly his characters, plastered all over New York City. — 00:00:49 · New York City

00:00:55 — Lunch with Julie Strauss-Gabel and her Agloe map; Burberry suit; the tour had not yet begun

  • ★★ John got lunch with his publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel, who has on her wall the first map ever made containing Agloe, New York; they talked about how much she liked the movie. — 00:00:55 · Julie Strauss-Gabel, Paper Towns (film), New York City
  • ★ John bought a suit at Burberry for the next week's premiere; when he admitted being tired, Elyse pointed out the tour had not yet begun. (playful) — 00:01:02

00:01:10 — Indianapolis: own bed, Halston and Nat, Murat Theatre show, Nat and Alex play, Akilah Hughes, John Green Day, the Colts

  • ★★ In Indianapolis John slept in his own bed, did many interviews with Halston Sage and Nat, signed books and did a show at the Murat Theatre. — 00:01:10 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John loves Nat and his brother Alex and watching them play music together, which reminds him of his own relationship with Hank. — 00:01:37 · Hank Green
  • ★★★ On stage with host Akilah Hughes, John felt a wave of energy; the mayor of Indianapolis declared July 14, 2015 John Green Day, which John found very weird. — 00:01:50 · Indianapolis
  • ★ John met Anthony and Jack from the Indianapolis Colts, then flew to Columbus and had a drink with Akilah. — 00:01:59 · Indianapolis

00:02:08 — Columbus: Cara, a TV interview ('No Fault in These Stars'), the crowd, college days in Ohio

  • ★★ In Columbus John met Cara, who reluctantly beatboxed in a TV interview; John was told the anchors really liked his book, 'No Fault in These Stars'. (playful) — 00:02:21 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ The Columbus crowd was amazing and asked great questions; John thought about how long ago his college days in Ohio felt. — 00:02:42

00:02:52 — Dallas: the heat, Gabby and Allison from Just Between Us, Saint Motel, then a plane to LA

  • ★★ In a very hot Dallas John met hosts Gabby and Allison from Just Between Us, heard Saint Motel and met an awesome crowd, then flew to LA. — 00:03:00 · Los Angeles

00:03:29 — The movie is out; thanks for #wallofcow; two hard months away from family; thanks for VidCon; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says the Paper Towns movie is out in most of the world and thanks everyone who watched it and shared responses via Nerdfighteria's #wallofcow. — 00:03:29 · Paper Towns (film), Nerdfighteria, #wallofcow, Paper Towns
  • ★★★ John says the past two months were long and difficult; he missed his family and is glad to be home, but the tour week was an adventure that brought him closer to people he loves. — 00:03:37
  • ★★ John thanks everyone who made the movie, and thanks Hank for a great VidCon. — 00:03:49 · Paper Towns (film), VidCon, Hank Green

Humor (significant)

  • John confesses to Elyse that he is a little tired, and she points out that technically — 00:01:05

    “the tour had not yet begun.”

  • Watching Nat and Alex play reminds John of his relationship with Hank, except for one part: Hank won't let him into his band — 00:01:44

    “simply because I cannot sing or play any instruments.”

  • TV anchors tell John they really liked his book — 00:02:25

    “really liked my book, No Fault in These Stars.”

  • John had no thermometer in Dallas but estimates the temperature — 00:03:05

    “15.7 million degrees Kelvin.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Nat Wolff · Paper Towns (film)

Also: People: Akilah Hughes · Alex Wolff · Allison Raskin · Cara Delevingne · Elyse Marshall · Gaby Dunn · Greg Ballard · Halston Sage · Julie Strauss-Gabel

Projects: VidCon

Works: Just Between Us · Paper Towns · The Fault in Our Stars (“No Fault in These Stars”)

Organizations: Burberry · Indianapolis Colts · The Young Turks

Groups: Saint Motel · The Gregory Brothers · The Mountain Goats

Terms: #wallofcow

Concepts: celebrity · perspective-taking

Places: Agloe, New York · Columbus, Ohio · Dallas · Indianapolis · Lansing, Michigan · Los Angeles · Michigan · New York City · Ohio · Old National Centre · YouTube Space New York

Characters: Margo Roth Spiegelman

Only in the description or credits: Thoughts from Places

Also centred on Nat Wolff: Question Tuesday with Nat Wolff (aka Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars movie) · The Future of the Project for Awesome: Pizzamas Day 8 · Paper Towns Madrid with Nat Wolff! THE TOUR BEGINS · Question Tuesday with Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff

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