Million Dollar Arm World Premiere at El Capitan Theatre #MillionDollarArmEvent

I have been invited as media to attend these events. Expenses have been paid in exchange for my coverage. All opinions are my own.

Staying in theme with the movie, Disney’s Million Dollar Arm begins their World Premiere with a pitching contest and tailgate inspired party. I was very fortunate to be invited for the second time by Disney for a movie premiere and can not even begin to explain how exciting this opportunity was. Growing up I had dreams of being an actress, even modeling for a few years in my teen/early 20’s, but never pursued my dream fully, which ironically is what the film Million Dollar Arm encompasses; following your dreams.

The 9 lucky finalist in the Disney Pitching Contest, including three from my home state of Florida competed for the million dollar prize and chance to sign with sports agent JB Bernstein. While none of the finalist were able to pitch a 100 mph strike and win the grand prize, they did receive gift packages and the amazing opportunity to be flown in for the contest and world premiere.

Jon Hamm made an appearance on the pitching mound before the contest began and teased us by tossing a baseball around, but did not attempt to throw any fast balls. He was up against some tough competition after all. 🙂

Baseball greats Dave Winfield, Steve Garvey, Rollie Fingers, David Wells, Don Newcombe, Clyde Wright, Ken Landreaux, Kenny Lofton and Eric Davis and others were in attendance for the competition and “green” carpet premiere.

Here I am at at the Million Dollar Arm World Premiere! Feeling ever so lucky.

Before the premiere we had the opportunity to interview several of the film actors (which will be coming later, I promise). We also met JB Bernstein, Dinesh, and Rinku, which the film is based on. While on the green carpet, JB called out, “there’s my mommy bloggers” and snapped this selfie with us and then tweeted it out. Thank you JB for the photo!

Others I spotted on the green carpet before making my way to the tailgate party was Tom House known by some as the “father of modern pitching mechanics” & Pitobash Tripathy, who keeps us laughing in Million Dollar Arm.

What was the first thing on my mind after rubbing elbows and chatting with some of the celebs and star athletes? These delicious Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Oh yes, I was not afraid to scarf one of these bad boys down before moving onto more celeb sightings! Other baseball inspired foods offered during the tailgate party were Pink’s hotdogs, soda, and pistachios.

We even snapped a group picture with actress Allyn Rachel, who plays JB (Jon Hamm’s) assistant in the movie. Big shout out to Choya for the pic!

ESPN was broadcasting live at the premiere and Jon Hamm even stopped by to chat with them.

Before heading into the El Capitan Theater I had the opportunity to chat with hall-of-famer Dave Winfield, who surprisingly wanted to know all about blogging and social media. I then snapped a picture with MLB player Eric Davis who was incredibly nice and down to earth. I can’t wait for my dad to see all of these pictures. He’s such a huge baseball fan!

Million Dollar Arm is based on the true story of sports agent JB Bernstein, who makes a last-ditch effort to save his career by heading to India where he comes across two 18-year-old boys (Dinesh and Rinku) who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. The film is much more than a baseball story though. It’s about believing in yourself and following your dreams.

Million Dollar Arm opens in theaters worldwide May 16th, however it will be sneaking into over 500 theaters beginning this Saturday May 10th! I definitely recommend checking out this feel good movie.

Photo credit: Disney