PHILADELPHIA — It’s been billed as a summer “blockbuster,” a hagiographic documentary about State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, that is set to premiere Saturday.
But filmmaker Steve Turley’s red-carpet rollout for "The Return of the American Patriot" has stumbled twice in the last week, with two venues committing to screenings and then canceling amid community pushback.
Turley, a conservative author and podcaster, did not respond to requests for comment about the controversy. On social media, he pleaded for contributions to help screen the film he has said cost him more than $100,000 to make.
In a YouTube video Saturday, Turley said he should “write a special thank-you note to the woke activists” who complained about the film, because donations on the Christian fund-raising website GiveSendGo “doubled in 24 hours.”
That website showed donations at more than $19,000 as of Tuesday.
A trailer for the film shows Turley in sync with Mastriano’s hard-right conservatism, comparing “the fight against globalism” to the Revolutionary War and complaining about state measures to stem the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re the people who are tired of being rolled over by the establishment,” Mastriano said in the clip, which presents as villains House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.
General admission tickets go for $20, while VIP access costs $50.15 and includes a “special meet-and-greet red-carpet event” with Mastriano and Turley before the show. A Patriot’s Circle ticket costs $100.15, but the pricing for that ticket, listed as sold out, does not describe any perks for purchasers.
The film does not appear to be a fund-raiser for Mastriano, though Turley has used his web platforms to encourage donations to the campaign. Mastriano on Saturday tweeted in support of the film, saying, “We hope to see you there.”
Mastriano did not respond to a request for comment. He has limited campaign communications to solicitous podcasters and conservative radio-show hosts.
Mastriano won the May primary by running against his party, challenging the conservative credentials of other candidates. Some Republicans active in politics and government have endorsed Mastriano’s Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and vowed to help defeat Mastriano.
He is at a competitive disadvantage in resources to Shapiro, who had nearly $13.5 million in the bank as of June 6. Mastriano had just under $400,000.
Still, early polling shows a narrow race.
Turley has been touting the film’s premiere with daily emails for weeks that said tickets were sold out but then making room for a larger audience.
He announced the first venue, the 400-seat Penn Cinema IMAX Theater in Lititz last week. But that venue canceled the screening Thursday.
Theater owner Penn Ketchum declined to comment, but in a Facebook message to one person who objected to the screening, he wrote: “We did have plans with this group but once we learned of the nationalist populist agenda, we canceled the event.”
That phrase, "nationalist populist agenda," appears often on Turley’s website and YouTube channel.
Turley, in a news release, chalked up the cancellation to “angry anti-Christian activists” but offered no specifics for that claim.
He turned next to the Wyndham Lancaster Resort and Convention Center, which agreed to a screening in a 1,000-seat theater but then canceled Sunday.
Owner Kalpesh Vakil said his business was flooded with phone calls and messages from people who objected to the film’s being shown there, prompting concerns for the safety of employees and hotel guests.
“We just knew it was a movie premiere,” Vakil said of the project. “We did not know anything else about the event.”
Turley, in social media posts, attributed the second cancellation to “the woke mob” and announced that a “backup location” had been secured but would not be announced until 24 hours before Saturday’s premiere.
Turley, an early supporter of Mastriano’s bid for governor, spoke at the campaign kickoff in January, complaining about COVID precautions and casting supporters as participants “in a worldwide revolt.”
“You are the heroes that refuse to sit idly by as our supposed representatives turned into despotic tyrants, hellbent on crushing the very values of faith, family, and freedom that have served as beacons of hope for countless lives all across the globe,” Turley told the crowd.
