Thread by @FPWellman

It's #MayThe4th and I have to finally tell my Luke Skywalker story. It was just 5 days until the 2020 election and I wanted to do a @ProjectLincoln ad about military absentee votes as Trump called to only count ballots on Nov 3rd thus disenfranchising thousands of military voters

I pitched the idea of a celebrity ad to my boss @reedgalen and he says "go for it"...as he always did for me. So, who to do it? I call everyone I can that knows celebrities with military connections. All day. No luck. My son says "hey...@MarkHamill follows you on Twitter..."

I was like he says "No DM's" I don't want him to unfollow me! But, I dig up his agents email and fire off a pitch for help. 10:30 that night my son pounds on my door "OPEN YOUR EMAIL!! HE'S IN!!" I'm stunned...then I'm terrified. I have to write an ad for Mark Freaking Hamill.

A good time to mention I'm a Star Wars super fan. The first movie came out when I was 12. I saw it in theaters 9 times. I had never been so enthralled by a story. I introduced my kids to it and have been there at premier night for every movie. Luke Skywalker is my guy. So...

I stay up all night writing. I wanted it to be historic and inspiring but also lay out the stakes. Next morning, @TheRickWilson makes great edits and improvements, assigns an editor, and I send it to the lovely @MarilouHamill for Mark's approval. He likes it. So we wait.

Saturday the team took a horseback trail ride break in the mountains above Park City, UT. We had lunch at the beautiful @drinkhighwest and I'm in the shop when my phone rings. "Hi Fred, this is Mary Lou Hamill. Mark has some questions for you," then..."Hi Fred, this is Mark."

Friends, I'm literally jumping up and down in the store like an idiot. My son thinks I've lost it. I'm pointing at my phone mouthing "It's LUKE SKYWALKER!" So, I'm like "Hey Mark...what's up?" All cool. We work through some technical hurdles for the shoot and I go home and wait.

It was Halloween and I'm home alone waiting. At about 9:30 Mark sends me the full length high def voice over. Then the video clips. I can't tell you the feeling I had when I heard the words I wrote coming from Mark Hamill's mouth. I was shook. He did it perfect.

I package it all up and ship it to our brilliant videographer. With COVID, Mark had to shoot it at home so it was a rough cut on all. He put together a brilliant approach and we issued it with just two days to go before the election demanding every vote gets counted. They did.

I'm grateful to Mark, Mary Lou and @ChelseaHamill for supporting an amateur political hack begging for last minute help. We made a great ad and I got to work with my personal hero. So, May the 4th be with you, @MarkHamill and thank you! Check out the ad!