DPW Raises Over $500,000 With Virtual VEEP Cast Reunion Print
Elections, Elected Officials, Political Parties
Written by WisDems Press, Philip Shulman   
Monday, 05 October 2020 16:06

veep-cast-eventWISCONSIN -- Today, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin announced it is releasing a special recording of the virtual VEEP cast reunion. The digital event was a huge success and raised over $500,000 for the party that will be used to defeat Trump this November. Wisconsinites and people across the country can use this link to donate and watch the full event.

Read more about the event below:

The Hollywood Reporter: Inside the 'Veep' Virtual Reunion That Raised $500K (and Counting) for the Biden Campaign

  • The seeds for the virtual Veep reunion that live streamed on Sunday night had been in the works for weeks. Which is why it was very Veep-like that, only days before the cast-wide event, President Trump revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
  • "It really upstaged us in a very almost Tom Hanks kind of way," showrunner and executive producer David Mandel tells The Hollywood Reporter.
  • Trump was only invoked when summing up the legacy of Selina Meyer: The "second worst president of the United States," said Mandel; Louis-Dreyfus added of her character, "Selina began as somebody who was very self-centered and that focus on herself was completely reinforced by everyone around her. Nobody shut her down ever. Who does that sound like? So that massive ego grew and grew and grew until she absolutely did herself in with her own self at the end of the series."
  • Mandel, who took over as showrunner and executive producer for the final three seasons of Veep, was approached about one month ago by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to hold Sunday's reunion event to benefit the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. "Anything you donate will be used to ensure that Trump loses Wisconsin, and thereby the White House," read the public invite for the event.
  • Reuniting on behalf of Wisconsin, a key state in the 2020 presidential election between Trump and Democratic nominee Biden, Louis-Dreyfus and the cast ended up raising more than $500,000 for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin by the end of the broadcast, and urged fans tuning in to volunteer for the cause. The event live streamed once and required a donation for access (more on that below).
  • Moderated by Mandel, Sunday's event included the cast answering fan questions about the series — which wrapped its seventh and final season in May of 2019 — and performing a virtual table read of five deleted scenes, including from the final episode.
  • The reunion opened with a pre-taped bit of Walsh reassuming the podium as his press secretary character Mike McLintock to explain the ground rules ("Everyone watching must follow COVID-19 regulations for their particular state") and warn of foul language ahead ("It's kind of what made the show famous").
  • As promised, highlights from the gathering included a cast-wide competition to deliver the best Jonah Ryan insult for the character played by Timothy Simons ("Stillborn flamingo," a submission from special guest, and real-life Wisconsin congresswoman, Gwen Moore, was the winning jab); and an expletive-filled plea of electoral wisdom for Wisconsin voters from the duo of Congressman Roger Furlong (Bakkedahl) and his aide Will (Franklin).
  • At the end of the night, the Veep star reiterated, "Wisconsin is going to be close, and it’s the best way to get Joe Biden in the White House."
  • Visit wisdems.org/veep and, with a donation, gain access to an exclusive replay of the reunion. On the replay page, fans can enter a raffle to win autographed prizes, including posters, bobbleheads and a script from the final season autographed by the cast
Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 October 2020 16:16