For one evening in January, the world of movie premiers wasn't LA or New York. It was the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth where Cami and John Goff - he's chairman and CEO of Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. - staged an invitation-only showing of the Glenn Close film Albert Nobbs.
The Goffs decided to invest after meeting Close and producer Bonnie Curtis during a dinner party at the home of Curtis" uncle, Dallas businessman John Amend. They are credited as executive producers on the film.
Making the movie about a woman who passes as a man to find work in 19th century Ireland was a long-held dream for Close, who is co-writer of the script as well as star of the movie.
"I first played it on stage a lot of years ago," she said at the Jan. 8 event. "It's just a fascinating very challenging character. That was 30 years ago. I haven't come across a character like her since then. Very challenging, very complex and yet it's quite a simple story.
"But it has huge emotional resonance. As an actor, you just want to connect with people," Close said.
"We've never invested in films," John Goff said. "But we had a unique relationship with someone who was involved with the film, asked us to meet with Glenn and Bonnie, the producer, and we had dinner and one thing led to another.
"We read the script, and we loved the story. It's a wonderful story."
It also was wonderful to be able to bring the event to Fort Worth, Cami Goff said.
"They came down to Texas about 18 months ago, and they were really surprised by all of the people who gave them a warm welcome and how open we were to their project," she said. "We're thrilled to bring this to Texas."
Curtis is a Texas native who graduated from Abilene Christian University and spent 15 years working with Steven Spielberg. Her list of credits is extensive and impressive and includes being co-producer on the 1998 blockbuster Saving Private Ryan, for which she received the Producer of the Year award from the Producers Guild of America.
"I'm thrilled," Curtis said. "It's very emotional. I'm very proud to be able to show off talent like Glenn and [director] Rodrigo [Garcia] to my home state.
"We did our premier in New York about three weeks ago, and when we came walking in, several people who were there, they were like "Oh, this is a lot better than New York." I was like, "It's because we're in Texas," " she said.
It was Close's first visit to Fort Worth.
"I have a cowboy hat," she said. "It was my dad's, so it's a little the worse for wear."
Will there be more film involvement from the Goffs?
"We've got several scripts," Cami Goff said, "so we'll see."
- FYI Fort Worth
See video of the gala event on
FYI Fort Worth in February.
