Sample Book Chapters
Chapter 6 - Publicity
“It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.”
Voltaire
Publicity is the most cost-effective but is among the least predictable disciplines in film marketing. Film marketers don’t control the extent of press coverage, whether positive or negative, or the timing of its dissemination. However, when everything clicks, a publicity campaign saturates the marketplace with subtle third-party endorsements of films via upbeat media coverage.
Publicity campaigns cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per film. Publicity is the big area of opportunity for film marketers because of the emergence of the Internet. Film marketers can get Web sites to post raw movie materials because entertainment content is in demand by consumers. Furthermore, film marketers and their agents can interact directly with consumers online, who may not necessarily know they have hooked up to a film’s publicity machine.
The publicity campaign cascades in waves following a standard chronology for just about every film. Long-lead media outlets such as monthly magazines are serviced first and short-lead media such as daily newspapers last. News and feature story journalists from each category screen films together, often at parallel screenings held in Los Angeles and New York. Reviewers from the same media outlets screen movies separately closer to premiere.
The biggest opportunity for film marketers is the Internet, which enables entertainment-hungry moviegoers to feast on movie content via high-speed connections. Movie sites present film trailers, additional footage, talent interviews, Making Of documentaries, and comments and mini-reviews by moviegoers themselves.
A centerpiece of Internet marketing is the official movie Web site, which typically costs $20,000 to $100,000 to build. At the very high end, the major studios can spend as much as $500,000. Audiences for sci-fi, horror, and fantasy films tend to be early adopters of technology and expect movie Web sites to be elaborate.
The Web sites incorporate many of the elements found in press kits—star biographies, pictures, and story description—but are geared for moviegoers and not professional journalists. Web sites also list film classification information prominently (which is mandatory for films rated in the United States), theater playdates, trailers, sweepstakes/contests, games, and downloads of movie-themed images and audio. Once a film opens, critic reviews may be posted as well.
The trend-setting “The Blair Witch Project,” the 1999 blockbuster that created an enormous buzz from Internet marketing, pioneered the strategy of adding new content gradually to its official movie Web site over time. This gave Web surfers an incentive to return to peruse the new material.
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Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Note: Book passages and tables are updated where appropriate, and some bridge text may be added to smooth transitions in the accompanying excerpt.
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Chapter extracts in this website amount to 4,000 words distilled from 102,000 words in the print book.
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TABLE: Press Kit Inventory
‑Lead – Two page overview description of movie written in a quasi-news style that describes a film’s plot and genre and lists top creative talent in brief
‑Production Information – No more than five pages of description of where principal photography occurred and when, with some interesting anecdotes
‑About the Cast – Mini biographies of main cast and creative talent, including other film credits and personal information
‑Cast and Credits – a full list of cast, crew and producers; this should be flagged as being preliminary
‑Long Biographies – More detailed biographies of stars and any other significant talent
‑Clips – reprints of favorable articles about the film, such as from film festivals
‑Photo Log – inventory of still photos that are included or available
‑Video Clips – DVD of video clips
Source: Marketing to Moviegoers
TABLE-- Official Chronology 80th Academy Awards®
Date Event
Dec. 3, 2007 Official Screen Credits Due
Dec. 26, 2007 Nominations ballots mailed
Jan. 12, 2008 Nomination polls close 5 p.m. PST
Jan. 22, 2008 Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PST
Jan. 30, 2008 Final ballots mailed
Feb. 4, 2008 Nominees luncheon
Feb. 9, 2008 Scientific-Tech Achievements Awards
Feb. 19, 2008 Final polls close 5 p.m. PST
Feb. 24, 2008 80th Academy Awards (ABC Television)
Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
