News

WSJ: 'Nude' Short Serves As Film's Prequel

Sept. 24, 2007 -- The director of Fox Searchlight film Darjeeling Limited—about three brothers taking a spiritual journey through India -- is offering a 13-minute short as a free download Sept. 26 on Apple’s iTunes that is a prequel. To juice interest in the short Hotel Chevalier, actress Natalie Portman appears in an extended nude scene, though she only makes a brief appearance in Darjeeling, which premieres Sept. 29. “The use of Hotel Chevalier as a promotional tool…is an attempt to put one of (the director’s) creative works to use and stir up intrigue around the main movie,” notes a Wall Street Journal article. Director Wes Anderson self-financed and produced  Chevalier in two-and-one-half days entirely in a Paris hotel room one year before Darjeeling.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119059131017936814.html?mod=mm_media_marketing_hs_left

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/business/media/22darjeeling.html?ref=media

Note from author Robert Marich. The idea of using shorts films to promote features are constantly discussed and tried, but only work if the shorts garner attention, which this one should given Natalie Portman’s generous contribution.