In the New York Times today:
Movie studios typically advertise on television and in newspapers in search of the biggest possible opening-weekend audience. For a new film, « The Constant Gardener, » Focus Features is intent on building its audience in a different way: by taking aim at readers of niche Web sites and blogs.
Focus, an art-house unit of Universal Pictures, has purchased ads for « The Constant Gardener » on the political blog Wonkette, as well as the Web sites of politically oriented publications like Harper’s, The Nation and National Review.
Ever since the release of « The Blair Witch Project » in 1999, movie studios have strived, and failed, to replicate the groundbreaking Internet campaign that made that film a marketing phenomenon. These new ad campaigns on the Web suggest that studios are becoming more determined to identify and reach niche audiences online.
Once the Mafiaboy movie gets the green light (if it ever does), the producers want me to publish a blog during the production process. It’s already integrated in the marketing plan. Makes a lot of sense, considering the subject matter of the movie. The people who spend time on the Web (and the people who love them…) will most likely be the first to develop an interest in this film. (As long as it doesn’t take 10 years to get made, in which case it will end up on the History Channel.)
Be prepared to have the Web site defaced a few times by hackers ;)
Please say the Mafiaboy site isn’t being planned as a useless and monolithic Flash thing? Pretty please. The producers sounds a little more clued up than most if they’ve asked you to blog during production.
Nothing winds me up more when I’m trying to find out information on a film than having to wade past fixed-size popups, loading screens, moving navigation and un-bookmarkable slide shows and crew biogs. Thank god for the IMDB and the fan sites.
I’ve pretty much given up on any of the major studios getting a clue, but I’m starting to see more and more independents doing it. And for what reason I cannot fathom. If you want to get the word out to as many people as possible why deliberately introduce barriers to what could potentially be your biggest and most cost-effective marketing tool? Especially when you’re on a very limited budget. I just don’t get it.
Ooops… apologies, that rant has been simmering away in my head for a while now.
I’m sure it’ll all be fine. I’ll just go and sit in the corner with a nice cup of green tea *:)
Karl: It probably will be attacked… but the marketers would probably see it as a good publicity stunt! (Parlez-en en bien, parlez-en en mal, mais parlez-en!)
Garrett: How’s the tea? ;-)
It’s a bit early to know what the blog would look like, though the movie distributor’s current Web site is indeed full of splash screens, Flash, and other walls between people and content. I’m expecting this to change in the next 5 years, as movie people get more Web savvy…
But they know a blog is generally a low key thing and if I have a say in it (and I’ll fight for that), it will be nice and simple… and up to standards. I’ll have my friends at the W3C check it first! ;-)
honey, they should do a special premiere when the film is made, and invite only bloggers who have commented here :-)
(hey, a girl can dream! i’m not even working on the script and i’m eager to see it on screen, just reading you!)
Heh heh heh… Good idea! I’ll have to get a private screening. (yeah, like screenwriters ever get any special favours…)
Maybe they should have a contest: the first 50 people to hack the future site get tickets! (I’m only kidding. Don’t start hacking my blog now. Please.)
The script is pretty hacker friendly the way it is written right now. But who knows if that’s the version that will get made?
Yes the first attack��will be the director defacing your script :p
I don’t understand why studios put so much emphasis on opening weekend?
I rarely ever go to movies in the weekend and usually wait a few weeks. I don’t like crowded theatres and don’t want to pay a premium for that. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The Mafiaboy website should be designed pre-hacked of course. With lot’s of randomness scripted in and a forum � la /.
Ha ha ha, Karl! Let’s all pray you’re not right (unless he makes it better, of course). Believe me, it is very hard to find a director with a more than basic curiosity about the Web. Most of them are amazingly « unplugged », even the youngest ones. I’ve heard my share of « but it’s not the real world » comments. It’s weird (and a little scary for me, considering the nature of this project).
Mare: Opening weekend is indeed a silly concept, but that’s what they seem to evaluate the success of a movie on.
Pre-hacked website. I like that.
Want me to direct it?
The tea was good thanks, did the trick
And ya-boo-sucks to opening weekends too. *:)
Yeah watch, they take so long to create and release MafiaBoy that the technology itself sits there on the big screen like that scene from War Games now where Matthew Broderick sticks that big-assed beige phone receiver on his modem before he rings up and « hacks » into the « big » 10MB US military mainframe. lol! ;P