For weeks, the movie “Hot Tub Time Machine” has been filling up the commercials. Why? Great question. Not only does this movie look terrible, but the jokes that are supposed to draw you into the theatres are not funny. The plot is of four friends using a hot tub and it miraculously taking them back to the 1980’s. Throw an over-the hill John Cusack, and some D list celebrities and this is the movie you get. http://hottubtimemachinemovie.com/
The commercials have been frequent, and on nearly every channel you can watch. You could not escape seeing at least two commercials every hour that you watch TV. This movie was hyped up quite a bit and I am curious as to why. The website is quite clever with a hot tub temperature gauge as the loading icon and a hot tub bubbling the whole time as well as quotes from the movie. MGM is putting very heavy emphasis on spreading this movie around by word of mouth which is the way recent popular movies like the Hangover were promoted. The trailer was released on the Internet and to blogs. The release to the Internet creates buzz and in term stirs interest up. The buzz through Twitter and Facebook were through the roof according to MGM’s marketing team. http://mashable.com/2010/01/22/hot-tub-time-machine/ . Personally, I am not buying into the hype.
As Daniel Kimmel from the New England Movies Weekly said,
by: Elissa Goldberg
After dating for a long time, Zoe (played by Jennifer Lopez) hasn’t found the right man who she wants to marry nor have children with. She is strong-minded to become a mother and makes a plan to have a child on her own.
From the Publicity side of the movie, the CBS Films website is great. There is a lot of fun and exciting tabs on the site that really help you want to go see the movie. The tabs include: games, gallery, about the film, downloads, Hudson Mutts and downloads. The partners tab promotes different companies such as, Motherhood Maternity clothing store, Arden B., and the Humane Society of the United States. Having this tab on the movie’s website is a good way to publicize what brands that are occurring in this movie. Facebook has a fan page which will lead you back to the CBS website. There is this game on Facebook called Love Shot, which lets you unlock clips from the movie. This game is certainly a good way to promote the movie because viewers will be seeing clips and hoping to want to go see it in theaters. Finally twitter has a page where you can follow the movie and write reviews. This movie is Due in theaters April 23. Click here to see the trailer for more!
by: Joanna Grillo
Writer-director Matthew Vaughn has a new movie coming out this Friday, Kick-Ass. That’s a lot of pressure to be, well, “kick-ass” right in the title, luckily for Vaughn and Lions Gate productions it looks to be pretty awesome. The movie, though about super heroes isn’t just for nerds.
What’s interesting about the PR is that a lot of the ad’s have been shown to specific markets. This past week on E!’s The Soup they had their weekly segment "clip of the week" sponsored by Kick-ass. The soup’s audience is young, into pop-culture and generally looking for what Joel says is the next train wreck shoe to watch, so when he says something is good, its gotta be.
There have also been cross promotions with the NHL, they don’t seem like your typical “graphic novel” fans but it works-mostly. The ad was for the best saves of the year and has the movies super hero’s saving people spliced in. It makes sense and it takes what otherwise might seem like a dorky subject and makes it a little more tough and cool. Still, hockey isn’t as main stream as say baseball or basket ball so it kind of makes you wonder how this whole thing came about.
MTV is also on the Kick-Ass bandwagon, dedicating their site, splashpage.mtv.com to kick-ass for the week. The site has posts and clips all about the film. MTV news has been doing reports on the film as well as its stars. This, demographically, makes a bit more sense then the NHL promos.
There is still a common theme to these otherwise uncommon promotions though. If you keep the ads to specific groups I think it keeps the movie looking like something cool, less main stream though it clearly is. What more could a super hero wanna be want than to be cool and in-the-know.
Q&A with Steven Rea from the Philadelphia Inquirer
1 comments Posted by cinema HYPE at 4/14/2010 01:44:00 PM
Questions by: Marc Ashed
Steven Rea is a movie critic that writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer and can be easily read off of philly.com.
Q: Do you have a certain criteria or checklist of sorts to review movies?
A: Not anything that's written in stone, or set in concrete. My response to a film remains to a large degree instinctive. If a movie works -- no matter what genre, or what the filmmakers set out to accomplish -- it works, and I try to articulate why. If it doesn't, it doesn't, and I try to articulate why as well.
Q: As a critic, do you see any correlation between money spent advertising and ticket revenue? Can a bad movie still make money due to the constant advertising?
A: Massive hype can make a difference with opening weekend box office, and opening weekends now count for so much of a film's ultimate take. But audiences can still sense a real stinker, no matter how aggressively it's being marketed to them.
Q:Do you feel that movies are beginning to incorporate more than just entertainment value and are now trying to persuade or spin their own messages (the way people say Avatar is a sort of protest against American military actions is an example)?
A: It's not a question of "now." Movies -- some movies -- have always pushed an agenda, subtlely or overtly. After all, there are people with ideas trying to express their passions and concerns, their politics and beliefs, in these films.
Q:You graduated with a degree in Creative Writing; how do you feel that your education has prepared you to write movie reviews?
A: I've been a film lover my entire life, took film classes in school, was a projectionist for the film society and just had the good luck to combine my two passions -- writing and film -- into a job.
Q: With advanced technology, it is much easier for independent film producers to make their movies; do you feel that the big movie companies are in danger?
A: Not in danger of going under, but in danger of only making movies on an epic scale -- big "event" pictures and sequels and remakes -- and losing the impetus to make movies on a more modest scale.
Q: Are there any movies on the horizon that you think will be big hits?
A: I think "Kick-Ass," opening this weekend, will do well, and it's a given that the next "Harry Potter" and "Iron Man 2" will be huge.
Q: What are your personal top 5 favorite movies?
A: It's difficult to answer that question -- I have a rotating list of favorite films. But certainly some at the top include "Sullivan's Travels," "The Wizard of Oz," "Citizen Kane" and "In a Lonely Place," and more recently "There Will Be Blood," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "Goodbye Solo."
Q&A with Joann Butler, Founder and President of Consultancy Media
0 comments Posted by cinema HYPE at 4/14/2010 10:41:00 AMConsultancy Media is a creative services company that understands their client’s expectations and exceeds them. From conceptualizing multi-media strategies to executing productions of all forms, and cultivating exceptional media placements for brands and their messages on desired outlets.
Founder, Joann Butler is an awarding-winning lifestyle journalist and video producer who has been creating multi-media content for a diverse clientele for more than fifteen years. The world’s most recognized names have relied on Butler to lead media and marketing strategies for their brands. Her long- standing relationships with multi-media outlets and editorial experts garner results for her clients.
As a Lifestyle Editor and Reporter, Butler has traveled the world, covering red carpets, fashion runways, political conventions, and breaking news. She has interviewed everyone from President Bill Clinton and Princess Diana to Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney and has directed a long list of notable journalists, including the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, who called her, "one of his favorite editors."
Q:How did you get involved in the media/publicity industry?
A:I interned at a television station while in college, I worked in nearly ever department from PR to public affairs, and then ended up in the newsroom. From there I went to the other side--corporate media and broadcast PR.
Q:How are red carpet events used to generate movie publicity?
A:Everyone loves to interview and report on celebrities..so when movie companies promote a new movie, media outlets want to report on it.
It's a two-way street, the media gets to talk to celebrities and broadcast or print the content which is great for their viewership and readership, and the movie companies get great publicity for their films.
Q:What kind of questions do you ask actors and directors about the movie?
A:Usually ask them how they got involved with them film, what the experience was like, how they relate to the characters they play etc..
If we're covering a movie premiere for a client, we are simply functioning as the movie companies "house crew" which means we're hired by the publicity department to cover the event, as a media outlet would, then make footage available to those outlets that were unable to attend the premiere on their own.
Q:What type of content do you include in the VNRs for your clients?
A:A well produced content package for a movie premiere would include
ALL of the celebs that walked the red carpet, interviews with all of them and obviously the stars and key players of the fim, whether it be a Director or writer of interest, along with the movie trailor.
Q:How do you distribute and control the audience who view the VNRs you produce?
A:We create very specific distribution strategies, plans and methods depending on our clients needs.
Each is different, and each affects the way in which it's produced.
Q:Who was your favorite red carpet interview with and why?
A:Hmmmm that's a difficult one. I think Alec Baldwin, about 20 years ago when -I had my first job. After I got a wonderful interview with him on a crazy and crowded red carpet. My videographer informed me that he had no audio.
By this time, alec was way down the line, and about to head inside (to the Tony Awards) after shouting his name several times (alongside everyone else that had yet to interview him) He walked all the way back to us and graciously let us do it all over again! I never forget that story and tell it often.
The Smurfs movie is finally here! At least the production has begun. A new press release has announced that the film, set to hit theaters in the summer of 2011, has begun production in New York.
The press release has named the numerous actors involved in this film. Hank Azaria, as Gargamel, Neil Patrick Harris and Sofia Vergara will all be playing live-roles. While the actors to lend their voices to the different Smurfs include Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, George Lopez and Kevin James.
The biggest rumor buzzing around this movie was whether or not Quentin Tarantino will be the voice of Brainy Smurf. Sources such as the Los Angeles Times deny this rumor, even though popular website IMDB has had the director as the know-it-all smurf. However, the press release has broke the news that Fred Armisen will be playing this character. Which in my opinion sounds a lot better than Tarantino.
This film has a long way to go before we will be able to see it in theaters, and I can not wait to see what other hype follows The Smurfs.
Q: How did you become interested in writing & producing movies?
A: I like specifically working with documentaries. These types of stories fascinate me and I am a minor history buff.
A: A small unfunded documentary film takes about 1 year to produce. A movie is typically 20 minutes long and the maximum is 30 minutes long.
Q: How did working on Stills of the Movement: The Civil Rights Photojournalism of Flip Schulke impact
your personal life?
Q: What film festivals have you attended & what awards have you received?
A: 1st place in the National Broadcasting Society, which won best documentary for a drama or comedy. Footnotes on Revolution won honorable mention with the National Broadcasting Society and won 1st place for best student film at Rider's Symposium.
Q: If you could work with any producer in the film industry, who would it be?
A: Judd Apatow- He writes contemporary "R" rated comedies which are raunchy and have "heart". The movies that he writes also are good stories about relationships.
Q: What is your favorite genre of movies?
A: Drama because I like to be moved and also like for movie to have meaning to it. For a movie to be good: all I ask for is for the movie is not to bore me!
For more information on Dr. Kildea and Still of the Movement visit: Story Teller: Shawn Kildea & Still of The Movement.