Pathe Promos New Horror Film with PlayStation Portable Downloads

According to Netimperative, French film company Pathe is promoting their latest horror flick 'The Descent' by creating special trailers for use on the PlayStation Portable:

Anna Butler, marketing director at Pathe, said: “We wanted to try something new with out trailer downloads, we already commit a substantial amount of work to promoting each film digitally and this seemed like a natural progression.

"PSPs are an exciting development and we wanted to start using this new medium.”

Interactive agency Greenroom Digital helped make the promotion happen, and Pathe will team up with them again in the near future to promote upcoming releases 'The Crash' and 'The Business.'

You can download the trailer here if you happen to have a PSP and want to see it.

[Via Netimperative]

British Online Renter Video Island to Boost Marketing Spend

After securing £15 million in venture capital, upstart British online DVD rental company Video Island announced a £6 million increase in marketing spending:

Saul Klein, chief executive of Video Island, said that the majority of the £6m marketing push would be spent within the context of its partnerships, which include companies such as Boots, Currys and Times Newspapers.

The company, which also owns ScreenSelect, said it would look at testing other forms of above-the-line advertising, including television. It has already run some radio, outdoor and print advertising, created in house, but Klein said the focus would remain on performance-based advertising and partner marketing.

Video Island is the biggest online rental service in Europe, with a selection of over 33,000 titles. The company recently partnered with ITV and MSN UK to offer co-branded rental services.


[Via Digital Bulletin]

UK Cinema Chains to Promote New Releases via Wireless

According to Media Week, UK Cinema chains UCI and Odeon will being giving away a "digital entertainment pack" with every movie ticket sold. The pack will give consumers access to movie content via WAP:

Duncan Cheadle, sales director of Urban Mobile, said: “We're beta testing a new service where customers will be sent a message containing a video preview of a new film, from which they can visit the WAP site.

“Demand for mobile entertainment is set to explode over the next two years and UCI and Odeon recognised that here is a great opportunity to market to customers, with information they want in a format they want it.”

With the next generation of video-enabled phones on the way, users will soon be craving content - we should be getting a blizzard of announcements like these over the next 18 months. The implications for movie marketers is clear -- video previews and trailers will be a popular entertainment choice for mobile video consumers.

[Via Media Week]

Europeans see Web as a Means to Beat Hollywood

In a statement released at Cannes today, European culture ministers and film industry execs claimed that the web will be a critical component in freeing Hollywood's grip on their domestic film industries:

"The advent of film online offers immense opportunities for the film industry both with regard to access to new audiences and with regard to wider circulation of European films, including on international markets," they said in a statement.
"Audiences are often currently deprived of access to certain films -- either for geographical reasons or because more artistic or experimental films have difficulty in being screened widely."

Personally, I think this statement reads like its the "world wide web" circa 1996. Online distribution is not a panacea, but rather just another form of "bucket" that content is carried in, just like DVDs, VHS Tapes, and 16mm prints that preceded it. The studios have become adept at using technology, and their adoption of the internet as a marketing channel hasn't been any different. Okay -- I admit, they were initially slow in "getting" it (and a few still haven't), but it would be hard to deny that their online marketing skills are getting better by the day. Realistically, if European countries wish to compete in the digital film distribution arena, they need to be more effective and innovative in finding online audiences than American movie studios. A proprietary content delivery system and quality content are paramount as well...

[Via Yahoo! News]