Killer Biopic Stirs Controversy in Canada

According to the Montreal Gazette, 'Karla', a film about notorious Canadian killers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo was pulled from the screening schedule of the Montreal Film Festival due to a political and sponsor backlash:

In recent months, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had been urging people not to go see the movie, which documents the story of Canada's most notorious couple and the brutal killings of schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.

McGuinty congratulated the Montreal film festival organizers Thursday for cancelling the screening, which had been scheduled for later this month.

"These crimes were searing events in the life of this province," McGuinty said. "I have not understood how people would want to profit from that."

Sellers said he knew Air Canada, a sponsor of the Montreal festival, did not want its logo to be posted during the screening of Karla, and he believes the airline was among those sponsors pressuring the festival to drop the movie.

So has all of the negative publicity hurt the producer's chances for finding an audience? According to Quantum Entertainment producer Michael Sellers, Apparently not:

Sellers also said all the publicity generated by politicians like McGuinty speaking against the movie, and the cancellation by the Montreal festival, have actually helped his cause.

"I've had two other film festivals and two or three other distributors call already this morning, so the news value of this and the controversy may in the end be positive," he said.

Will politicians ever learn? If you don't want people to go see a movie, leave it alone. Instead, there are now over 300 articles on Google News, providing hundreds of free column inches -- the dream of every indie movie marketer. Right now, it looks like the producers are working the "freedom of artistic expression" and "no one's dragging you to see this" PR angles, which are straight out of the ol' Miramax playbook. Changing the films name from the generic "Deadly" to "Karla" was a pretty brash move, however, and looks like a blatant move to capitalize on the publicity surrounding Karla Homolka's recent release from prison. We don't care about all that though -- we're still shell-shocked from reading that the flick stars Laura Prepon from "The 70's Show" -- count us in!

[Via the Montreal Gazette]

['Karla' Official Site]

Racy 'Harold and Kumar' DVD Poster Stirs Free Speech Debate

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, racy posters advertising the 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle' DVD have riled up some of the faculty and student body at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

The poster, which advertises DVDs of the movie "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," depicts the torso of a woman, whose face isn't shown, with a DVD - one for the regular version of the movie and one for the unrated version - covering each naked breast. The poster reads, "Either way, you score."

The poster was placed in campus common areas by 360 Youth, a New York-based ad company catering to the college market. Several other unnamed universities have already pulled the ads, but SIU Edwardsville has not made a final determination yet. The ads have spurred a free speech debate on the campus, and the school's paper has rallied behind the ads. However, the school has said they will pull the ads if a majority of the students and faculty call for it.

Whatever the final outcome may be, one thing is certain: the ads, though tacky, have definitely been effective. While suggestive, the ads are not really any worse than a swimsuit issue, and they definitely capture the attention of their target market. In fact, compared to the relatively tame, off-target key art for the theatrical release, the DVD ads have been well thought out. This is just one more example of studios rethinking the DVD campaign on its own terms, especially when the theatrical campaign underperformed.

Racy ads stir free speech debate at SIUE

Palm Pictures Appeals MPAA Rating of GUNNER PALACE

Indie distributor Palm Pictures will appeal the MPAA's decision to give Iraq War film 'Gunner's Palace' an R rating for language. Here's the director's response, according to Palm's press release:

"No doubt, there is strong language in the film, but taken in context of the subject, soldiers at war, the language is not gratuitous," said Michael Tucker, Co-Director of GUNNER PALACE. "We may not like or agree with what the soldiers say in this film. Some of us may even find their language offensive. However, their voices deserve to be heard--without restriction--in the country that sent them to war. This is a film about war and the reactions of the young people fighting in it. Those reactions are expressed through the language of the day. To restrict access to the film via an "R" rating is essentially censoring the experience of the American soldier. As Americans, one way we can support the troops, is by listening to what they have to say. To do this, to honor and respect their experience and sacrifice, we ask the MPAA to constructively work with us to bring the soldiers story to an audience that will include teens who are mature enough to see this film."

I see the director's point and understand the marketing need for a wider audience, but I think the MPAA isn't going to budge on this one. If any teen was going to go see this, I would expect them to be at the age threshold where they could get in on their own anyway.

You can read the full release here.

MCN Press Release.

Lion's Gate Sends Severed Hands to Journalists to Promote "Saw"

Okay - hands down - most creative promo of the quarter goes to Lion's Gate. Seems they sent out a bunch of fake severed body parts to promote upcoming horror flick "Saw." According to Lloyd Grove of the New York Daily News:

But yesterday morning - after opening up a cardboard box left on my chair, only to find, along with the "Saw" press release, a severed hand in a bloody Ziploc bag - I decided to give Lions Gate Films an award of my own.
The coveted Lowdown Prize for Most Disgusting Movie Promotion goes to Lions Gate President Tom Ortenberg and Creative Marketing Vice President Tim Palen.

So what was the marketing principle behind the stunt? Ortenberg replied:

"We're always looking to use innovative, effective, cost-efficient things in the marketing and distribution of our pictures," said Ortenberg. "We don't spend nearly as much as our competitors. We can be a little bit outside the box."

Hmm. Press kits are usually paper, maybe a folder, a CD-ROM and some extra collateral. We're talking maybe four or five bucks tops (with shipping) -- but a severed hand? Sounds "dicey"!

New York Daily News - Lloyd Grove's Lowdown

GOP-Friendly PR Firm Behind Efforts at 'Fahrenheit 911' Boycott

The marketing buzz surrounding 'Fahrenheit 911' is already blazing hot, and recent revelations of Republican shenanigans stand to take it up a few degrees. A boycott website called "Stop Michael Moore," ostensibly ran by a citizen's group called "Move America Forward," is in actuality controlled by the GOP-friendly PR firm Russo Marsh & Rogers. Atrios, a political blog, pointed out this fact after they looked up the registrant of the domain name, which turned out to be RM&R. The firm was the publicity arm of the successful effort to recall California Governor Gray Davis last year, and they work almost exclusively with the Republican party.

The boycott website lists contact information for the theaters that currently have the film booked. Here's an excerpt for you:

This movie is nothing more than a political campaign advertisement against the war on terrorism, our troops and President Bush. So why on earth are ANY movie theaters showing this film? "Fahrenheit 9/11" should be shown as a recruiting video for Al-Qaeda, not in our movie theaters. Please join us in telling the movie theater companies below your opinion as it relates to their attempt to profit from the showing of "Fahrenheit 9/11."

This last line was somewhat cryptic, especially considering it's placement right above the theater contact information:

We would like to thank those individuals at Lions Gate Entertainment and IFC Films who support our efforts.

Did somebody at Lion's Gate or IFC drop the exhibitor list in Russo Marsh & Rogers' Laps?

It's a brave new film marketing world, and if you rock the boat, political parties and corporations will fire back with millions of dollars in ad spending to discredit your work and film. but how will these anti-Moore efforts pan out? Their tactics will only build awareness for the film, which will in turn increase demand for tickets. In fact, IFC/Lion's Gate had to set up an online group ticket sales site early in order to meet the intense demand. Exhibitors are seeing dollar signs, and nothing short of death threats and mob violence will get them to change their booking now.

Related Link:
Daily Kos || Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

Indie Film 'September Tapes' upstages Recent Hollywood Efforts at Viral Marketing

Hollywood's efforts to recreate the viral marketing success of "The Blair Witch Project" have been lackluster at best. So it doesn't surprise me that an indie film company may have beat them to the punch. First Look Media, the company behind "The Prophecy" and "Waking Ned Devine," may have a word-of-mouth and internet-driven hit with their upcoming film "September Tapes."

The film, apparently a blend of fact and fiction, chronicles the efforts and subsequent capture of a documentary director in Afghanistan. Fake or not, their recent viral email campaign released a clip that looks more real than network news footage. Think "Blair Witch meets Saving Private Ryan."

First Look has combined this footage with a cryptic, shadowy website (obviously done for peanuts) that really lends to the intrigue. It seems like a viral email regarding the site and a "leaked" film clip is spreading like wildfire, too. Even with a bit of research, I still can't figure out what's real, what's fake and if the director was ever actually kidnapped while filming in Afghanistan. First Look ain't making it any easier, either. According to this article, First Look's keeping mum about the whole campaign. Here's their "official line" regarding the film:

"September Tapes" provides a rare and controversial look behind the scenes of war-torn Afghanistan, where documentary filmmaker Don Larson traveled to the troubled country six months after 9/11 and followed a bounty hunter on the trail of Osama bin Laden. Much of the film’s footage was held by the U.S. Department of Defense after Larson went missing in Afghanistan. It is the first non-Afghani film shot in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, and it is also the first feature shot in an active war zone."

If the rest of the film looks as good as the trailer, we might have a sleeper hit on our hands in August.

nbc13.com - Entertainment - Mysterious War Footage May Be Part Of Movie Campaign

Is the 'Fahrenheit 911' Ban a Marketing Stunt?

The Independent UK is reporting that the recent controversy surrounding Michael Moore's new film was a publicity stunt:

Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year ago that Disney had no intention of distributing it.

I'm not sure how this will shake out -- Moore has a pretty avid fan base, but this may further damage his already shaky credibility among many.

Publicity stunts usually have a negligible effect on box office -- for example, Godsend's fake website seems to have been little help in that regard.

Related Link
News

Is the 'Fahrenheit 911' Ban a Marketing Stunt?

The Independent UK is reporting that the recent controversy surrounding Michael Moore's new film was a publicity stunt:

Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year ago that Disney had no intention of distributing it.

I'm not sure how this will shake out -- Moore has a pretty avid fan base, but this may further damage his already shaky credibility among many.

Publicity stunts usually have a negligible effect on box office -- for example, Godsend's fake website seems to have been little help in that regard.

Related Link
News

Report: Expensive Marketing Stunts don't Pay

For execs out there tempted to pull a pricey marketing stunt to coincide with your next release, you might want to read this article. According to Robert Pasikoff, president of Brand Keys, Inc., expensive publicity and marketing stunts are probably a big waste of time and money:

"When we did outdoor [ad] boards for clients, no matter what the product, we always made sure to buy the board that was across the street from the client's own office window," said Rob Frankel, author of The Revenge of Brand X: How to Build a Big Time Brand on the Net or Anywhere Else. "There's a huge amount of ego that goes into this kind of stuff," he said. "A lot of them [execs] just want to be there and say, 'Did you see us on the Hollywood sign?' It will have no impact on their bottom line at all."

There's an exception to every rule, and in the case of movie marketing, B-movie producers have always done pretty well with stunts. Troma, the mini-studio who churns out straight-to-video schlock and horror titles, has been successful at getting attention at high profile festivals in the past. And they probably spend nothing out of pocket, either.

Related Links:

Many 'marketing' stunts are little more than expensive ego trips for senior executives: The National Post

Settlement reached in Sony phony critic case

All studios are pretty liberal with their "pull-quoting," the process of extracting positive comments from critic's reviews for use in print ads. However, finding usable pull quotes for duds like The Animal and Hollow Man apparently proved so troublesome for Sony's marketing department that they created film critic "David Manning" out of thin air in 2000 to lavish cooked-up praise. Now it looks like all of the ill-gotten gains (meager as they probably were) are being taken away:

Filed on the behalf of "all consumers nationwide who paid to see any movie" on Manning's recommendation, the class-action suit sought injunctive relief, restitution, and "complete disgorgement of [Sony's] ill-gotten gains" — for Sony to make restitution to everyone who bought a ticket to the falsely advertised movies.

Are people really swayed by critics' proclamations about movies like Big Daddy? Whenever I go to see something with a high "mindless fun" quotient, I don't really pay attention to reviews.

At any rate, it looks like the real David Manning has stood up, taken notice, and wants his good name back...

Related Link:

CNN.com - Moviegoers to settle with studio after being lured by phony critic

Glossy Movie Books as $29 Press Kits

I can't resist picking up those over-stuffed, puff-piece laden "film companion books" whenever I'm in Borders. Some have been quite well done (like some of the Tarantino books). But most radiate a level of slickness that's just plain off-putting. Now I've seen glossy, four-color press kits in the past that were just as laughably wasteful given the piss-poor quality of the films, but I never thought about theatrical publicity departments sending these babies out. The cost alone makes it a playground purely for the big boys, and even then, probably just as an award season deal-breaker. The article below hints at some of these books making their way into the hands of academy and guild voters.


Related links:
Variety -- Pix write in new chapter on marketing

MGM may revive Orion as Genre Label

Looks like the success of genre titles may prompt new specialty labels. With UA now an "independent/specialty" arm, it doesn't make sense for them to release teen and horror flicks under that banner anymore. For the longest time, studio brands (with the exception of Disney) have been mostly inconsequential in the marketing of films to consumers. Look for this to change in the coming year. Now if only Fox Searchlight would think about a genre label...


Yahoo! News - MGM Ponders Reviving Orion Label

MGM may revive Orion as Genre Label

Looks like the success of genre titles may prompt new specialty labels. With UA now an "independent/specialty" arm, it doesn't make sense for them to release teen and horror flicks under that banner anymore. For the longest time, studio brands (with the exception of Disney) have been mostly inconsequential in the marketing of films to consumers. Look for this to change in the coming year. Now if only Fox Searchlight would think about a genre label...


Yahoo! News - MGM Ponders Reviving Orion Label

Pushing Releases -- The Fox Searchlight Blog

It's no secret that Fox Searchlight out-marketed all of the other Indie shingles last year (with Newmarket being the only real point of contention). From Bend it Like Beckham to 28 Days Later, they've proven that they can "open a picture and give it legs."

My intuition tells me that they have a highly methodical structure to keeping and maintaining press buzz, and my recent discovery of their Corporate Blog adds some credence to that.

Think about it -- how many times have you gone to a studio, film or other film site looking for press releases, only to find out that the last update was months ago? If you're media, are you really going to make an effort to make frequent visits?

With their blog, Fox Searchlight has turned the drudgery of mining for releases into a press-friendly pastime. And they update it SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK.

I have one small recommendation though -- they should really add an RSS feed so journalists can easily configure their feed readers.

[The Fox Searchlight Blog]

Just who the hell is the HFPA, anyways?

I was watching the Golden Globes and my girlfriend asked me, "Who the hell is this 'Hollywood Foreign Press Association' anyways?"

And I realized that I hadn't a clue.

Wanting to learn more, I wandered onto their site, where I found the goals of the HFPA to be:

To establish favorable relations and cultural ties between foreign countries and the United States of America by the dissemination of information concerning the American culture and traditions as depicted in motion pictures and television through news media in various foreign countries.

To recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, (Golden Globe (R) Awards), serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television.

To contribute to other nonprofit organizations connected with the entertainment industry and involved in educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities.

To promote interest in the study of the arts, including the development of talent in the entertainment field through
scholarships given to major learning institutions.

I also found the following story, which coming from a member of the foreign press, ain't looking so good:

TheStar.com - Awards boost industry myth