February 16, 2005

Today's Must Read: The Business of Movie Trailers

Here's a must read article from the Los Angeles Times on the business (and politics) of getting movie trailers in front of theater-goers. It gives a good summary of how the system works.

Here's the meat of the matter:

Movie marketers will tell you that the only place where their ads are guaranteed to reach proven moviegoers is not on television or in newspapers, but inside a darkened theater — preferably one where the weekend's hottest movie is reaching the most pairs of eyes. Woe to the trailer that runs first, when many people are buying their popcorn and Milk Duds. The coveted spot is right before the feature, when the theater is full.

One thing the article fails to mention, however, is the immense importance that online trailers have gained in the past two years. Getting exclusive movie trailers and clips on AOL and Yahoo has become an important part of movie marketing, especially since those places gain greater influence in consumer's buying decisions. After all, how many businesses ply their consumers with competing ads right at the point of purchase?

Movies: Trailers: How a small time slot adds up to big industry headache

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