Meanwhile, Robert Redford had to scramble for a distribution deal

Hollywood is in love with rookie directors for big movies since they’re cheap and easy to control.

Good call

I like the decision to tap former Cub Keith Moreland as the new color guy for WGN Radio’s Cubs broadcasts. He did well filling in for the late Ron Santo last season and I think he’ll work out very well as the season goes on.

Movie Marketing Madness: Unknown

We rely greatly in this life on people believing we are who we say we are. Rarely do you meet someone in everyday life who doesn’t buy it when you shake their hand and introduce yourself. It’s only when you need to complete some sort of official transaction that we need to provide some sort of identification or otherwise have a third party vouch on our behalf that we are who we say we are.

Unknown is about a man who loses that most basic of possessions, his identity. While visiting Berlin Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife (January Jones) are in a cab accident. When he awakens days later he finds that no one in the hospital knows what his name is and his wife isn’t around. When he tracks her down she also claims not to know who he is and, most disturbingly, finds another man (Aidan Quinn) is walking around with his name. So Dr. Harris (the real one) must investigate who it is that’s behind the conspiracy to make him disappear.

The Posters

On the movie’s first poster you’ll see (an extraordinarily artificially slimmed down) Neeson with gun in hand staring determinedly toward the camera, gun in hand. Across his mid-section is a strip with a few shots of Jones and an image of the car crash that begins the story proper along with a numbers and words that seem to have been scratched onto a wall or otherwise scrawled somewhere.

The poster is very much designed to sell the movie as being in the same in the same vein as Neeson’s Taken, which proved pretty popular with audiences a couple years ago. So the thinking here is to tell the audience that this movie also features Neeson as a grim loner who’s out to find something. And the “Take back your life” copy on the one-sheet tells us exactly what it is he’s looking to find.

The second poster goes more for a close-up of Neeson, who looks no less intense but this time we get to see him looking a little more haggard, like he’s been on the hunt for a couple days already. The same copy is just to the right of his head and the photo of his head is actually slightly distorted by the words. I think that’s supposed to convey that he’s being erased or something but how well that is actually communicated is open for interpretation.

The Trailers

As all such movies do, the trailer starts off by showing Neeson and Jones as a happily married couple before they get in a car accident and goes in to a coma for four days. But when he comes out of it and seeks his wife out he finds she doesn’t recognize him and there’s someone else out there with his name. So begins a chase through Berlin to find the truth even as he’s frustrated at most every turn.

It’s a completely serviceable trailer that lays out the movie as being appealing to a mainstream audience, especially those who made Taken such a big hit. Neeson is playing the same sort of grizzled, determined character here and he does it well enough. While the trailer manages not to spoil things it’s pretty predictable how the third act here plays out based on what’s shown.

Online

The movie’s official website opens by playing the trailer. In the background there’s full-screen video that can’t be stopped apparently and it comes off as awfully distracting if you’re trying to do other things on the site.

The first section of content is the “Synopsis,” which gives a brief overview of the story as well as the mandatory cast and crew credits. After that is “Cast and & Filmmakers,” which has extended bios and career histories of those involved in the making of the movie as well as the option to download some PDF Production Notes.

“Videos” should be singular since all that’s there is the trailer. “Photos” has a dozen or so stills from the movie as well as a few behind-the-scenes shots but is only navigable in full-screen mode and you can’t download the photos or view thumbnails. “Downloads” has both Posters, a couple of Wallpapers and four Buddy Icons to grab if you want.

You’ll find links to the websites that have run contests and such in the “Promos and Sweepstakes” section and you can buy tickets in “Tickets and Showtimes.”

“Identity Crisis” takes you to a Facebook app game that asks you to identify as many of your Facebook friends as possible in under a minute or, as it says, their identities will be lost forever.

The movie’s Facebook page has that game – it’s actually the opening tab – as well as a Wall of publicity updates and discussion, photos, videos and other information.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

A series of TV spots were produced that all took varying angles on laying out the plot for the audience. Most of them wasted little time before literally cutting to the chase and showing Neeson running around trying to gather the evidence needed to prove he is who he says he is. They’re nicely paced and don’t get bogged down in lots of conspiracy-oriented plot details, selling the movie as another thinking-person’s sort of action movie, which is what Neeson seems to be primarily doing the last few years.

Media and Publicity

Some of the press revolved around Jones and how this was her first stab at an action movie (Los Angeles Times, 1/16/11) and how she approached the role.

That’s about it, though. This obviously isn’t getting a huge press push.

Overall

The summer of 2011 is going to be filled with talk of “franchises” as movies like Captain America, Harry Potter and others are released. And while this movie on its own is a completely original production and not part of a known property the marketing for Unknown has done its best to sell it as part of the “Liam Neeson as lone vigilante” genre that’s emerged over the last couple of years.

It does a decent job of making that case with posters and a trailer that are likely to interest at least some people in the audience who are looking for an adult thriller that might actually have a few interesting twists and turns in it. What’s a little surprising here is that there appears, by my reckoning, to be very little information from the third act in the campaign, meaning the marketers are actually letting the audience be a tad surprised by not spelling every little plot turn out for them.

We love it when brands fall

My latest post on Voce Nation deals with the circular cycle of criticism that brands come under whenever make some sort of mistake in their marketing or communications. Too many times programs are judged as a failure based on commentary from others in the industry without looking to see whether the “firestorm” has extended into actual consumer opinions or not.

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To be fair the same sort of echo-chamber effect is often in effect when a program goes well. I see things labeled as an “outstanding success” all the time where the metrics seem to be the amount of buzz generated when most all of that buzz has come from other marketers who are admiring how “savvy” or well-rounded some effort is.

Movie Marketing Madness: Cedar Rapids

Expectations are wonderful but fragile things. We should all have expectations for what we want to do in life, how are children should act in public settings and other circumstances. Occasionally, though, we let our expectations get the better of us. Not every trip to the museum is going to be an enchanted time with the family. Not every job opportunity is going to be the most fantastic. Not every Cubs season is going to end with a World Series ring or even a winning record.

The main character is Cedar Rapids has pretty low expectations for himself and the world around him. Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, an agent for a small insurance company who sort of stumbles through his life living up to the low expectations everyone around him also has. He’s sent to represent his firm at a regional industry convention in Cedar Rapids despite his obvious cluelessness. Tim’s innocent nature runs headlong into the regular attendees (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr.) of that convention, a bunch of wild party animals who go there for a few days of expense account-fueled madness.

The Posters

The main point of the poster is to sell the audience on the idea that Ed Helms can carry a movie all on his own. To that end it shows him carrying all sorts of baggage and other junk (I swear I’ve seen this guy on just about all my travels) from two suitcases AND a duffel bag to one of those little neck pillows so many people use. He’s standing there with a big dumb smile on his face so it’s obvious that the movie is going to use him as the foil for the humor and that the jokes are often going to come at his expense. It’s simple but it works well enough.

The Trailers

We first get introduced to Helms’ character in the trailer by being told, via Stephen Root, what a disappointment he’s turned out to be. But now he’s being sent to a convention in Cedar Rapids, which is apparently an exotic city to this guy. Then he meets Ziegler, the one guy he’s been told to avoid. Zeigler is a wild man and gets the group, including a nearly unrecognizable Heche, into all sorts of trouble, from drinking to late night nude swimming and so much more.

The trailer is primarily meant to show all the antics Helms’ character gets into during his weekend at the convention and, as suspected, it shows that he’s the butt of many of the jokes as he gets caught with a prostitute and otherwise acts like a teenager on spring break. There are lots of genuinely funny moments in the trailer, selling the movie as what might be a pretty dry comedy and one in which Helms does appear able to carry the story all on his own.

Online

The movie’s official website is exactly what you’d expect for a film from Fox Searchlight, meaning there’s a ton of good content and no wasted motion in terms of flashy, irritating design.

The top of the site has the Trailer as well as a link to the BrownStar Insurance company that’s featured in the movie.

“About” has a Synopsis and profiles of the Filmmakers and Cast. The “Gallery” has about a dozen stills from the movie, most of which are framed in a “Be Prepared” graphic that makes it look like the photos are part of the company’s website or other materials.

“Gallery” just has the trailer and “Downloads” just has a couple of Desktops and a half-dozen “AIM Icons.”

Down in the bottom of the page there’s the usual array of good stuff, from another photo gallery as well as one that’s specific to the movie’s appearance at Sundance to an array of extended clip videos and more. There’s a widget of Fox Searchlight’s Facebook page and a stream of Twitter updates that mention the movie.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Some online advertising was done that took a slightly different pose of Helms but the same overall concept – that he looks ridiculously happy to be wearing that lanyard nametag – and used it for banners or box ads. Some units included links not only to the movie’s official site but also the Fox Searchight Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Media and Publicity

A bit in advance of its premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival a handful of movie blog writers received calendars from the insurance company in the movie, Brownstar Insurance, much like you’d get from a real agency. There was even a website for the company to continue the illusion.

Much of the overall buzz centered around how this was Helms’ first big shot (Los Angeles Times, 2/6/11) as a solo leading man and the road the actor has taken to get here that’s filled with supporting turns in movies like The Hangover and a history on TV.

Overall

I really like this campaign. It’s low-key for the most part but it seems to be pretty assured in what it’s selling and so comes off very strongly. Helms is certainly the star here and the marketing makes the most of the fact that he’s a charming actor who doesn’t have a clearly defined public personality who the audience can just latch onto without any preconceived notions.

The marketing is funny to different audiences for different reasons. To those on the coasts they get to to laugh at the silly Midwesterners thinking they’re all that staying at a hotel for a couple nights. For those of us here in the Midwest we get to laugh at a highly exaggerated version of themselves.

Either way, the campaign presents an amusing low-key comedy that is reliant on the strength of the leads to make it rise above the depths that a comedy like this could fall to.

Going too far teasing Super Bowl spots

My latest contribution to Voce Nation takes my experience with generating buzz for Super Bowl spots and looks through that lens on what studios and other marketers are doing in advance of this year’s game.

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Movie Marketing Madness: Cold Weather

Every day life is full of mysteries, isn’t it? There are always questions to be asked and things to figure out in the normal course of our lives. Occasionally though something bigger comes along that is more serious and makes us dig deeper into ourselves and really investigate a true mystery, whether it’s something that needs answering from our own lives or those of our friends or family.

That sort of escalation is behind the new movie Cold Weather. Doug lives in Portland with his sister and works at an ice factory but has an education and background in forensic science. One day his ex-girlfriend Rachel disappears and it’s up to Doug, his sister and his coworkers to find out where she’s gone.

The Posters

The one poster for the movie is pretty simple but is also very cool. Doug and (presumably) his sister are shown in black and white (actually black and blue) walking through huge raindrops, something that gives the poster a nice sense of place since the movie takes place in the Pacific Northwest. The film’s title is displayed in a way that looks like an old pulp novel cover or something like that, which nicely ties in to the detective story aspect of the movie. It’s a pretty fabulous poster that proves that taking an artistic approach to the design can convey story elements that are essential to the audience’s understanding.

The Trailers

The trailer starts off by introducing us to Doug and how he’s now working in an ice factory but has aspirations of being Sherlock Holmes. We meet his coworkers and family before his friend informs him that Rachel, his ex-girlfriend, is missing. So begins the investigation into her disappearance, which has the gang of people sneaking around hotel rooms, following those who might be suspects around and otherwise trying to track her down.

It’s a short and simple trailer that adequately sets up the story of the movie without overplaying anything. Unlike a lot of trailers there doesn’t appear to be anything from the third act of the movie, meaning we don’t get the ending spoiled or big clues as to how things wrap-up, a nice change from most mainstream trailers that look to tell you as much about the movie as possible.

Online

With the movie coming from Sundance Selects (in partnership with IFC Films) the official website for the film is not all that robust. There’s the Poster, the Trailer, a small Photo Gallery, Cast and Crew lists (but no other information) and an About. That’s about it, though.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nothing that I’ve seen.

Media and Publicity

Cold Weather first started generating buzz when it debuted at SXSW 2010, where it received raves from many of the movie press that was in attendance. Shortly after that debut the movie was acquired by IFC, one of the first independent films that appeared that to get distribution. Later on it appeared at the Los Angeles Film Festival, where it continued to rack up accolades from the press.

Director Aaron Katz was the focus of much of the press, including a profile (New York Times, 1/30/11) that looked at how he created the film and managed to mesh two stories he wanted to tell and wind up making a better movie by putting them together than if they were on their own.

Overall

Even forgoing what’s likely the most influential element of the campaign – the word of mouth that’s been generated by festival screenings – I think it’s a really strong marketing push. The trailer and poster in particular sell the movie incredibly well as an intelligent and well-constructed mystery that’s more concerned with the relationships between the characters than in some silly twists or hooks. True, those marketing elements are going to resonate more deeply with members of the audience who have also been following the festival buzz. While I think that the formal marketing is pretty strong on its own the whole thing put together means there’s a lot for audiences to latch on to here if this is the kind of movie that interests them.

I’ve got a lot of problems with you people

Occasionally I think that social media is making us into a society of just super-whiny idiots. Recently on Twitter or in my blog feeds I’ve seen people complaining about:

• How sharing a post or other content on social networks is too hard if there isn’t one button to click that automatically fills out all the information that’s necessary and immediately publishes the update. Because copy/paste is just way too tough. Sorry, but if this is an actual complaint you have I have no other choice than to think you’ve never put in a real day’s work in your life.
• Frequent mentions of the term “snowpocalypse,” “snowmageddon” or some variation thereof. Did a lot of snow fall on the Chicago area yesterday and today? Absolutely. Making it sound more grandiose than it really was, though, actually winds up taking the importance away from events that are accurately described by the words your mutilating by tacking “snow” in front of it, though.

Just because social networks make it so easy to whine about something doesn’t mean you need to take advantage of that opportunity every time. Buckle down, do what needs to be done and be thankful for the blessings you have that complaining about these imaginary problems is the roughest thing you’re going to encounter today.

Movie Marketing Madness: The Other Woman

Defining the “traditional family” has never been tougher than it is today. Where 50 or 60 years ago it was pretty standard to say “Husband, wife and one or two kids” now we have all sorts of permutations that are possible. Divorce, remarriage, homosexual lifestyles and more have pushed those who wish to cling to that old-fashioned definition well out of their comfort zone. And that’s not getting in to the emotional difficulties that such redefinition – not just in the abstract but in the very practical sense as it’s happening to them – puts on the people involved, both adults and children.

The Other Woman tells the story of one non-traditional family that’s trying to make the best of some bad situations. Natalie Portman plays Amelia, a young woman who begins working at a law office and meets her boss Jack (Scott Cohen). The two begin an affair despite his being married. The two decide they’re actually in love, though, and so after he divorces his current wife (Lisa Kudrow) they marry and try to start a family of their own. But when the first baby of their own dies suddenly the couple have to adjust and figure out how to deal with the family they have, including Scott’s son from his previous marriage, instead of the one they had dreamed about.

The Posters

I’m honestly not sure what to make of the one poster for the movie. It’s just a side shot of Portman where everything but her face has been given a slightly artistic touch, looking like a watercolor painting or something like that. In the background is a sketch of the New York City skyline, which seeks to give the audience some information about the film’s setting but that’s about it design-wise.

At the top is a blurb from a review of the film that probably came from one of its festival screenings and toward the bottom is the copy “Love makes everything possible” which seems like it’s giving some clues as to the plot but doesn’t really do that. It’s vague enough to make it sound like Portman’s character has some sort of emotional struggle to overcome but that’s about as specific as it could possibly be interpreted.

The Trailers

We start out in the trailer by meeting Amelia and Jack, who apparently start off simply as co-workers but then turn in to something much more despite the fact that he’s married. Soon, though, they’re getting engaged and she’s pregnant. But the ultimate tragedy happens and the baby dies shortly after it’s born.

That leads to a cascade of emotions for everyone as they struggle to overcome that as well as all the other problems their situation brings with it, including Jack’s very angry ex-wife. But the trailer shows that eventually this new family unit finds a way to exist together, at least for the most part.

It’s actually quite a good trailer and is every bit as descriptive of the movie’s story as the poster isn’t. It’s nicely cut and the music works to support the footage and comes off quite well.

Online

Coming from IFC, the official website is sparse and meant to get right to the point. The trailer and Poster are both there, along with a small Photo Gallery, Cast and Crew list and brief Synopsis. So not too much but enough to get the basics about the film across.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nothing that I’ve seen, unfortunately. I’m a bit surprised there wasn’t some sort of push for the movie in the form of TV spots, but considering there are still commercials running for Portman’s Black Swan as well as the more mainstream No Strings Attached perhaps it was decided this would be a bit much and would get lost in the clutter.

Media and Publicity

The movie debuted (under its original title of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits) at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009 to decidedly mixed review, which is likely why buzz around it went dark until news hit that IFC Films had set a release date and changed its title. The timing of that news was likely in part to build on the positive buzz for Portman’s performance in Black Swan, which hit theaters just shortly before the announcement.

It was only very recently – the end of December – that it was announced IFC would be releasing the movie, giving it an on-demand release (Los Angeles Times, 1/3/11) in advance of sending it to theaters. That on-demand release was also brought up just before the theatrical release as an example of this sort of one-two punch that’s becoming more and more common (LAT, 1/30/11) with smaller titles whose pure theatrical prospects are murky at best.

Overall

For a movie that languished for over a year before getting picked up and then had to wait a bit longer for release, it’s not a bad marketing campaign that’s been created. The poster and trailer both work particularly well in making the case for the movie as an adult drama without a lot showiness to it. Instead it seems to be selling the movie as a pretty straightforward story that promises a couple of solid performances and some genuine emotion in it.

The mixed buzz that came out of its 2009 festival appearances seems to have been put to the side as the publicity and press has instead turned to either how this is one of three Portman movies coming out in recent months as well as to its release pattern, which seem to be canceling some of that bad buzz out, or at least not giving it cause to raise up again. That works in favor of the movie since it then gets to draft off of the momentum of the actress’ other recent movies and then build off the word-of-mouth in its theatrical release from those who have already seen it via on-demand viewing.

Movie Marketing Madness: Angels and Airwaves: Love

Music and movies have always been connected. The earliest silent movies would often be shipped to theaters with sheet music for the organist to play that accompanied the action on-screen. As I write this column “From Here to Eternity” just happens to be playing on iTunes, Sinatra’s classic song from the film of the same name. It’s hard to imagine The Empire Strikes Back without “The Imperial March” setting the scene. And the bundling of 10 or 15 of today’s pop hits is usually just what’s needed to create a compelling soundtrack record (or at least it used to be), each song used to not only set the emotions of the scene (I’m looking at you, “Take My Breath Away”) but also hopefully promote the band or artist singing it.

Sometimes there’s a more direct connection, though.

The new movie Love has been, by all accounts, conceived and created by the members of the band Angels and Airwaves, which of course then has scored the film. Telling the story of an astronaut stranded alone on the International Space Station who slowly loses his grip on reality, the movie is as much about connecting visuals with music as with telling a story. It’s one of the more explicit cases of arts converging like this and so it’s interesting to see how the film is being marketed.

The Posters

The movie’s poster promises a very personal story on a very cosmic scale, showing an astronaut sitting on a sidewalk bench in the front while a photo of the sun coming up over the Earth is in the background. It’s pretty simple and is very reminiscent of Moon from 2009, but is still very cool and interesting.

The Trailers

We start off in the trailer by seeing an astronaut that’s being sent to an orbiting space station that’s been unoccupied for a while. But then he hears a strange message and things start to get weird. We then get scenes of lights all over the Earth going out and bombs exploding and we see he’s discovered a journal of some sort from the Civil War. At that point the lines between reality and imagination begin blurring as we’re not sure if what we’re watching is actually happening, is a flashback of some sort or is all in the main character’s head. The latter point is supported by the last line, from an unidentified woman, who asks if he minds that all of this isn’t real.

It’s strange and interesting and immediately, at least if you’re into this sort of movie to begin with, leaves you wanting more.

Online

There’s not much of anything on the official website for the movie, which is really just a landing page for the official website of the band. There are dates for the film’s screenings at the Santa Barbara Film Festival but that’s about it. Nothing is found there about the story or the actors or even the story behind why the movie got made or anything else.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nothing that I’ve been exposed to.

Media and Publicity

Not much since the movie seemed to appear out of nowhere just a few weeks ago in advance of its festival appearances. So reaction to the marketing materials has been the main source of conversation and buzz, but that’s almost universally been positive (especially in regards to the music) so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall

Well the first thing to note is that there’s not a whole lot going on in this campaign. There’s no advertising, almost no press and the bare minimum of formal marketing material, including a mention on the band’s website that feels like it’s there more out of obligation than anything else.

But the trailer and poster surely do make an impression and so there’s success to be found there. Both make it clear that this is somewhat of a trippy story that’s more about raw emotions than anything else. The music, then, helps sell that pretty well and, one could reasonably argue, that’s the main point of what’s going on here anyway.