Full-length documentary "Back to the Drive-In” shines the spotlight on owners of drive-in cinemas, who are mostly hardscrabble mom-and-pop locals, in stark contrast to “hardtop” theaters dominated by international chains. “Back to the Drive-In,” which premiered via video-on-demand earlier this year, takes a loving look at outdoor cinemas and their idiosyncratic operators; … [Read more...] about Docu Review: ‘Back to the Drive-In’
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Ranking Films by Cost Vs. Boxoffice
The original “Avatar” from 2009 is the all-time boxoffice champ with nearly $3 billion in global boxoffice, but data website Information Is Beautiful (IIB) identifies other cinema high achievers using other metrics. The IIB post “What is the Most Successful Hollywood Movie of All Time?” provides hard-to-get business data on the 500 most significant theatrical films going back … [Read more...] about Ranking Films by Cost Vs. Boxoffice
Oscars Tighten Campaigning Rules
Rules governing campaigning for Oscar awards were tightened in social media and in other areas this week, but loosened allowing “shortlists” to be promoted. Rules tweaks for the Academy Awards are done annually but this cycle are extensive, particularly after a little-known British actress Andrea Riseborough got nominated last year after waging an aggressive social … [Read more...] about Oscars Tighten Campaigning Rules
Exploring Cinema Ticket Price Cuts
Hollywood and movie theater owners spontaneously embraced the benefits of permanent cuts in cinema-ticket prices industry-wide, despite worries about antitrust issues, at a CinemaCon panel discussion. Whether the industry later pursues shaving ticket prices, which averaged $10.53 in the U.S. last year (see accompanying data table), remains to be seen. Anecdotal information … [Read more...] about Exploring Cinema Ticket Price Cuts
Artificial Intelligence Jolts Marketing
The media-tech industry made an abrupt pivot in recent months embracing artificial intelligence (AI) that is upending movie marketing in data analysis, content creation, and interacting with audiences. Proponents say the computer technology possesses extraordinary capabilities to craft persuasive content and messages of all kinds. AI is the simulation of human intelligence … [Read more...] about Artificial Intelligence Jolts Marketing
Hollywood Suddenly Loves Cinema More Than Streaming
Across Hollywood, studio executives are suddenly singing the praises of full exclusive cinema runs for movies, and dialing back their infatuation with video streaming. A Variety story by Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin calls it a case of “Netflix envy" fading. "Lately, Wall Street has soured on the economics of streaming, believing that the media conglomerates that run these … [Read more...] about Hollywood Suddenly Loves Cinema More Than Streaming
Netflix Markets Titles, Less the Brand
Netflix is shifting its marketing focus to individual titles instead of its brand, finding a general messaging of value and breadth-of-content is no longer compelling, according to a New York Times article. The video streaming industry leader, with 230 million subscribers worldwide, finds subscribers restless and prone to canceling to jump to emerging competition from … [Read more...] about Netflix Markets Titles, Less the Brand
Streamers Apple, Amazon Swing to Cinema
Apple TV+ is reportedly joining Amazon Studios in separately investing billions of dollars in movies tailored for cinema premieres. “It may have been implausible a few years, heck, even a few months ago, that tech giants like Apple and Amazon would spend billions on theatrical movies,” writes Rebecca Rubin in Variety. Bloomberg News Service reported Apple will spend $1 … [Read more...] about Streamers Apple, Amazon Swing to Cinema
Searching for Catchy Movie Titles
Getting a movie title right is of growing importance as the entertainment landscape gets cluttered by mushrooming digital media, says a Variety story by Rebecca Rubin. When research screenings audiences didn’t warm to “Something’s Wrong With Rose,” the Variety story says, Paramount Pictures renamed its 2022 horror film “Smile." The scare flick went on to generate $107 in … [Read more...] about Searching for Catchy Movie Titles
Unofficially Yours: Some Oscars Glow
It’s Academy Awards season, and a raft of consumer-goods companies that are outside the inner circle of official sponsors are angling to snag some Oscar glow. The outsiders making a splash in awards season glitz include a fabrics maker revealing winner colors and video streaming program guide Clix (see featured image) with its own rankings of actresses. Allianz Global … [Read more...] about Unofficially Yours: Some Oscars Glow