A look at cult classics: where good marketing should go

What makes a film a cult classic?

First and foremost, it takes a good  screenplay/story. Second, a passionate fan base. Third, next to no box office profit.

When an un-marketed film hits the theatres

This third point is bothersome. No profits means studios will refrain from making more films of that fashion, regardless of how good it is. They often don’t receive sequels,or in the rare case that they do, it only happens later on in life due to post- release sales and the high praise the fan base has given it. Basically, if it’s considered a cult classic, it didn’t make any money upon release, which is obviously bad.

 

But how does this happen? I mean if it’s a cult classic, that must mean it’s good. So why isn’t it making money in the box office? Simply put, bad ,or even no marketing,advertisement and public relations. Some cult classics have a valid excuse.They were an independent movie and didn’t have a big enough budget to afford a decent marketing campaign. A great example of this is the movie Clerks.

Poster for the movie “Clerks”

For those of you who don’t know, Clerks is an independent movie by Kevin Smith that was released in 1994. The budget for clerks while filming in 1993 was a only a little over $27,500. Considering that it had about $3 million in profits, it did pretty good for itself, but is not considered a “successful” movie. In this scenario, we can’t blame Kevin Smith for not paying for a lot of marketing or advertising for the movie, he couldn’t even afford to film the movie in colour ( yes, it’s a black and white film).

Anyone who has seen this movie can tell you that the dialogue is on point and it can relate to anyone who has ever had a “clerk” type job. It is loved by its fanbase for a reason. But, is not as well known as it should be. Had it had more funding for promotion, it could have easily become a world-renowned movie. If you have seen it, then you know it should have made much more money.

Some cult classics don’t have such a valid reason to have been unsuccessful in the box office. A prime example is The Shawshank Redemption.  That’s right, one of the highest rated movies of all time is, by definition, a cult classic.

Famous scene from ” The Shawshank Redemption”

 

With a budget of $25 million, it only made just over $725 thousand its opening weekend in 1994. But with outstanding reviews and its gained popularity through VHS and DVD sales, its gross income, as of 2012, is over $28 million. Hard to believe such a popular and beloved movie did so poorly in the box office, but it’s true.

This is why marketing,advertising and public relations is so important in the film industry. These amazing movies didn’t make a lot of money at first, and this is cause for concern for the film industry. Especially when poorly rated movies make a killing at the box office. The production companies are only after making money, and when good movies like these don’t make any, then there won’t be any more movies like them made again.

With proper marketing,advertising and public relations, these movies can be successful. Once that happens, we won’t only have poorly written action movies with big explosions and plot holes in theatres, but good stories with depth and meaning.

These cult classics were lucky they got the recognition they deserved, but imagine all the great movies that no one knows about because of a lack of good promotion. Maybe you’ll never see your  favourite movie  because you’ve never heard of it, and never will.

Alex Belanger

 

Decision Time: Will you pick Public Relations for You?

So following last week’s article regarding how to manage your famous client, I thought I would take this opportunity to provide further insight on public appearance. Partially using films as an example to emphasis the importance of public relation representative and how they benefit everyone associated with your client.

Films have been huge revenue drivers in the entertainment industry giving actors one of the described most glamorous jobs. However, not all films succeed with high profit margins and great actors. Success can be contributed to aspects such as the writing, the production quality, or the acting within a film. These aspects contribute to how audiences, critics and media acknowledge and dissect a movie.

Unfortunately, these aspects typically overshadow one of the most important functions contributing to a film’s success: promotion and public relations.

When people think about a movie, they typically think about the acting talent, the special effects, the videography, the music, the sound, the story, and so forth, the list goes on. Despite all entertainment hype films achieve, all successful films have benefitted from one common element: promotion.

But, what’s a promotion without a celebrity…without your client?

Arts and entertainment public relations developed as the entertainment industry evolved itself. As movies were produced, music recorded, and celebrities made, they all needed to be branded. Acting performances and movie production are considered hot topics in pop culture and highlighted during huge award broadcasts, which of course everyone has to watch. The film industry is a cycle that benefits everyone involved.

As I mentioned last week, public relation representatives are constantly on the move with delivering news to the media, while at the same time strategically scheduling personal appearances on talk shows and in public venues. The plan is to time such appearances and hype to provide the steady focus that keeps the celebrity in the public eye.

Let’s say your client was Tom Cruise in 2005 when the actor was about to appear on the big screen for Mission: Impossible III. As his representative you coordinate a story to Oprah Winfrey, and the pitch was a success. You inform Cruise he’ll be a guest on the show to talk about his upcoming movie. All part of the strategic plan in action to get your client in the eyes of the public seeing how Cruise was known for being an uber-private celebrity.

Think of the plan like a personality campaign rather than an organizational campaign. There a little different, a personality campaign has its own unique set of steps to promote an up-and-coming star. The first step is to interview the client to draw out tiny, and what may seem insignificant, details about the rising star and develop these facts as story angles to release to the media. Assembling a media ready kit, which includes your clients biography, pictures, and some video clips all can be released to the media at the appropriate time.

Your client, Cruise, is briefed on the plan you have in place, and after you two have an interview a new angle forms. This is where you learn Cruise’s passion for his new girlfriend, Katie Holmes, has lost his focus for the movie and the interview. What do you do?

The public appearance is already in place according to plan. As Cruise’s representative you encourage him to hide his emotions to some extend because Holmes and Cruises relationship is new. But, not all clients listen and the repercussion of this publicity event ended with Cruise declaring his love for then-girlfriend Katie Holmes, fist pumped in the air, kneeled on the floor, and most notably, the jump on Winfrey’s couch.

Tom Cruise’s freak out on Oprah 11 years ago!

In a moment that has since gone — it stayed viral. Cruise’s popularity increased in that moment with the public torn on whether the gesture was romantic or purely crazy. Although the plan you had strategized turned out differently, creating further celebrity publicity, Mission Impossible III earned $134,029,801 in it’s opening weekend. Whether that be from Tom Cruise’s stunt or the hype for the continuing of the series, no one will know. What we do know is that Tom Cruise’s career is still in tact and the Mission Impossible movies continued to be produced for three more films in the series.

It’s all a strategy in the entertainment business to get all eyes on your client in the right way. Without a plan of action for your client, the key promotional message in your campaign, could be negatively perceived by a third party affecting all reputations involved. Definitely, a well-structured PR campaign can result in the target market being exposed to more detailed information than they receive with other forms of promotion. That is, media sources often provide more space and time for explanation of a product.

So, after all this information I have provided, the underlying question I ask to you; are you up to the challenge of having a public relations representative represent you or not?

Jazlyn Dunham