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Topic: Television Commercials for Movies

Alex Shultz
Film Handler

Posts: 54
From: Marysville, KS, US
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 04-12-2010 11:54 PM

I don't have "live" tv - no antenna or cable and no time to watch. I don't get to see any commercials so I don't really get a feel for how much advertising studios are putting in to a movie.

Is anyone else in that situation? How do you deal with that lack of info when it comes time to choose between movies to book? Sometimes all the info I have to go on is a movie's web site, trailer, and one-sheet when I'm looking for info about them. I think that if I knew what movies the studios were pumping the $$ in to for advertising it would help me choose in those six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-the-other situations.

Is there some place that keeps track of how much tv exposure a movie is getting? Or maybe how much is being spent to advertise?

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Manny Montes
Master Film Handler

Posts: 270
From: United States
Registered: Feb 2010

posted 04-13-2010 12:32 AM

boxoffice.com has a pretty decent movie anticipation index

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Sean McKinnon
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1712
From: Peabody Massachusetts
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 04-13-2010 11:33 AM

I find that sometimes when a studio puts a lot of money into advertising a certain film (ie;commercials every 5 minutes) it can mean that they know it's going to be a bomb and want to get as many people in during the opening weekend before the word of mouth that it's a bomb hits. Also sometimes they don't seem to advertise movies that are very good I think because they know the word of mouth will get people in. I dunno just my dumb theory.

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Ian Parfrey
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1049
From: Imbil Australia 26 deg 27' 42.66" S 152 deg 42' 23.40" E
Registered: Feb 2009

posted 04-13-2010 12:17 PM

Listen to the buzz that your patrons bring to your theatre.

By just listening to conversations between patrons, off-hand comments about one-sheets that you have posted, and even talking to them will give you a fair indication of what's hot and what's not.

Manny and Sean both have great ideas and well worth persuing.

Also Sean's point on bombs getting the most advertising is a good one. As the window to video release shrinks, studios will push hard movies that are heavily front-loaded. Whether or not that helps you with your target audience is another matter.

Also try Film Journal, Empire and other movie mags/newspapers that are available in your area. The cinema advertisments can give much info on how a movie is tracking. Do you show on the break or 2nd run? Again, seeing how many screenings your competitors are running of a certain film is a great indicator on how a movie is tracking.

Good luck on predicting the future- we're all in the same boat. [Wink]

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Alex Shultz
Film Handler

Posts: 54
From: Marysville, KS, US
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 04-13-2010 12:37 PM

Ian,

I do first run. It sure is frustrating to be in that category of not grossing enough to get everything I want on the break, though. I'm lucky enough not to have any competing theatres for about 30 miles and those are small ones like me. The closest 12-screen places are 60 miles away.

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Mike Frese
Master Film Handler

Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 04-13-2010 12:37 PM

Alex, I assume you use a DVR? Is yes, you could record the top shows each night and watch what is being advertised. But....

Seldom do you see marginal titles advertised more than 3 weeks out. I will not get a movie if I do not ask for it at least 3 weeks out. Movies that are advertised 4 weeks out (like Iron Man 2) are no-brainers for most of us.

I have seen Furry Vengeance advertised on TV for a week or so on Nick.

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Alex Shultz
Film Handler

Posts: 54
From: Marysville, KS, US
Registered: Nov 2008

posted 04-13-2010 03:40 PM

Mike,

I don't have any media at all being piped in to the house. It's mostly a question of time and spending several hundred dollars a year on something I don't have time to watch.

It's too bad there isn't a web site that does a reverse of what everyone wants - just skip the show and see what the commercials are - kind of like what people do with the Superbowl now.

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 04-13-2010 07:15 PM

For another source of information, we post the top 5 movies that our readers have marked as "Favorites" -- which means that they have saved them to their Favorites list so that they can see them easily on one page. It's an indicator of what people are looking forward to.

Coming Soon Page (look for "Reader Favorites" at the top)
http://www.bigscreen.com/NowShowing.php?view=comingsoon

Favorite Movies Page (where our Readers see the list of their Favorite Movies)
http://www.bigscreen.com/NowShowing.php?view=fav

Here's the current Top 5:
- Toy Story 3
- Iron Man 2
- Shrek Forever After 3D
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

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