In Hollywood, they call it "pre-awareness." It's the idea that you're already familiar with the concept of the movie, thus the studios don't need to waste those precious marketing resources making you familiar with the concept. Even before you see it, you know enough about it to know you really want to see it. It's why so many of our cinematic tentpoles are followed by roman numerals, and why international territories in particular (the source of 70% of Hollywood's revenues) are eating them up. In television, CSI spawns CSI: New York and CSI: Miami. In music, hits are produced by … [Read more...]
Tag: movies
12/28
The Wisdom of Colliding Radio Genres
I was listening to an interview with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and a fan asked him what movies made an early influence on him. One of his answers was surprising - the movie was Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. I'm with you, Quentin - I have seen that movie hundreds of times (and yes, it still holds up). Why did this film make such an impression on young Quentin? Because it was the first time he had seen a movie where two "different" genres collided: It was both funny and scary. Until then, there was "funny" and there was "scary," but there never was a movie which could be … [Read more...]
03/01
Tell to Win: Peter Guber on Story and Radio
Peter Guber is the former chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures and currently heads the Mandalay Entertainment Group which presents hit films such as The Kids Are All Right and recently partnered in acquiring the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Among the award-winning films Guber has produced or executive produced are Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist, Batman, and Rain Man. Peter is the author of a great new best-selling book called Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story. As Peter writes: “Move listeners’ hearts and their feet and wallets will … [Read more...]
09/02
Radio’s Social Media Lessons from Hollywood
Who in the world is Gordon Paddison? Do you remember the movie Wedding Crashers when that viral video made the rounds where you paste your own face over the face of one of the stars of the movie and you send it to your friends? That was the work of Gordon Paddison. What about the social hubbub surrounding Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, one of the most popular movie franchises of all time? That, too, was the work of Gordon Paddison. Gordon is the head of a company called Stradella Road, a branding and marketing and social media company specializing in the entertainment space and … [Read more...]
