HOLLYWOOD UNCUT // IS BIGGER ALWAYS BETTER IN HOLLYWOOD?
BY ANDREA CIRILLO
I set out this week to find a piece of uplifting news from the world of movies, something to set the right tone for your journey to the Walk of Fame, the Oscars or the Promised Land of picture making. For the purpose of keeping you hopeful, hungry and focused on the prize, it can be occasionally beneficial to tune out the dire predictions, disturbing box office results and tales of woe from middle-aged white men in Italian suits whose jobs seem to be to promote insecurity instead of productivity.
For inspiration I turned to Lucy Stille at Paradigm, a respected industry icon who is one smart agent. I knew that if anyone would have a happy tale to report, it would be Lucy. And as soon as I asked for some good news she instantly replied: CITY ISLAND.
City Island is an independent film that won the Audience Award at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, but that was just the beginning of the audience love-fest. It was made for a bite sized $6 million and released by Anchor Pay without the big bucks support that is traditionally needed to create buzz. With limited distribution and even less advertising, but fabulous word of mouth and viral marketing, City Island is making its mark in the competitive world of 3-D mega movies and big star vehicles. In fact, its sales were up 134% last week, far out-stripping the percentage gains of the competition.
Take a look at the website (http://www.cityislandmovie.com) and check out the interactive links to download wallpapers and AIM icons, or play "share your secrets." (You know you secretly want to.) There’s nothing larger than life about this movie or its marketing campaign, which in and of itself is a refreshing change of pace that a lot of people are responding to.
It also hammers home the message that creativity, effort and belief can generate results. Let’s assume you don’t have the budget for TV advertising, lavish parties and lots of swag. But you can think small and get big results. If you’ve made a legal thriller, why not target lawyers instead of going wide with your ad dollars? Try email blasts, contests with a few free prizes (they don’t have to be expensive, you would be surprised how many people troll the internet for anything that’s FREE), or even a local marketing campaign. Say your film is set on City Island or Block Island or Sanibel Island or Bainbridge Island. Why not start in that location and get the buzz going on the films home turf, among people who will be naturally interested in your subject? Hire a street team of college students (call it an internship and suddenly you have free labor!) and work your magic on a shoestring budget.
If you combine marketing-on-the-cheap with old-fashioned persistence and ingenuity, you can create good word of mouth without going bankrupt. And isn’t it good to know that bigger isn’t always better?