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Movie Marketing

Theatrical Movie Delivery Has Changed. Posters, Not So Much

When I worked at a movie theater back in the early 90’s, we always looked forward to getting a new shipment of one-sheets. Assuming they weren’t tagged to be returned to the distributor after we were done with them we could call “dibs” and buy the ones we really liked. But all of them had to be unrolled and placed in the glass cases – a few on the outside of the theater, more inside in the lobby – to be displayed. Posters were usually delivered at the same time and by the same people who delivered the canisters containing the next week’s movies, which had to be assembled by hand and spooled onto the platters that fed into the cameras.

Now, though, most movies are presented via digital files that are sent directly to the theater. But, as I notice whenever I go to the theater, hard-copy posters are still being shoved (sometimes not well at all) into glass cases. When I was walking up to the building the other day many of those one-sheets were crumpled and others were beginning to fade. In other words, this is not the best presentation of movies that both the studio and the theater chain are hoping people will find interesting enough to spend money on. 

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It got me thinking about why this hasn’t changed along with not only digital delivery of movies but also the trailers that proceed them? Imagine if that glass case that features a backlit printed and fading poster were actually an LCD screen that could be programmed to display key art. Here are some of the possibilities that might open up:

  • Easy swapping in and out. Instead of having to ship, install and remove a physical item each screen could be tweaked and changed with the push of a couple buttons.
  • More than still images: Many movies have released “motion posters” that feature key art that’s been animated or some sort of other movement. These kinds of screens would not only for those to be displayed but also may make them the preferred format.
  • More information can be displayed. Even if the key art isn’t animated, the posters could rotate with some other information, alternating between the artwork, a curated stream of Tweets or other posts from people talking about their excitement for the film. Heck, you could even filter these so a screen in Chicago only displays updates from posts geotagged as coming from the area.
  • Different form factors: Instead of being constrained by the 27″ x 40” that still constitutes a standard key art dimension, the screens could literally be any shape. Yes, standards are still going to be necessary, but they don’t have to be the same standards as are in place today.

I’m sure this will come around eventually, but it seems the time is right for some innovation in the local presentation of key art.