The Birth of the Nation Skywriting spelling out "Nat Turner Lives," which was a key copypoint during the movie's marketing, appeared over Los Angeles but it wasn't clear whether it was actually a promotional stunt tied to the film or not. The Nat Geo channel will air a special on Nat Turner. The special is … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: The Birth of the Nation, The Girl on the Train and More
Picking Up the Spare: The Shallows, Desierto
Desierto I'm not sure what happened that had me writing a full campaign recap for this movie back in February, but the movie is apparently coming out in October and so a new trailer has popped up promoting that. The Shallows Anne Thompson at Indiewire talked to two industry vets who were involved with selling … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: The Shallows, Desierto
Picking Up the Spare: Snowden, A Bigger Splash, War Dogs
Snowden Open Road's head of marketing talks to The Wrap about how the movie was being sold as a thrilling story, not something meant to spur debate about political issues. I kind of agree with this, but think there's no way you can put the main character's name on the title and have Oliver Stone … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Snowden, A Bigger Splash, War Dogs
Picking Up the Spare: Morgan, Ghostbusters
Morgan 20th Century Fox approached IBM about creating a "cognitive" trailer for the and so the super-computer Watson was fed hundreds of horror/thriller trailers. Machine learning then created a new spot that's...not bad? Ghostbusters Kind of like Edge of Tomorrow, the Ghostbusters extended release on home video is getting a subtitle that wasn't there for … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Morgan, Ghostbusters
Picking Up the Spare: Don’t Think Twice, Hell or High Water
Don't Think Twice The cast gathered round to create a "viral video" but the hilarity comes from how they don't really seem to know what that means. Hell or High Water A new TV spot focuses on the incredibly positive reviews the movie has generated, pulling in quotes and raves from critics. The Hollars In … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Don’t Think Twice, Hell or High Water
Picking Up the Spare: Hell or High Water, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters A really interesting op-ed at The Ringer about how the really weird expectations for Ghostbusters are informing the (reported, not confirmed) reality that it won't get a sequel because the movie didn't shatter records. I firmly believe the same narrative plays out much differently for movies with a male cast all the time since … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Hell or High Water, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters
Picking Up the Spare: The Angry Birds Movie, Suicide Squad, Pete’s Dragon, Sausage Party
The Angry Birds Movie Sony Pictures used Snapchat's new Snap Ads to promote the movie's home video release during the Olympics. Suicide Squad More post-mortem on the movie's mixed response, with this Variety op-ed basically saying movie marketing needs to quit fooling people into seeing bad movies just because they're part of a franchise or … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: The Angry Birds Movie, Suicide Squad, Pete’s Dragon, Sausage Party
Picking up the Spare: Suicide Squad, X-Men: Apocalypse
Suicide Squad Kim Masters has a great piece in The Hollywood Reporter that chronicles the travels of the movie through studio bureaucracy and the issues that came up at all levels. It's a cautionary tale for how studios announce release dates years in advance with no solid plan in place to actually hit that date. … Continue reading Picking up the Spare: Suicide Squad, X-Men: Apocalypse
Picking Up The Spare: Don’t Think Twice, Star Trek Beyond and More
Star Trek Beyond Paramount used the movie's San Diego Comic-Con screening to test a new kind of Google ad, taking live video that was shot by the cast in attendance, editing it on the fly and serving it as an ad to the fans, using footage from the event they were at. Don't Think Twice … Continue reading Picking Up The Spare: Don’t Think Twice, Star Trek Beyond and More
Picking Up The Spare: Star Trek Beyond, Ghostbusters
Star Trek Beyond Paramount and Atom Tickets are running a co-branded campaign offering first-time users a free ticket to the movie to raise awareness of the app, which encourages group moviegoing coordination. Select theaters are offering exclusive posters through a partnership with Gallery 1988. The movie's San Diego Comic-Con premiere gave it a big lift … Continue reading Picking Up The Spare: Star Trek Beyond, Ghostbusters
Chris Thilk 