Film promotion

Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes called the press junket or film junket, film promotion generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising, franchising, media and interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, like actors and directors. This process is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors. Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. These trailers are presented to the public at the theatre or on the television at home. Generally, they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion, compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes. Film posters Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie showtimes. Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film) Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound Hollywood movie distributors spend about $4 billion a year to buy paid advertising (30-second TV commercials, magazine/newspaper ads, etc.) and over half that total is placed on broadcast and cable TV, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it is an audio-visual medium – like film – and can deliver a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because films typically don’t linger in theaters more than 4–6 weeks, according to Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition. Product placement: paid active or passive insertion (as on-set posters, and action figures) of film brand in drama or sitcom shows, or as passing mentions in dialogue. For example, 20th Century Fox commissioned an I, Robot-themed motorcycle, featured on two episodes (2:17, 2:18) of American Chopper.