Why Feature Film Advertising is not Working and How to Make it Work

I sat in wonder as I watched the recent trailer for Marie Antoinette where Kirsten Dunst parades around in fancy outfits to rock music for 30 seconds and an announcer says: “Coming soon to a theater near you.” I thought to myself: “Who cares. There was nothing in that TV spot that made me want to see that movie. Nothing compelling whatsoever.” It must be a theme with poor Kirstin Dunst, as I recall the TV spot for Elizabeth Town to be the same. Nothing compelling whatsoever.

Later that evening a trailer for “Flags of Our Fathers” parades in front of me with quick flashes of war images, a shot of Clint Eastwood in military garb and a patriotic raising of the flag at the end. The scenes don’t work together, don’t tell a story, and give not even an inkling of the “story” that might be told in this film. I even turned to my wife and said: “Do you have any idea what that movie is about?”

Naturally, if you read the reviews, they will tell you what the film is about, but middle-America and especially teens don’t read reviews and mostly don’t agree with them when they do. We’ve all seen reviews that trash a our favorite movie and we’ve all read raves about movies that we didn’t like at all.

If you were curious enough about Flags of Our Fathers, and most people would not be from those TV spots, you might then go to the web and watch the two minute full trailer on the film—which does a much more thorough job at telling the story that this movie reveals.

People like movie trailers during their evening television programming because they are like (or should be like) a mini-movie. “Cool, high priced entertainment here among my normal TV shows.” But somewhere along the line distributor promotions went form story telling to branding. “Branding” is what a hair shampoo or perfume company must do with it’s advertising: Get that “brand in your head. They need great images, lights, sound and music to establish a “Brand.” And in their case, that “Brand” is going to be around for a long time (hopefully). But feature films have no time for such things. Make no mistake, film advertising is not about branding, it’s about direct response.

When designing TV spots for feature films, marketing executives must ask themselves: “What would lift someone right out of their living room chair to go to this movie?—How can I tell such a compelling story in 30 seconds that anyone seeing it would go: ‘boy that looks good. Let’s go to THAT this weekend.”

It’s the same with radio and print. You MUST tell a story! But TV spots should be like a mini-movie, nearly complete. And the better the hook in the story, the more interested consumers are going to be. I’m always amazed that a studio will spend a bloody fortune to advertise a movie and then not really tell you what the movie is about. They will place full page ads in People and US Magazine and again, not tell me what the movie is about. Advertising MUST “create desire,” compel people to take action. And no matter what, if you want me to spend $30 (for a couple) or $60 (for a family) and to out for the evening, for Pete’s sake; tell me what the movie is about or at least why I want to go.

I worked on a few TV spots where the spot was so good the filmmakers realized they could’ve made a much better movie (they would not let me use their name herein). The spot told such a compelling tale that the filmmakers wished their movie was compelling as the TV spot. So if you have a great movie, your spot should be over-the-top great. You must intrigue the imagination and ignite something emotional. Here’s a 30-second TV spot for an upcoming feature film I’m working on entitled, “Emily’s Song.” Let’s use you as a point of research and see if this TV spot makes you want to see the movie.

Try to visualize this as you read it. This is an example of where TV is so much more powerful than print. Try to imagine these characters, great music, gripping drama, etc… To set it up, just to give you some actors to imagine (this film casts in the Spring), Let’s imagine Dakota Fanning as the ten-year old Emily. And let’s give Kirsten Dunst a great TV spot for a change (the girl deserves it, she’s a stunning talent). So Kirsten will play the grown up Emily (main character in the movie). Tom Hanks will play the other main character, Emily’s father. The “Announcer” will lay-over the “SCENES” depicted. And remember, the “Scenes” can tell a lot in very little time.

The spot:

SCENE OPENS and we’re seeing a father (Tom Hanks) and daughter (Dakota Fanning) sitting at a piano. They sparkle, a loving and perfect father-daughter relationship. The father teaches his beautiful daughter the title song (“Emily’s Song”). They laugh and sing, the idyllic father-daughter relationship. (6-seconds of a 30-second spot)

ANNOUNCER: Emily Evers had the perfect childhood, surrounded in love and her father’s love of music.

(Beat) But then tragedy strikes.

SCENE: The father is being mugged and we see the knife flash to his throat and then him lying in a pool of blood on the floor. (3 seconds)

ANNOUNCER: Leaving Emily alone in the world.

SCENE: Her house now empty, a social worker takes her away as she cries. (3 seconds)

ANNOUNCER: Emily lives a lonely life, the only keepsake of her childhood, her music.

SCENE: Match frame from Dakota to the adult Emily, depicted by Kirstin Dunst, singing and playing a keyboard for quarters on Venice Beach. (3 seconds).

SCENE: Three quick flashes of her being rejected by music executives. (3 seconds), showing that she struggles, but then…

ANNOUNCER: She struggles, but then it happens: Emily Evers touches the world with her music.

SCENE: Emily Evers on stage blowing the audience away, fans screaming her name, cameras flashing from every direction. We get that she has become a huge star. (3 seconds).

SCENE: She is with a friend, she is crying, a tortured soul. Her friend is trying to comfort her, but doesn’t know how. (2 seconds)

ANNOUNCER: The tragedy of her youth still haunts her… But in her darkest moment…

SCENE: Emily is hiding from paparazzi in a bar and suddenly hears the melody line from “Emily’s Song” playing in a darkened corner. She turns and goes to the piano to find her father. When she says: “Daddy?” He looks confused, stunned… (5 seconds)

SCENE: The screen grows dark and comes up on two more lightening quick flashes; one of Emily’s father screaming her name at the top of his lungs as guards drag him away. The final image is Emily, Rock Super Star and her screaming fans. (2 seconds)

END SPOT

That’s a total of 30 seconds. A mini-movie. Wrap some great music around that, some slick cutting of the images, some great drama and you’ve got a movie with what I call “commercial appeal.” In 30 seconds it has a good hook that makes you want to learn more. A TV spot can’t answer all the questions, but it can give you enough information that you want those questions answered. It can give you enough motivation that you will go to see the movie to find out the rest.

Let’s break it down. In just 30 seconds here are all the things we’ve just communicated:

• Emily has a happy childhood and a great relationship with her father. • They share a special song. • The father gets mugged and is presumed dead, • Leaving poor ten-year-old Emily all alone. • Emily as adult is a struggling musician, playing for quarters on the beach. • But she tries to make it as a singer but gets rejected a lot. •†Then she makes it HUGE. •†Wrapped within this already compelling story (love lost, love found)is a rags to riches story. That right there is enough for most teenagers. Heck we all love those stories.

But this 30 second spot communicates even more: • Even though she’s now rich and famous, Emily still suffers the wounds of her devastated childhood. • She’s still alone and in fact, hiding from the world in a darkened piano bar when-- • Lo’ and behold, her father lives! • And if it’s done right, you’re going to get chills when she finds her father still alive. • But something’s still wrong, as we see the father screaming her name. • And the final image of the spot is near-Elvis Fame as the lonely Emily faces her screaming fans.

Great drama, adventure, a heroes journey, a rags to riches story, a story of love lost and love found-- with (hopefully) music that sets your soul on fire.

Mind you this isn’t the whole story, not even close. You can’t possibly tell the whole story in 30 seconds. But what this is, in just 30 seconds, is a mini-movie that elicits emotions and intrigues the imagination. It’s a miracle what you can do with pictures in 30 seconds.

So this marketing expert’s advice to the distributors who MUST get fans out to those theaters is TELL A STORY with that TV spot. Take and bullet-out your movie, like I’ve done above and then figure out how you’re going to tell it in 30 seconds. Tell a compelling story. The same with radio or print. Tell a story. Tell me why I must to go to this movie. Tell me what it’s about, because I’m surely not going to a movie when I don’t even know what it’s about.

End

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