Lightning (and snakes!) in a Bottle

[by Nancy] Hi folks! In the few days (weeks?) since Todd invited me to take on movie marketing for his esteemed blog, I've been fighting with myself over the subject of this first post. While I'd like to jump straight into some of the brilliantly creative or totally doomed campaigns that are sucking dollars out of distributors' pockets at a dizzying pace this summer, I need to get something out of the way first.

As part of a forum created, to investigate, in part (as Todd so elegantly puts it in his manifesto ), "consumers taking over the marketing message, tearing it apart and rebuilding it to suit their desires," I think I must begin by giving a nod to the proverbial elephant in this summer's screening room. Of course, I mention it knowing that unless you've been living under a rock on an island with no internet access for the past few months, you are well aware of the Snakes on a Plane phenomenon. (No offense to you sub-rock island dwellers - if you need a quick catch-up, see the recent recap in the San Francisco Chronicle or the ever-expanding Wikipedia entry.)

The short version is this: New Line Cinema greenlit a film with a working title (the aforementioned reptiles on the aforementioned air transport), the simplistic ridiculousness of which serendipitously inspired film's most beloved badass (Samuel L. Jackson) to sign up. With visions of Jules Winnfield or Mace Windu battling pythons and rattlers providing the necessary impetus, fans quickly expressed their enthusiasm by producing their own blogs, trailers, and theme songs. Throughout the film's production process, the creative efforts of this intrepid group of cine-avia-reptile admirers opened up a dialogue of sorts with New Line, resulting in material alterations to the final film product.

My intention in bringing it up is not merely to add to the already ubiquitous furor surrounding what will surely be, as far as artistic merit is concerned, a sub-par Hollywood product, but to highlight everything that New Line has (intentionally or not) done right in selling this film to the public.

1. They kept the working title.
   Early in the production, New Line actually attempted to change the title to the less descriptive, more derivative Pacific Air Flight 121. Kudos to them for caving to pressure from fans and Jackson to keep the original, high concept name intact. The glaringly insipid moniker not only gave fans an instant and vivid image of what to expect, but it also stands as a ready-made critique of the Hollywood studio groupthink that keeps lowest-common-denominator films in the pipeline. The title has effectively courted those who can't wait to see yet another wild-animals-run-amok-horror-film as well as the snarky film snobs who can't wait to laugh at the most ridiculous film of the year.
2. They secured Samuel L. Jackson to star in the film and kept him happy.
   Even though Jackson admits that the film's title is what led him to the project, New Line surely made the deal sweet enough retain him for the long haul, even after Jackson's buddy, director Ronny Yu, left the film. Jackson is arguably the hardest-working actor in the film business, and he is certainly one of the most profitable. He has been promoting the film for months, and boldly championed its supremacy once again at last week's MTV Movie Awards. I say go ahead and give the guy an Oscar. He's earned it.
3. They didn't harass the fans.
   Instead, New Line stood on the sidelines while the online community took on a life of its own and promoted the film by lampooning the premise. Not only did this fan-created promotion create a humorously schlocky appeal that succeeded in capturing even more attention, but the critical mass of buzz on the film has also led to the the kind of editorial coverage in the mainstream press that money can't buy. I should note here that New Line has a good track record with according online fan communities the proper respect. Remember the canny way they wooed all those adorably geeky individuals who spoke Elvish prior to kicking off a rather successful franchise called The Lord of the Rings?
4. They embraced fan expectations and altered the film to fit.
   Classic audience feedback model. The interesting variation here is that New Line didn't have to wait until a rough cut of the film was completed or spend money on test market screenings, surveys, and the like (it's doubtful they would have done so on this type of B-movie fare anyway). Instead, they could do free research by checking out YouTube and the blogs devoted to Snakes on a Plane discussion to figure out what their audience wanted to see. The result? Reshoots to move the film from a PG-13 rating squarely into R-territory and (I assume) to capitalize on fans' embrace of the more absurd aspects of the premise.
5. Continued focus on fan-created blogs, videos, and other collateral material not produced by New Line as part of the film's "official" marketing campaign.
   New Line's Snakes on a Plane website is, at this point, a little boring in and of itself. You can check out video and audio clips and download images and wallpaper, but that's about it. I imagine they'll be adding other functionalities as we get closer to the film's release date, but right now, the focus is still where it should be - on the fans. Links to a "fan site of the week" take visitors to YouTube, Snakes on a Blog, MySpace, and, surprisingly, McSweeney's, where individuals ostensibly not employed by New Line are keeping the rest of us up to date with the latest Snakes on a Plane news, gossip, and parody.

All of this has worked remarkably well. I, for one, will be watching with interest see how the next two months unfold. Will the fans keep the current momentum up until August 18th, or will backlash (or worse, indifference) set in before then? Will the film end up near the top of the summer box office heap? Will Samuel L. Jackson be able to get the m-f-ing snakes off the m-f-ing plane? Will Nancy ever write a post this long again?

All I can tell you at this point is that the answer to that last question is "no."

Comments

[Chris Thilk]

Speaking as someone who writes quite a bit about movie marketing, your first foray into the field was great.

The one problem I have with New Line's official mktg efforts is the movie's official website. Instead of retyping it you can read my thoughts on the matter here. http://moviemarketingmadness.blogspot.com/2006/05/snakes-on-plane-official-website.html

Best,
--Chris