Negotiation in the film exhibition industry

The film industry is divided in Production, Distribution and Exhibition. The exhibitor's companies are those in charge of the public screening of the movie, they promote the experience of watching a film in a movie theater. One of the most important exhibition companies back in my country is Cine Colombia, which collects 45% of the market's shares, surpassing multinationals such as Cinemark. I had the opportunity to interview William Torres, the Exhibition Manager of Cine Colombia, the man commanding the operation of 37 movie theaters in the country. As part of his functions he has the power to decide which movies will be shown, in how many screens and for how long. He is responsible for all of the decisions related to the box-office - he negotiates all day every day.

During the interview, Torres told me that he has had to deal with two types of negotiations within his position, one with suppliers and the other bargaining with participation accounts with the distributors or other companies. In both kinds of negotiations the most important thing for him was to work for a win-win deal. He said that each party always started the negotiation with the purpose to get the best for themselves, but it is important to start building a mutual benefit. In order to separate the people from the problem, William Torres said that it is important to always keep the goal in mind, staying away from the thoughts of starting an infighting as a negative perspective based on the other person's ideas will impact the results of the entire deal. To handle positional bargaining, therefore, he emphasized the importance of taking a break - a space that will allow both parties to evaluate what has been happening, and thereafter the position to regroup with new solutions. He also proposed that in case that break does not work, the alternative is to find a superior or a third party to intervene.

Nevertheless, before any negotiation, the preparation is essential, so he always researched the other party by requesting background information, results in previous negotiations, and also by requesting clear statistics and market trends within the other party. This ‘objective criteria’ will make the negotiation effective and will reduce the risk of falling into dirty tricks that are a reality to be faced in most cases. As there is always pressure, after a deal it is important to carefully review the warranties. In some cases the suppliers can feel intimidated, there is often times a form of a psychological pressure in dealing with a big company, so they may decide to sacrifice some aspects in exchange for greater market recognition.

In conclusion, I felt very content in talking with an important executive in the entertainment industry of Colombia, who gave me a very real perspective of the challenges I may face during future negotiations in my career.

Morgan Spurlock: The greatest TED Talk ever sold

http://www.ted.com/talks/morgan_spurlock_the_greatest_ted_talk_ever_sold#t-1111644

One of my favorite TED Talks is ‘The greatest TED Talk Ever Sold’ by the filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. He captures the audience with his humor and positive attitude. The forum, which is 20 minutes in length, is about Spurlock’s new film project: a movie about branding and sponsorship. Spurlock is a man who likes to be completely involved in all of his projects, so during the forum he shows the road he took and the obstacles he faced to finish the film. During this forum, he discussed his meetings with different marketing agencies and companies to be promoted in the movie. This was the perfect reflection of the challenge faced by directors, who produce independent films and are trying to get sponsors for their films. After watching this forum, I fell in love with the way Spurlock sold his project to the marketing agencies and showcased it as an opportunity for small businesses to continuously illustrate their products in different scenes of the movie. He also introduced the concept of embracing transparency as he examined the discomfort, which often takes away from a company in being completely honest when advertising.

Morgan Spurlock is a great example of persistence. Although many companies rejected his idea, he decided to continue in reaching his endeavors. In TED Talks, he also talked about the importance of risk taking. He is so involved in his projects that he risks his own life, and as a result, the show becomes realized when showcased to his viewers after they watch his documentaries. The most famous example was in his documentary Super Size Me when he ate fast food for a month, even though it was bad for his health. Consequently, Spurlock does not care about generating controversy; he only wants to show the truth to his audience and analyze different social issues that affect the world.

Spurlock is a very intelligent man so at the end of the forum, it is possible to figure out that he uses the ‘TED Talks’ as a promotional vehicle for his movie - ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.’. This movie was very successful, and it was premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2011.

Financing independent films

The film market has two sides of the coin. One side of the coin is for the high budgets movies, which have the support of the big film studios from the production until the distribution of the product. For that reason the success at the box office, or at least the recovery of the production budget, is guaranteed. On the other side of the coin is the market of independent filmmakers who have to struggle for the exhibition of their product in the theaters to try to recover the investment on the production process. The path for the independent filmmaker it is not easy because the economic resources are limited and there are a lot of expenses involve in the production, postproduction and distribution.

The independence film’s financial support has been found by crowdfunding, an important option to get money for the movie. Another excellent option is to get incentives and subsidies from different organizations, but in many cases this money is not enough. To find and investor that will receive a percentage of the movie profits is one of the most popular choices because it represents a low risk. Actually, there is a trend in the last years, to have more support from private investors than from bank loans because they offer better rates depending on the deal.

Marketing behind The Oscars

The Oscars ceremony, celebrated this year on March 2, is not only the most important event for the film industry. Behind the awards a powerful marketing tool is hidden. It can be used by the nominated movies and by the brands that participate in the broadcasting. 

When a movie is nominated to the Academy Awards, this immediately creates an important recognition opening the doors to big international distribution and guaranteeing a positive result in the worldwide box office. The victory in a category could help the growth of the box office results as the movie would stay more weeks in the theaters and would generate millions of dollars for other incomes as DVD sales or digital downloads. It is a way of free promotion for the movie. An example of this phenomenon is The King’s Speech, which won the best picture award in 2011 and collected more than $400 million in box office, when the first projected was $30 million.

Digital Media for Movie Marketing

What is the key to attract the audience to a movie? What are the marketing strategies that the film studios are using to be the leaders of the box office during a period of time? Now the audience is demanding more. The people just do not want to limit their experience to the duration time of the movie. They want to create a connection with the stories and the characters. The traditional ways to publicizing a film, such as showing the trailer in theaters and publishing articles in magazines and journals, are still working. However, the digital and social media have been increasing the importance in the movie marketing. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram are new allies on the film promotion.

Lionsgate, for example, designed a campaign for the release of The Hunger Games in which they invited teenagers to register on Facebook, Twitter, play games, and join communities related with the movie story. This campaign is a perfect example of the importance to create a link with the audience beyond viewing the movie. It is to completely involve the movie follower in the movie world. Other successful campaigns include creating blogs of the movies, viral videos, ipad and smartphones applications. The key is always interaction. 

A recent example is the aggressive digital marketing campaign of The Lego Movie by Warner Bros. Even though the movie release was on February 7 2014, the campaign started since the previous year. Besides the teaser trailer exhibition on YouTube, they created a web page to give fans the chance to build their own Lego figure. On Facebook they created competitions, such as “Fan of the Week” and they shared photos of the fans with the movie stands in the theaters.

The digital media is not only a source for creating the campaigns. It is also an important tool for getting indicators and data to analyze the impact of a movie on the market. With statistics like Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Google searches and trailer views, it is possible to predict the box office results. The Lego Movie box office results this weekend were very good and the results are attributed largely to the marketing campaign. The digital media is a new option to promote the movies and have a closer relationship with the customer.

About Me

Currently a student in the Masters in Entertainment Business Program at Full Sail University. I am a business professional with three years of experience working in market research, marketing strategies and point-of-sale advertising. I worked for two years in Cine Colombia, one of the biggest entertainment companies in Colombia, where I had the opportunity to learn about the film exhibition and distribution industry. I worked with movie distributors and film festival organizers to promote their products in different channels such as Multiplex and Cine Colombia web page. In the future, I would like to work in the Marketing, Advertising and Events area of an entertainment company in Colombia or in the United States.