ShoWest Day Three: Let's Do Lunch

By Kevin Lally

ShoWest tried something unusual at one of its luncheon affairs this year--after everyone wolfed down their fish, exhibitors were treated to a panel discussion with four of the leading executives from the major studios, commandingly navigated by Hollywood Reporter editor Elizabeth Guider through a sea of industry issues.

Mark Zoradi, president of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, gauged the next 24 months as the tipping point for digital cinema, predicting 4,000 to 5,000 digital 3D installations by the end of 2010. But, because of the complications of finalizing business plans in vastly different countries, he cautioned that the international market is about one to two years behind North America in establishing digital-cinema beachheads. With studios already investing heavily in digital 3D product, "not having the same opportunities internationally is a challenge," according to Paramount Pictures vice chairman Rob Moore.

Unlike the television industry, the film industry won't be seeing much negative impact from the writers' strike, the studio execs agreed. "You couldn't find a date now in the summer of 2009," said Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Jeff Blake. "Everyone's loaded, golden and ready to go."

One issue of great concern to exhibitors is the even distribution of movie product throughout the calendar year. "We love to spread them out," said Blake, adding that "success begets success." The strong April 2007 opening of Disturbia, for instance, proved that a film could work very well in what was once regarded as a fallow period, and the mid-January Martin Luther King holiday weekend has now become desirable, especially after this year's robust performance by Cloverfield and 27 Dresses. Observed Moore, "When a movie works on a certain date, it's easier to get people to stop seeing it as a dumping ground."

Reflecting on the power of the Internet, Universal Pictures president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson questioned whether it's possible to deliberately create a viral phenomenon. He cited J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield as an example of a movie whose Internet buzz was no great mystery, being the product of a creative mind with a huge online following from his work on TV's "Lost" and "Alias."

Sony's Jeff Blake contended that one of the most unsung promotional tools is in-theatre marketing. "It's valuable real estate for us," he said. "Only a fraction of people go to the movies regularly, and it's an opportunity for them to see your longest message."

Addressing the downside of movie mania, Universal's Fogelson questioned the way the success or failure of a movie is measured today. "It's the world's largest spectator sport," he observed. "Movies are labeled a success or failure instantaneously, regardless of what they cost." Paramount's Moore, meantime, lamented the rise of pundits who project in advance how a movie should perform, setting a sometimes arbitrary definition of success or failure.

In all, it was a lively and thoughtful discussion, and ShoWest attendees, many from smaller circuits, seemed to appreciate this privileged glimpse at the challenges faced by the people who supply the movies that strive to keep their customers coming back for more.