Deep Thoughts on that Awards Show
We'll have a special episode of Hollywood Breaks this week, so I don't want to take too much away from that discussion, but I do have some initial random thoughts on last weekend's Oscars.
I was into the Opening Montage initially; who doesn't love a good one? But shoving Kimmel at the end in a ham-fisted way took the steam out of the piece. I know Cruise didn't want to participate, which is puzzling (more on that below,) but you could get a little more creative. You did have ten Best Picture nominees from which to choose.
The opening monologue had some good bits in it, and Kimmel did land some haymakers on Will Smith, but it's usually during standard monologues like this that I miss Billy Crystal. For those of you who are too young to remember, google "Billy Crystal Oscar opening numbers" and you'll see a natural entertainer in his prime.
On the Little Mermaid plug, I know there are advocates for this kind of thing during the Oscars, like Puck's Matt Belloni, but it feels so forced and the show is already way too long. Isn't there a better way to execute this? Apparently, ABC went to all the studios, and everyone passed except WB, and who could blame them with the $7-$10 million asking price. That left Disney paying itself to run a promo, which didn't even play in the Dolby theater. It might have been more effective if they had shown it in the auditorium and then cut to the audience applauding. And the Warner Brother's 100th-anniversary sizzle could have been better. Plus, as some online sleuths have pointed out, many of the movies they showcased weren't even made by Warner Brothers but were part of Ted Turner's acquisition of the MGM library. I'm sure all those laid-off employees love that David Zaslav dropped all that dough to run a sizzle reel with movies that the studio didn't technically make.
There were no actual awards surprises. Everything Everywhere All At Once, or EEAAO, as it's now affectionately named, cleaned up, which was no real surprise. Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh were expected winners and gave great speeches. Best Actor was a bit of a toss-up, but as yours truly called it, Brendan Fraser took it and gave the oddest speech of the night. However, it was great to not only hear Ke Huy thank Jeff Cohen, aka Chunk from Goonies, during his acceptance speech but the hugging Harrison Ford, aka Indiana Jones, as he came up on stage after the Best Picture announcement; well, it was the cherry on top for this 80s kid. It almost makes me feel bad for all of you Gen Y and Millenials. Will you ever be able to have a cultural moment like that as you age? Maybe when a TikTok influencer wins an Oscar?
As Kimmel rightly pointed out, it was bad form for both Tom Cruise and James Cameron to pull a no-show. While I think the public gave it little mind, it was odd to have a show about everyone returning to the theaters with the industry's two biggest advocates not even bothering to show up. Can you imagine getting both of them up on that stage and talking about the impact of seeing movies in theaters? That would have been huge, and it probably could have created a viral moment and one that didn't involve an assault. But as with all things Hollywood, ego got in the way, which provided reassurance that not everything is changing in Hollywood.
Standing Atop The Mount
What is in the water over in Hollywood? Paramount Pictures Marketing continues to crush it, opening Screaming VI (yes 6) to over $44 million, besting the previous installment by over $14 million—Huzzah to Marc Weinstock and his entire team. The team is firing on all cylinders. They have barely missed a beat over the last few releases. Yes, there have been stinkers like Babylon, but overall they have successfully opened films throughout the last couple of years.
I know that the theaters have been clamoring for more movies, but Paramount's success might make a good argument that, from a marketing standpoint, not stacking the release calendar and spacing out releases leads to better returns in the long run. Just think about it. Giving your marketing department more time to focus its resources and build an audience for a movie can pay dividends, much like the argument that films get better if there is more time to develop them (make a movie, not a release date); the same logic can apply to marketing. Obviously, there will be movies that no amount of turd polishing will help, but studios could put themselves in a much better financial position with more focused marketing and less "ready-fire-aim" marketing.
Paramount may have a challenge with the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons release (awareness isn't great.) Still, overall, their record has been impressive, particularly with the industry's challenges over the last few years. Of course, this could all change over the new few months depending on their releases, but I'm not sure. The team over at Paramount has shown that despite the loss of the 30-second TV commercial and the 30 million strong TV shows, you can still open a movie with a strategically sound marketing plan and content.
Pages from the Commonplace Book
This week, we'll pull from a more modern source: Cartoonist Bil Keane, best known for his work on the Sunday newspaper strip The Family Circle:
"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."
It is essential to savor the present in an industry like ours, where we constantly look toward the next release or campaign. Jeffrey Godsick, EVP at Fox, while I was there and now works at Sony, said something similar to our department after the first Avatar had reached #1 of all time. He reminded us to savor this moment because it may never happen again, and he was right, just like Bil Keane. Working in this industry is a great experience, but you need to savor those special moments to make all the crazy feel worth it.
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