Adam Lightman, Spencer Peif,
Kyle Suss, & Keith Paul
Final Deliverable
CU Team Members:
Adam Lightman(901)
Keith Paul(831)
Spencer Peif(303)
Kyle Suss(303)
Market Force Client:
Rushton McGarr(303)402-6916 –
(303)881-4644 –Cell
Hitachi Mentor:
Mike Lampe
Table of Contents
Interview Process Summary...... 2
Discussion Guide...... 3
People We Contacted...... 5
Interview Notes
SVP Digital Marketing (Universal Pictures)...... 8
SVP Finance and Operations (Fox Searchlight)...... 9
VP Finance of Production (20th Century Fox)...... 10
EVP Marketing Planning (20th Century Fox)...... 11
SVP Sales and Operations (Overture)...... 12
Worldwide Publicity (Overture)...... 13
SVP Marketing (Overture)...... 14
EVP Distribution (Paramount)...... 15
VP Production (Warner Brothers)...... 16
SVP Post Production (Warner Brothers)...... 17
Key Findings...... 18
Problem Area Matrix...... 19
Status Reports...... 20
Meeting Minutes...... 26
Updated Risk Management Plan...... 46
Quality Assurance...... 49
Change Management...... 52
Lessons Learned...... 53
First Deliverable...... following Lessons Learned
Interview Process Summary
After analyzing our discussion guide with Rushton, we reworded and removed some of our questions to emphasize problems that Market Force could potentially solve. With this final discussion guide, we were ready to start conducting interviews.
Our primary source for finding contact information for studio executives was The website lists nearly all of the high-power executives from each studio. We could not find emails or direct phone numbers for any of these executives, but IMDbPro does have the main phone number for the studio office. Our first strategy was simply cold calling as many executives as we could. We called around 15 executives, and each time we would be connected to their personal assistant who would not let us talk to the executive or arrange a meeting. Spencer had a break through when he found a few email addresses and decided to email some of the executives instead of calling them. Within one day, two executives had emailed him back and set up a time for a phone interview. We realized that the best approach seemed to be emailing first, and then setting up a phone interview with the executives that were willing to talk to us.
We could only find email addresses for a few of the executives, but we realized that each studio’s email addresses followed a specific pattern. Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney, HBO, Miramax, Overture, Paramount, and Universal all assign email addresses as firstname.lastname@....com. Using these patterns, we sent out around 100 emails and had 10 executives agree to be interviewed. We followed the discussion guide and recorded as much information from the interviews as possible. Many of the executives we spoke to were worried about having something they said end up on the internet, so out of respect for their privacy we have only associated their company titles with their interview notes.
Discussion Guide
Finance
- How much does product placement play a role in financing?
- How does a company get their product in your movie?
- Are there bidding wars to get into your movie?
- How do consumers react to product placement?
- How involved is the company in how the product is portrayed?
- Does the studio have a separate department that deals with product placement?
- Who should we talk to about this?
- In addition to obtaining financing what other challenges are you facing?
Distribution
- Are you concerned with the safety and security of digital distribution?
- What risks does digital distribution bring about?
- What current services and jobs will digital eliminate?
- Does the audience see digital as lower quality than print?
- Is there a connection between digital prints and an increase in piracy?
- What are your short-term and long-term strategies for combating piracy?
- What could the theatres do to help?
- What are your main concerns with the “in-theatre experience?”
- Do Producers and Directors have concerns with the “in-theatre experience” and their lack of control about how their product is shown?
- What new problems are arising with the reemergence of 3-D?
- Does 3-D create new problems with the pricing of the movie?
- Are you encountering pricing problems with theatres that provide combo-deals that package concessions with the movie ticket?
- When you sell the movie to the theatres, are you running into problems with theatres that give preferential treatment and placement to movies from other companies?
- What do you consider before releasing a movie overseas?
- Cultural considerations
- Quality control
- DVD sales are expected to fall over the next year across the industry, how is this impacting your studio?
- Do you plan on using online sites, such as YouTube, to stream videos because DVD sales are expected to fall?
- Do you plan on creating your own online distribution system?
Marketing
- Marketing costs are extremely expensive, are you using new methods to increase the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns?
- Since customers’ attitudes are always changing, what have you been doing to make sure your ads are still effective?
- Have you experimented with viral advertising?
- Outlet? YouTube, Facebook, Websites, Posters, etc.
- What films/genres?
- Do you know how effective viral advertising is?
- What marketing outlet gives you the best “bang for your buck?”
- Is it difficult to calculate ROI for new marketing outlets?
- Is there a risk in over-advertising?
- Is it hard to market a film before it receives an MPAA rating?
People We Contacted
20th Century Fox1 / Dean Hallett - EVP Finance
2 / Daryl Cobbin - EVP Marketing
3 / Rita Drucker (call only)- SVP Feature Film Promotions
4 / Tomas Jeqeus - Co-President, International
5 / Grant Kahn - VP, International Licensing
6 / Pamela Levine (call only) - Co-President, Domestic Theatrical Marketing
7 / Bert Livingston - SVP Distribution
8 / Keith Rauch - Manager of Creative Advertising
9 / Julie Rieger - EVP Marketing Planning
10 / Tony Sella - Co-President, Domestic Theatrical Marketing
11 / Carol Sewell - VP Publicity and Field Marketing
12 / Bruce Snyder - President of Domestic Distribution
Fox Searchlight
13 / Stephanie Allen - EVP Creative Advertising
14 / Sheila DeLoach - SVP General Sales Manager
15 / Jill Gwen - SVP Finance and Operations
16 / Jonathan Ross - Distribution
17 / Nancy Utley, President, Marketing
MGM
18 / Erik Lomis - President of Distribution
Miramax
19 / Jason Cassidy - EVP Marketing
Universal
20 / Adam Fogelson, Co-President, Marketing
21 / Eddie Egan, Co-President, Marketing
22 / Jeanne Cordova, Director of Marketing
23 / David Kosse, President, International Marketing
24 / Nikki Rocco, President, Universal Pictures Distribution
25 / Kori Bernards - SVP Media Relations
26 / Eddie Egan - President of Marketing
27 / Christian Grass - President of International Production
28 / Michael Moses - EVP Publicity
29 / Doug Neil - SVP Digital Marketing
30 / Scott Rieckhoff - VP Exhibitor Relations
Warner Brothers
31 / Sue Kroll - President, Marketing
32 / Dawn Taubin - President, Domestic Marketing
33 / Veronika Kwan-Rubinek - President, Distribution
34 / Bill Daly - SVP Post Production
35 / Courtney Armstrong- SVP Business Affairs
36 / Jon Berg- SVP Production
37 / Kristy Carlson- VP Feature Casting
38 / Patti Connolly- EVP Business Affairs
39 / Bill Daly- Senior VP, Post Production
40 / Christopher DeFaria- EVP Digital Production
41 / Bill Draper- EVP Production
42 / Dan Fellman- President, Domestic Distribution
43 / Kurt P. Galvao- Dir. Feature Post Prod. Assets & Technology
44 / Jeff Goldstein- EVP Domestic Distribution
45 / Jessica Goodman- EVP Production
46 / Janet A. Kobrin- VP Intellectual Property
47 / Kevin McCormick- President of Production
48 / David Mortimer- Director, National Publicity
49 / Jack Nguyen- SVP Operations, WB International
50 / Matt Reilly- VP Production
51 / Angelina Speare- EVP Operations and Finance
HBO
52 / Eric Kessler, President, Sales and Marketing
Disney
53 / David Kornblum - VP Theatrical Sales & Distribution
54 / Chuck Viane - President of Distribution
Paramount
55 / Adam Kassan - VP Paramount Film Group
56 / Dan Butler - SVP Business Affairs
57 / Daniel Ferleger - EVP Business Affairs
58 / David Beaubaire - EVP Production
59 / Kimberly LoCascio - SVP Visual Effects
60 / Lee Rosenthal - EVP Feature Production Management
61 / Marty Cohen - President Post Production
62 / Paul Neinstein - EVP Business & Legal
63 / Richard Jastrow - Executive Director Post Services
64 / Teri Fournier - EVP Legal Affairs
65 / Mark Christiansen - EVP Distribution
66 / Megan Colligan - Co-President of Domestic Marketing
67 / Josh Greenstein - Co-Presiden of Domestic Marketing
68 / Amy Powell - SVP Interactive Marketing
69 / Steve Siskind - EVP Worldwide Marketing & Advertising
70 / Rod Smith - EVP Production Finance
71 / LeeAnne Stables -EVP Worldwide Marketing Partnerships
72 / Jim Tharp - President of Distribution
Overture
73 / Pete Adee - President, Worldwide Theatrical Marketing & Distribution
74 / Rachel Cadden - SVP Marketing
75 / Cecilia Conti - Marketing Coordinator
76 / Kristin Cotich - VP, National Publicity
77 / Kyle Davies - EVP Theatrical Distribution
78 / Jamie Denenberg - Director, Publicity Materials
79 / David Earl - Director of Accounting
80 / Greg Forston - SVP Theatrical Distribution
81 / Matt Garelik - SCP Theatrical Distribution
82 / Jackson George - EVP Creative Advertising
83 / Erika Hart Hindle - SVP Finance & Administration
84 / Adam Keen - SVP Worldwide Publicity
85 / Katrina Love - VP Creative Advertising
86 / John Sinayi - SVP Theatrical Distribution
87 / Tonay Toone - Director, Events & Promotions
88 / Bryan Yaconelli - VP Production Management & Finance
Summit Entertainment
89 / Richard Fay - President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution
90 / Jill Jones - SVP International Marketing
91 / Brad Kembel - EVP International Distribution
92 / Nancy Kirkpatrick - President of Worldwide Marketing
93 / James McGough - Manager, Finance
94 / Deborah Tellis - SVP International Disstribution
95 / Deborah Ortega - Director, International
96 / David Garrett - President, Summit International
97 / Bob Hayward - COO
Interview Notes - SVP Digital Marketing (Universal Pictures)
Marketing is extremely necessary to the success of a movie, so studios don’t mind spending the money on advertising.
Viral is partial to certain genres – Viral by nature is something shared
Trailer Mash-ups are good because they are unique to creator
Comedy and Horror are best genres for viral
Hard to over-saturate market with advertising because movies are each a completely new product when they are released.
Studios must be conservative when advertising before receiving an MPAA rating.
When releasing a movie into theatres – want to get into as many outlets as possible.
The In-Theatre experience is continually improving.
When releasing a movie in 3-D, want to make that format as available as possible.
Don’t want to fight for the same screen, and if they need to go 2-D with the movie, that is OK.
When considering using product placement, let the partnership team talk to advertisers.
Product must be organic to film.
Focus groups are NOT necessary because movie makers only do product placements that make sense to character.
Film makers are careful to not sell-out
Interview Notes - SVP Finance and Operations (Fox Searchlight)
Whenever using product placement, it is important not to take the audience out of the moment.
There is strong security in digital distribution, the piracy problem is with people bringing in camcorders.
International offices handle the international offenses.
Every product placement deal is different
It isn’t common to rely on product placement as a substantial financing source.
If you don’t believe in the movie, you find co-financers to share the risk
Interview Notes - VP Finance of Production (20th Century Fox)
Most of product placement is simply about using the product in the movie, not getting financing.
Product donated during production and returned afterwards.
Majority of time, movie maker doesn’t get much in fees.
A brand name product in a movie can be good for making the movie relatable to audience.
Currently Production costs are amortized over about 5 years of exploitation, but that window is narrowing as movies are going straight to On-Demand when going out on DVD ect.
Consumers are demanding that movies be released on home video when they are released in theatres, but Studios don’t want to see movie theatres cannibalized because box office is a source of revenue.
His biggest problem is making sure the right people are involved in production because having to replace people etc. costs money and reduces the production value.
He manages slate deals.
Interview Notes - EVP Marketing Planning (20th Century Fox)
There is a big problem with using the internet for advertising and judging the effectiveness of that marketing.
People are trained to get things in small bits from internet.
They have tried big things with internet but don’t see it as being nearly as effective as theatre trailers and TV commercials.
They love in-theatre trailers, but have mixed feelings towards Screen Vision.
Screen vision creates a less attentive audience.
If they have the movie stars on screen vision talking to audience about the movie – that could work well.
She is not involve in oversees marketing.
She thought we touched on the big problems in her eyes.
Interview Notes - SVP Sales and Operations (Overture)
In regard to the transition to digital distribution: "Every year I’ve been here, digital was going to take over in 5 years"
“When the news reel came out they were going to kill the papers, but that didn’t happen”
Reasons why people continue to go to movie theatres:
People want to leave the home.
Parents want kids out of the house.
Going to the movies is a nice thing to do.
He sees a huge trend toward 3-d visual, and there is even a small company in Germany doing 3d audio.
These things serve to enhance movie going experience and yet are hard to replicate at home.
Gaming will drive the 3d model.
Who is going to pay for the equipment to get upgraded?
Many theatre owners are platform agnostic (they won’t commit to one platform, so they just don’t upgrade).
Studios’ stance: "I don’t care how you play my film"
He actually prefers film because “it’s cheaper and easier to just transport it”
Satellite and internet connectivity are just another piece of inventory to monitor.
Funds aren’t as free flowing as one would imagine with regard to paying for upgrading systems to digital.
Interview Notes - Worldwide Publicity (Overture)
He says that somebody in the industry may tell you one thing while others say something else
With regards to Product Placement:
Financing depends on the scale of the product.
Product placement happens more in TV than it does in film.
ex. Spider Man is a Coca-Cola drinker - only Coke products in the film
Product placement makes for strong promotions partnerships when marketing.
Coke may pay a small fee or provide things to the film on backend, but mainly a partnership.
Consumers are pretty used to it now, but consumer reaction depends on how the product is
integrated into the piece.
Use in James Bond not as "jarring" as say a Woody Allen movie
With regards to digital distribution:
The film industry has had to compete with how the consumer is more demanding.
People don’t want to wait as long for things and are more complacent about attending things
(want things delivered)
Disney Key Chest: People are interested in it, but it’s not a proven commodity yet
Disney is consolidating distribution teams, this affects everyone’s job.
Debating changing the windows of distribution, but it is very experimental still.
Viral advertising:
Depends on the product and who you want to reach.
Could be very effective depending on audience
ex. paranormal activity - focused on online advertising as well as seeding, word of mouth
Overture has utilized all of the outlets:
Facebook - applicable across all outlets
twitter - not reaching youngsters as much as Facebook
- Some sort of cost involved with using it on a mobile device
- Not as much feedback
Interview Notes - SVP Marketing (Overture)
They use Twitter and Facebook
When we do exit polls, the number one way to reach people is TV, then in theater, and finally online
DVR not showing any issues, but newspaper ads are dying out
How to measure success:
Twitter - the more followers the better (couple thousand is successful)
Facebook - amount of friends
Web traffic - how many hits per site
People claim that they can monitor blogs and opinions, but it is not really worth the money.
He said, “Disney key chest is great.”
With Transformers, product placement played a role in saving costs for production.
Sometimes people would go to McDonalds just to get the toy.
There are so many obstacles to overcome with product placement:
"Talent Approval" - approval from actors
When advertising, cutting through the noise is the biggest problem.
Ex. The big buzz that everyone was talking about was “Twilight is coming out this weekend.”
They couldn’t get any buzz of their own competing with such a big movie.
Regarding A Christmas Carol
Disney promotes their movies on their own channel
Many kids were saying "I don’t want to see the movie; it’s too scary"
There is nothing funny, light hearted in the movie.
Disney typically relies on the nag factor: "Mom, I want to see the movie." But there was no nag factor for A Christmas Carol.
Disney tests the material though.
Interview Notes - EVP Distribution (Paramount)
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"There are several issue that have come up with the roll out of 3D.
First is the availability and interoperability of 3D projection sites. There are at least 5 systems that will project 3D and they are not completely compatible. Christie has produced a very informative overview of the systems available and their requirements (attached). There is some disagreement on whether or not separate versions of 3D titles need to be produced to give the best results on each of the systems. Chief among the differences is the need for ghostbusting—a method of reducing ghost images produced by incomplete blocking of the opposite eye’s view of a frame, i.e., the left eye sees just a hint of the image meant for the right eye. Ghostbusting is generally associated with the systems using polarized glasses. I have heard that there are dozens of different versions of a certain high profile 3D title coming up, trying to perfectly match the 3D version to the screen it is being exhibited on. The problem is that the wrong version is likely to be shown on some screens so the exercise defeats itself. Single inventory is certainly preferable.