"Welcome To Macintosh"

"Welcome to Macintosh" is the first documentary of its kind to mix history, criticism and an unapologetic revelry of all things Apple into a movie experience. The film explores the early years of Apple, the many challenges Apple has faced, and what the future may hold for the company and it's products. Ex-Apple employees, engineers and community members offer insight on the company's innovations, failures, cultural impact and what the future may be like beyond the reign of its co-founder Steve Jobs. Interviews include notable Apple personalities Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of the original Macintosh, Guy Kawasaki, long time Mac evangelist, Leander Kahney, author of the book "Cult of Mac", Jim Reekes, creator of the Macintosh start-up sound and Ron Wayne, original co-founder of the Apple Computer Company.

More info (IMDB) here.

Official website here.

Playing at various film festival and available to purchase here or rent from the usual places.

Inside Out Marketing

Sell the cart before the horse.

Used to be that it took years for movies to come out on video. First came a theatrical release, then premium cable, then either network TV — back when there were three (really!) network) — then maybe video.

The DVD boom accelerated the process. Feature films show up on DVD within months or weeks of their theatrical release (at least officially. Torrent sites and terrestrial pirates offer copies of "screeners" even faster.)

But the new series, Caprica, a spinoff and prequel to Battlestar Galactica, is set to debut on TV in early 2010. However, the DVD of the movie that begins the series came out this week.

It's an interesting twist. It allows the studio to begin recouping their investment almost immediately, sure, but it also serves as a powerful marketing tool for the new series. Even if it leaks out for free downloading — and it has — it's being watched and if it's any good, serves as a device to attract attention and interest for the series.

It's kind of like releasing a single prior to the album, in ancient music biz terms.

Good idea, imho.

Ebert on Siskel

A beautiful reminiscence. Highly recommended.

The Boat That Rocked

This could be good.

Wonder if it features my old pal, Howie Castle.

Effective Marketing?

No interest in anything from Oliver Stone in ages. Might've seen that Nixon movie if I'd stumbled on it but have no plans to check out his latest.

But if you were, uh, undecided, would this move you?

Heavy meta

Would a novel about boredom have to be... boring?

We may be about to find out.

Aaron Sorkin, writer of A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Sports Night and Studio 60 is writing a movie about... Facebook.

Oy.

Weekend Film Festival

The Longest Day, starring virtually everybody. (1962)

Friday Nerdgasm

Watchmen Trailer

Writers' Strike?

Let's hope not, but we'll see.

(More info here.)

Friday Beatles

From the Help movie, of course.

Ironic

Interesting that a second-string (though durable) Marvel superhero might have the most successful movie adaptation, both financially and substantively.

But maybe its success was a result of maintaining the integrity of the character. Since it was a production (the first) from Marvel as a studio, they wisely had some of the company's editors and writers intimately involved.

Haven't seen it yet, but I just might.

The world is fat

Love Ricky Gervais. Discovered his podcasts and old XFM (London) radio shows, picked up the DVDs of The Office, which he co-created (with Stephen Merchant) and Extras, the finale of which was one of the darkest "comedies" ever shown on TV.

Really wanted to see him on his American tour but no dates nearby. Also wanted the tour video, Fame, but it's not been released in the U.S.

But I want it. Why can't I have it? It's a global market. This guy has been on Alias and The Simpsons, in A Night at the Museum and For Your Consideration, and has two or three other movies in (as they say) various stages of production.

So I watched Fame last night and will have the live videos, Animals and Politics shortly. BitTorrent, but I would have gladly purchased them, as I did with everything else, even the podcasts through Audible.com.

The world is flat? Piracy is killing your business?

Get a clue.

Cloverfied Marketing — SPOILERS!

I saw Cloverfield the night before it was released at a funky promotional screening in South Miami. I'd had a general idea about the story (but not the beats), followed the viral stuff, and wrote about it twice: here and here.

Like most marketers, I admired the mix of "real" and "fake" websites, "clues" and other atmospherics. It was all quite engaging, and had piqued my interest to the extent that I HAD to see this movie, even though I scrupulously avoid gory monster movies and sadistic slasher flicks.

I enjoyed Cloverfield quite a bit. It was a lot of fun. But I think they blew it.

Not the film. The marketing.

In the days following its release, the term Cloverfield was among the most popular search terms on the Net. And new sites popped up overnight with speculation and sound clips about the story — the ending, in particular and the post-credit "dialog."

Some goof-ball even posted the last 8 minutes or so of the film on YouTube, shot from his phone (no doubt), replete with commentary and ambient sound (ha!) from the audience. Of course, it was quickly removed from YouTube

Interestingly, all that the viral stuff — and the resulting back-story — was completely unnecessary to the film.

But the opportunity to continue the game and keep people on the hook was wasted.

The day the film opened, a new photo appeared on one of the official movie sites. A new video appeared on another. Two of the other viral sites were "suspiciously" shut down. So far so good.

But then, nothing.

Later in the week, the two sites came back up, though there have been no new updates as of right now. Even the terrific Cloverfield Clues fan site slowed down, though posting has resumed.

Other fan sites were buzzing, but where was Paramount, the studio responsible for Cloverfield, and producer JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot production posse?

Mostly, it would seem, giving interviews to MSM outlets rather than extending the viral campaign. (They're all over the web, in print and on the air, so no links are needed from me!)

I'm baffled, frankly. The back-story, despite being mostly superfluous to the film, is still a fertile and sticky area for fan engagement.

And it looks like the second weekend grosses for the film have dropped by as much as 68% according to one report. So, keeping people engaged would have been a very good idea. It wouldn't have hurt, anyway, and might have encouraged a second (or third visit) from that first wave of ticket buyers. And I'm sure there will be at least one DVD release, too, though I expect several.

Kudos to JJ, Paramount and everybody else involved in the unprecedented multmedia marketing campaign. Great job!

But why go to all that effort and not keep it going?

Is it over yet? I don't think so...

Monday night update
According to Variety, Paramount expected the box office decline, referring to it as a "correction."