To everything, spin, spin, spin

Early in the 1990s, a gifted Canadian journalist wrote a trenchant case study on the signature differences between the Canadian and u.s. marketing strategies for the theatrical release of a certain high-profile dramatic feature.

The writer described how the u.s. plans emphasized the film’s romantic themes, even though these played a relatively minor role in the plot. He explored how the u.s. distributor chose much more overtly sexual images and focused promotions on evergreen, ‘Boy-And-Girl-Beat-Tough-Odds’ type themes. And implied that the people who take an aggressive, mass appeal approach in America were on to something: first, get ’em in the seats, then hit ’em with the truth about the plot. Of course it’s a familiar ploy, but don’t tell that to the zillions of moviegoers everywhere lured to bad flicks by an onslaught of tasty promos.

Today, it seems, the cry for smart, mass market marketing and promotion can still be heard, a forlorn but resolute voice finding echoes in proposals from Telefilm. The industry is debating whether institutionalized marketing policies are worthwhile – and all ears wait to hear what stand the Heritage Ministry will take when its rumored new feature film policy finally emerges from a cabinet review shortly after the Oct. 12 speech from the throne.

Meantime, the success stories outside the French-language Quebec milieu still stand as marvels amid the detritus of box office misadventures.

One such sweet success is Anne Wheeler’s Better than Chocolate, which, as Ian Edwards reports on page 1, ‘has quietly become a minor art-house hit in the u.s. and Canada and has the Canadian distributor talking about a $9-million worldwide theatrical gross.’

Yikes, who knew?

Our story describes the rollout campaign: ‘In Canada, the film is being marketed mainly in the gay and lesbian press and debuted at home at…a gay and lesbian film event in Toronto, prior to its commercial release….But [Dan] Lyon of [distributor] Motion [International] is not promoting the film as a ‘lesbian romantic comedy’ but simply a ‘romantic comedy,’ in part to attract a wider or heterosexual audience.

‘We’d prefer if Canadians discovered the story on their own,’ says Lyon. ‘This is a film that doesn’t pull any punches. There are graphic sexual situations and nudity, but it’s also a very sweet film.”

The story goes on to say that u.s. distrib Trimark ‘is taking a more narrow view of the marketability of Better than Chocolate – the success of which is being driven by the lesbian audience. ‘Dennis O’Connor, senior vp of theatrical marketing, says Better than Chocolate is on track to match the box office of other successful lesbian-themed films such as Two Girls in Love, High Art and Go Fish.

These films, he reports, topped out at between us$1.7 million to us$2.4 million in the u.s….

‘We’ve had really long runs in cities like New York, Boston and Chicago and we’re still open in new cities like Minneapolis…. The longer it stays in theatres, the greater the chance that it will cross over to a more straight audience.’

This is a Canadian success story, whether it crosses over or not, and, as has been noted following controversial press in the States, the more publicity, the better.