'Too many releases and too few cinemas'

Vittorio Tamburini, senior vice-president, Marketing Sony Latin America: The competitive environment is tougher every day and we are required to find new ways to market our movies every time. Online, cable and mobile have become important tools.

Jorge Peregrino, senior vice-president, Paramount Latin America and the Caribbean: The biggest change has been more and more day-and-date releases with the US. This means we have to spend more money to market a film, since we don’t know how it performed domestically.

Martha Cavalheiro, vice-president, marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Latin America: The development of digital technology. The number of internet devices has grown from 1 million in 1992 to 1 billion last year. That new reality has converted online activities into true mass media actions.

Which have been the most successful innovations?

JP: The internet is a very useful tool when you want to hit teens and young adults, who are not reached by a traditional press and TV campaign.

MC: The explosion of user-generated content, such as blogs. The film industry has engaged with it through viral campaigns.

How has online transformed the way a film is marketed?

JP: It means more spending on a campaign and the necessity of having a person in the marketing department completely dedicated to online, in order to be fully aware of the new tools.

MC: Today’s consumers have access to an unprecedented amount and quality of information. Before a film’s campaign breaks out, movie-goers already know what it’s about and whether or not it was made for them. Studios now have to find the true selling points in each title and make those relevant to the public.

Is TV advertising still the most important element of a campaign?

JP: Yes, the difference is that with the growth of pay-TV, campaigns are more segmented and more targeted than before.

What is the most important thing to know about releasing a film in Brazil?

JP: To build awareness a long way before your release date. There are too many releases and too few cinemas, a problem that gets worse during our December-February and July long holidays.

Which recent marketing campaigns have impressed you?

VT: (Our own films) Spider-Man 3 and Quantum Of Solace because both became reference points for successful films in Brazil and Latin America for both genders.

JP: Any campaign should impress the consumer and not the executives.

MC: I admire strategies that defy the ancient rules of film marketing, including the idea that no film can be released without a newspaper campaign. We’ve seen films targeted to older males, in markets with extremely high readership, be successfully launched with no support on newspaper.

How will films be marketed 10 years from now?

VT: Even more integration between online and offline, and digital billboards will be used more. Words like ‘content’, ‘customisation’, ‘mobile’ will be part of our lives with all medias reinventing themselves. The ‘mass’ media will become less massive and with more personalised messages. The cellphone has all the conditions to become a mobile media. It can reach the consumer at any time, at any place simultaneously.

MC: The industry will be selling more than films. It will be promoting experiences that people won’t be able to enjoy in any other way. Of course, digital and 3D will play a key role in that scenario.

JP: I would love to know …

BRAZIL: KEY INDIE DISTRIBUTORS

Imagem Filmes

Imagem had the highest market share of all indie distributors in Brazil last year with 7.5% of the total theatrical revenues. With a reputation for handling world cinema and arthouse titles such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Happy-Go-Lucky and Michael Clayton, the company is now expanding into more mainstream fare, including Superhero Movie, My Best Friend’s Girl and Disaster Movie.

Who to know: Ivan Boeing, international acquisitions director.

Recent acquisitions: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s I Love you Phillip Morris, Jorge Blanco and Javier Abad’s Planet 51, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s Game and Martin Campbell’s Edge Of Darkness.

Where to find them: Cannes, Berlin and AFM.

PlayArte Pictures

Brazil’s second-biggest indie distributor focuses on international titles with strong commercial potential such as Journey To The Center Of The Earth, which introduced 3D to Brazil. PlayArte has a further two independent 3D films on its slate - Battle For Terra 3D and Garfield Pet Rescue 3D. The distributor linked its successful Sex And The City campaign to a shopping mall opening in Sao Paulo that also had one of the film’s stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, as the face of its campaign. PlayArte also owns 12 theatres.

Who to know: Otelo Bettin Coltro, executive vice-president; Mari Kodama, acquisitions manager.

Recent acquisitions: Atom Egoyan’s Chloe and Rebecca Miller’s The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee.

Where to find them: Berlin, Cannes, AFM, Mipcom, Miptv, Natpe.

Paris Filmes

Founded in 1945, Paris Filmes is one of the oldest Brazilian distribution companies, and has recently moved into DVD and TV distribution. Last year it had a 4.7% slice of the theatrical box office, releasing a mix of mainstream and indie fare including Twilight, In Bruges and The Wrestler.

Who to know: Marcio Fraccaroli, CEO; Sandi Adamiu, executive director

Recent acquisitions: Yojiro Takita’s Departures, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger and Claudia Llosa’s The Milk Of Sorrow.

Where to find them: AFM, Berlin and Cannes.

Europa Filmes

Europa has made a name for itself releasing international indie titles such as Argentinian hit Son Of The Bride, which was on release for more than a year in Brazil, as well as Tsotsi and Paradise Now. In 2008, Europa had a 1.7% market share. It also co-produces Brazilian projects.

Who to know: Wilson Feitosa, executive director; Caroline Levi, administrative director.

Recent acquisitions: Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, Steven Soderbergh’s Che (parts one and two), Stefan Ruzowitzky’s The Counterfeiters.

Where to find them: Cannes, Berlin and AFM.