Egads, it's been since last August when I wrote on this thing. When I started it, I figured I'd be adding stuff every day, like so many other bloggers out there. How can I get my blog-o-meter into high gear? I guess it's just a habit I'll need to get into, like removing my contacts at night or showering.
As I type, the big movie industry convention, ShoWest, is raging in Las Vegas. Today is the last 
day of the event. I've been to ShoWest once, in 1995, and it's a truly amazing thing: Hordes of theatre owners, candy vendors, equipment manufacturers and (the best part) movie stars descend on Vegas to see or promote the latest movies and related stuff, and give awards to deserving stars like Kate Bosworth (shown in the picture to the right). The idea of the whole thing, of course, is to get the theatre owners (who are called 'exhibitors' in industry-speak) excited about this summer's upcoming films (called 'product'), and the studios do that by putting on huge parties ('parties') and giving out large piles of promotional goodies ('swag'), which the exhibitors then sell on eBay.
day of the event. I've been to ShoWest once, in 1995, and it's a truly amazing thing: Hordes of theatre owners, candy vendors, equipment manufacturers and (the best part) movie stars descend on Vegas to see or promote the latest movies and related stuff, and give awards to deserving stars like Kate Bosworth (shown in the picture to the right). The idea of the whole thing, of course, is to get the theatre owners (who are called 'exhibitors' in industry-speak) excited about this summer's upcoming films (called 'product'), and the studios do that by putting on huge parties ('parties') and giving out large piles of promotional goodies ('swag'), which the exhibitors then sell on eBay. By the way, you're probably wondering why it's ShoWest. Well, that's ... because it's in the West. There are also other conventions called ShowSouth, ShowEast, and ShowCanada -- but ShoWest is the biggest.
Anyway, back to the action. Once the exhibitors are suitably excited about the upcoming product, the studios then start promoting it to the general public. This hopefully creates that all-important condition known as 'buzz,' which means everyone's talking about your movie. The campaign leads up to the movie's release date (its 'bow') at which point the public has the final vote: Will the movie take off into the stratosphere like "The Dark Knight" or "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," or will it be a colossal dud like "Snakes on a Plane?" In industry talk, will it "gross through the roof," or will it just "tank?"
Nobody ever knows, and this last part of the movie equation is totally impossible to predict, which is what makes this such a fascinating business. One day you're Steven Spielberg on top of the world, and with one colossal dud, such as Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" a few years back, you're on the Hollywood back burner for good.
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