• by Wayne Friedman , March 15, 2006

The high profile of small movies during this year's Academy Awards has studios looking to raise their marketing budgets for their boutique film brands.

One division, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Classics, will soon lift is marketing and media budgets to some $100 million or more per year, according to executives. Previously, Paramount wouldn't even spend $10 million in marketing dollars for its entire yearly slate of movies.

All this is in response to more small, independent movies gaining ground on the wide-release, more heavily marketed films. "Brokeback Mountain," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck," and "Capote," all nominated as best picture, came from small studios' divisions. For years, bigger movie studios have taken notice, and soon more marketing dollars will head to boutique labels to grow the niche.

For Paramount, the move is part of a massive restructuring under Paramount Motion Pictures Group Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brad Grey. Paramount Classics, the division headed up by John Lesher, who holds the title of president, looks to ramp up the group's slate of films with moderately sized marketing budgets. A former high-powered agent, Lesher took over the Paramount post last November. The new Paramount Classics label will be a place for a variety of film genres, as well as a place for independent-minded filmmakers. Paramount executives did not return phone calls by press time.

Paramount Classics has somewhat started this process, releasing the critically acclaimed "Hustle & Flow" in 2005. In 2005, Paramount Classics spent some $23.9 million in media, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR data obtained from media executives. But $17.7 million of that came from "Hustle & Flow." In previous years, Paramount Classics spent $9.7 million in 2004; and $7.3 million in 2003, for an entire yearly slate of movies.

All of this means good things for current Paramount Classic's media agency, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Palisades Media Group. "There'll be something coming soon," said Roger Schaffner, chairman/CEO of Palisades, who declined to provide any specifics about any clients.

Paramount wants to move up into the league of the other studio boutiques that have sizable production and marketing budgets--such as Fox Filmed Entertainment's Fox Searchlight, NBC Universal's Focus Features, Sony Picture Entertainment's Sony Picture Classics, and Walt Disney's Miramax Films--the original movie studio boutique of small independent-like films.

Warner Bros. Warner Independent Films has been the most recent to join the club. In 2005, it spent $60.1 million in media, mostly from two releases--"Good Night, and Good Luck" ($24.7 million) and "March of the Penguins" ($22.9 million). This is a drastic hike from $13.7 million the year before for its entire 2004 slate.

Others, like Fox Searchlight, have seen the light for some time. Recent noteworthy movies included "Sideways" and "Napoleon Dynamite," and "Antwone Fisher." It spent $65.3 million last year, and $115.0 million in 2004.

That's not all. New movie companies will add to the hunt for small- to medium-size movie success--The Weinstein Company and the new MGM will be considerable spenders. Both are Palisades Media Group clients.

Palisades has the rare distinction of handling media buying and planning responsibilities for multiple movie studio companies. Palisades keeps conflicts at bay by having a Chinese wall of separate media buying and planning teams for each of its clients.

Weinstein is expected to spend some $170 million in its first year in operation. MGM will start with $120 million, but could quickly grow to $200 million.