• Los Angeles Times, Monday, May 12, 2008 9:48 AM

Movie titles usually come with the script. Sometimes they're picked by the producer or director; in other cases by studio marketers. Occasionally, studios redo titles because of legal issues. More often, they're searching for a catchy and marketable name, sometimes with the aid of consultants such as the Ant Farm, Crew Creative and Rich in Meaning. But one thing is constant: the business of naming movies can be tricky--and costly.

"Titles are one of the hardest things to do because every movie is an individual brand that is going to live in perpetuity," says Christine Birch, marketing president at DreamWorks Studios, "but you only have an opening weekend to prove that you've gotten it right."

The best titles, such as "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Pulp Fiction," are "sonorous," says marketing consultant Seth Lockhart. "They just sound right--appealing to your emotions and your senses." Although an awkwardly named movie usually won't reach its potential, Lockhart points to exceptions such as the Hugh Grant comedy "Love, Actually," a hit despite a title he calls stilted.

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