Spotlight Cinema, M2M Team To Air Fashion Content During Movie Pre-Show

Movie-theater ad company Spotlight Cinema Networks has partnered with over-the-top digital fashion network Made2Measure Studios (M2M Studios) to air fashion and art video content during the pre-show.

Through the end of 2019, M2M’s short films will play during the pre-show at Spotlight’s high-end cinema partners and art houses, including Angelika Film Center, Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Flix Brewhouse, Laemmle Theatres, Landmark Theatres and Silverspot Cinema.

Spotlight specializes in cinema advertising for the “upscale, educated consumer who goes to art houses and watches independent films, Oscar-nominated films and foreign films,” Spotlight president Michael Sakin told Media Daily News.

These luxury cinemas and art houses — usually in cities — have reserved seating, chairs that recline, and food and drink service brought to your seat.

There are two main windows for advertising before a movie is screened: "trailer pods" and pre-shows, Sakin said.

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Trailer pods are the ads shown at the advertised showtime of the movie. If the start time on a movie ticket is noon, for example, lights will dim to “trailer lighting” at noon and ads are shown before the movie trailers.

The pre-show is targeted to moviegoers seated 20 minutes prior to the advertised start time of the movie.

“There was a void for this audience, which did not want to see advertising for the general public, like Clorox and Mucinex,” before the film, he said. Instead, Spotlight airs ads from luxury advertisers that reach "a niche, high end audience that is hard to reach."

The company has been doing this for nearly 10 years, starting with 400 screens and now partnered with 1,200. Spotlight, he noted, “keeps advertisers to a minimum so clutter is a minimum. This audience will not tolerate wall-to-wall advertising. They are there to enjoy content,” Sakin said.

Some 60% of Spotlight’s 1,200 screens have a pre-show. With this new partnership, M2M’s short films will be shown during that time, along with movie trivia and advertiser and exhibitor digital slides. “We want to use this available screen time to entertain, not to sell more ads and make more money. This brings value to the consumer," Sakin added.

Spotlight first started working with M2M in 2017. M2M, launched by IMG in 2015, produces original series, films and documentaries on fashion, luxury brands and art.

Clips from three M2M interview series will be shown on Spotlight's screens, featuring luxury brands and fashion icons like Louis Vuitton, model Naomi Campbell and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

The series include: “Face to Grace,” hosted by former Vogue creative director Grace Coddington; “Elles,” featuring women in the fashion industry in Paris, London and New York; “Tea at the Beatrice,” hosted by the late Glenn O’Brien, GQ’s former Style Guy columnist, with influential figures in art, fashion and film.

Three documentaries will also be also aired during the pre-shows, which encourage audiences to explore videos on M2M’s digital platform. Each month, M2M and Spotlight will select new shorts.

Spotlight and M2M will measure the impact of the partnership by speaking to theater owners and operators about their customers’ reactions to the pre-show video, as well as custom research studies.

This story has been updated.

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