• NY Times, Thursday, April 6, 2006 11:49 AM

Like almost every other marketer, moviemakers are experimenting with new ways to get consumers to pay attention to their products. Instead of relying on traditional advertising on TV and in newspapers, as film studios have done for decades, at least one film company is starting to think out of the marketing box. To introduce its new movie "Take the Lead," a story about a professional dancer who volunteers to teach all the right moves to New York City schoolchildren, New Line Cinema wants fans to create unofficial mash-ups--mixed versions of music from the movie made from material available on the film's official Web site. New Line is also providing a variety of blogs, online social communities and Web sites with mash-ups of music and images from "Take the Lead" produced by professional DJs and VJs, which supplement the trailers for the movie being shown in theaters. The DJs are also playing the mash-ups they produced during live events at clubs where they work. "New Line is kind of pushing the envelope," said Steve Ellis, chief executive at Pump Audio in Tivoli, N.Y., which is providing the technology for the do-it-yourself online mash-ups. The goal is to encourage consumers "to make a proactive decision to engage with this content," he added, "instead of bombarding them with ads."

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