• Associated Press/Los Angeles Times, Monday, June 19, 2006 1:15 PM

How much does it cost to market a movie? Plenty. The average movie costs $60 million to make--and $36.2 million to market, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Movie marketing is so big, in fact, that a special awards show honors the people who do it. It's called the Key Art Awards, and the event will be held--where else--in Hollywood this Friday night. The people honored at the ceremony play a bigger role in the success of movies than moviegoers realize, creating posters, trailers, and slogans to lure consumer into theaters on opening weekends, when a movie's financial fate can be determined. "If you can't get people the first weekend, you can't generate the word of mouth needed to sustain a run in theaters," said Bob Israel, a former movie marketer who is producing the awards show. Experts say studios spend about $3.5 billion each year to advertise and promote films, hiring specialists to create marketing images and tag lines that are sometimes more memorable than the films they promote. While the awards recognize the art of movie advertising, executives are keenly aware that the work must always be in the service of the business. "It is an art form whose purpose is not art," said Adam Fogelson, president of marketing at Universal Pictures. "It does take real genuine artistry to create great advertising materials--but you always have to look at them with the additional filter of will they sell tickets to the movie?" he said.

Read the whole story at Associated Press/Los Angeles Times »