I travelled recently to Australia to speak on emerging digital marketing and distribution channels at The Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA). Our focus was on how to map asset strategies from the early stages of production to best leverage the new channels and distribution across multiple exploitation windows.
A fascinating theme that emerged during the week centered around the old art vs. commerce brouhaha. It seems that Australian audiences do not attend Aussie-made cinema in any significant numbers, while American movies have posted strong gains in the market. Why is that?
Certainly Australia’s moviemaking heritage is strong. And the industry is in a unique position, with substantial government subsidies for filmmakers that should allow for more personal—rather than strictly commercial—visions to be developed.
The debate at the SPAA gathering centered on whether this situation, ironically, serves to create a sort of artistic inbreeding, combined with an unhealthy filmmaker distain for audiences. Certainly the local ‘majors’ like Village Roadshow seek commercial product for a global audience, but my impression from conversations on the ground was that the majority of the local industry either does not know what their audience wants, or that they do not care to deliver it for them.
This is not to say the U.S. studio system’s slavish devotion to commerce is the answer (Saw 6, anyone?). But it does speak to the value of having some idea of why people go to their local theater. As we found in our recent MovieGoers 2010 report, age, life-stage, and (for younger audiences) peer groups, all have significant impact on the decision process for movies.
While I do not believe that filmmakers have an obligation to speak to the widest possible audience at all times, they do have a responsibility to keep their costs in a scale related to the potential audience. New digital marketing and distribution channels will provide new opportunities for both art and commerce, but, ultimately, Australian filmmakers will do themselves no disservice by better investigating their audience, the stories that inspire them, the worlds they live in.
They may even find they like some of them.
For an audio overview of insights from the conference, click here.
And if you’re looking for consumer insights, here are three resources we like:
1. Pew Internet & American Life Project
2. FEED: The Razorfish Digital Brand Experience Report
3. Nielsen Media & Entertainment
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