For those of you who do not know, New Moon is the film based on the novel of the same name by Stephanie Meyer and is a sequel to 2008′s blockbuster Twilight. Summit Entertainment greenlit the sequel in late November 2008, following the early success of Twilight. Directed by Chris Weitz, the film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively. Melissa Rosenberg returns as the screenwriter for the film. She handed in a draft of the film script during the opening weekend of Twilight.


In this movie, Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested.

To many, this may seem like just another vampire-werewolve story. However, to the fans of the books and the original movie, this is much more.

What makes the Twilight Saga so great is not only the story but also the tactics that Summit Entertainment has used to draw in attention. Summit, in my opinion, covered all the steps required to create a great fan base and ultimately a successful feature film.

Step 1: Create Controversy

What first prompted great attention to this new movie was controversy between one of the main stars of the movie, Taylor Lautner. Fans all around the world loved the original cast members of Twilight. However, due to major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between Twilight and New Moon in the books, Chris Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray “the new, larger Jacob Black.”

Fans across the world protested.

The film and its controversy spread all across the news. Fans explained that even if Lautner wasn’t as large as the character in the book, he still should have the opportunity to play Jacob in the new film. Thus, the New Moon phenomenon began. In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds (Yes, 30 pounds of pure muscle in less than 9 months). With the help of the fans and Lautner’s extraordinary gains, in January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in New Moon.

Sure, Summit and Weitz didn’t plan the controversy, but it worked. Millions of people were enticed by not only seeing the sequel but also Lautner’s transformation.

Step 2: Staggered Marketing

Staggered marketing is probably one of the best techniques any movie studio could do. Summit slowly built up enthusiasm for the film by first showing teasers highlighting the main stars and then revealing more each month.

Summit initially released teaser posters for New Moon on May 19, 2009. The Internet began buzzing.

On May 31, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner revealed the film’s first trailer at the MTV Movie Awards. Two scenes from the film were presented at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. A 14-second preview of the second trailer was released online on August 12, 2009, and the full-length trailer was featured before theater showings of the film Bandslam. A third trailer was shown at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009. Spike TV aired a new trailer at the 2009 Scream Awards on October 27.

What Summit did best was build upon the aforementioned controversy with Lautner. Many of the trailers, if not all, highlighted Lautner’s physical transformation. One even had a personal interview with Lautner as they were filming his main scenes. They knew that people wanted to see Taylor Lautner. Thus, they made sure that there was at least one shot of him shirtless in each preview.

Summit released, in this order, posters, teaser trailers, trailers, and previews, thus taking full effect of staggered marketing.

Step 3: Create a Movie for the Fans

It is no secret that many people will dislike this film. Initial reviews have been mixed.

However, Summit knowingly made this movie for the fans not critics. They have advertised and described it as a thrill ride directly made for fans. Their main goal is to keep these fans hooked. After all, there are two more movies to be made in the Twilight series. No matter how bad this movie is, the fans must enjoy it. They are the ones who will go out on opening weekend. They are the ones who will pack the theaters multiple times to see their favorite characters.

New Moon does this very well. It has kept the original cast and has added more action and computer graphics.

Summit has made a movie that mimics the book and will definitely be a hit with fans.

Step 1+2+3 = Perfect Movie

Summit Entertainment has brilliantly advertised New Moon. The controversy, marketing and fans behind the movie have elevated New Moon to new heights. Their techniques can be used by other movie studios and even businesses. In business, creating controversy and marketing gets your name out. Sure, controversy might not be the best way to bring about business, but good controversy and solutions can greatly expand your consumer base.

New Moon will be one of the year’s biggest movies. Thanks to the efforts by Summit and director Chris Weitz, New Moon will bring a great following and will hold up well and bring in great profits for the movie studio. All that is left to say is…

Congratulations Summit! You have just made another huge hit.

Everyone has heard of it. Everywhere you look, someone is talking about the “scariest movie of all time.” Well, what many people don’t know is how far Paranormal Activity has come from its initial birth in 2007 to a huge phenomenon that has spent the nation. I felt that with its popularity and my interest in the business, I would write about how the producers of Paranormal Activity did it.

For those of you who do not know about the movie, Paranormal Activity is a 2007 mockumentary horror film about a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. Unlike traditional horror films of this generation, Paranormal Activity uses suspense and thrill instead of the traditional gore that will soon be seen by the upcoming Saw VI.

Paranormal Activity was filmed in 2007 not 2009. In fact, the director Oren Peli had only a budget of $15,000 and a hand-held video camera and surprisingly had no formal film training. To put that budget into perspective, Peli shot a feature film with a cost less than your average mid-size sedan. Even with that constraint, he has been able to have a gross revenue of $20 million in just over 2 weeks. That is a spectacular feat.

It took Peli a week to film the movie in 2007. But, even with a spectacular thrill ride in his belt, post-production delays became a nightmare. After the film was finished, Peli signed with the Creative Artists Agency. They screened the movie in 2007 at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival and, as a result, began to give away DVDs to anybody who would be willing to distribute it. It didn’t see a spotlight until 2007 when Miramax Films Senior Executive Jason Blum and his producing partner, Steven Schneider, viewed the movie for themselves. Working with Blum, Peli edited the film down so that it ran tighter and smoother but more problems arose: Sundance Film Festival would not accept the film and even though the Slamdance Film Festival did, no distributor picked up the movie for major distribution. In 2008, the DVD ended up at DreamWorks and was viewed by Production Executive Ashley Brooks. Brooks was so impressed by the movie that she “pestered” her boss, Production Chief Adam Goodman, every day to see the film until he eventually saw it. Goodman, in turn, brought it to his boss, Studio Chief Stacey Snider. They were impressed by the film as well and handed the DVD to Steven Spielberg, who took it home to watch. Spielberg allegedly returned to DreamWorks the next day with the DVD in a “garbage bag” because he thought the DVD was “haunted”. According to Spielberg, minutes after he viewed the film, his bedroom doors “locked by themselves” and he couldn’t get out without calling in a locksmith. Nevertheless, Spielberg loved the movie and helped to greenlight a remake to be produced by Jason Blum and directed by Oren Peli again.

During contract negotiations, Blum and Peli negotiated a one-time screening into the contract to see how a real audience would react to the original film. During the screening, viewers began to walk out of the theater. Goodman was afraid that he made the wrong decision and that the screening was a bomb until he learned that the viewers were actually truly frightened by the film and were leaving for that reason. It was at this point that Goodman canned all thoughts of a Hollywood remake and decided to release Peli’s version of the film. The film was supposed to be released in 2008 but was delayed further because of the rift between DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. While the movie was stuck in limbo, Oren Peli and Jason Blum screened the film for international buyers at a theater in Santa Monica along with a sold-out crowd mostly of teenagers. This further cemented the film’s reputation and Peli and Blum sold the international rights to 52 different countries.

So that’s the story of Paranormal Activity. But, this type of delay happens to many movies. What’s different about Paranormal Activity is that it’s now seeing extreme success even in limited release. Paramount Pictures decided to release the movie in 13 different “college towns” across the United States to spur word-of-mouth (one of which is my current home, Brown University).

On his website, director Oren Peli invited Internet users to “demand” where the film when next by voting on eventful.com. The release of the movie marked the first time a major motion picture studio attempted to use the “demand” service to virally market a film. 12 out of 13 of those college towns were sold out upon release. Thus, on October 6, Paramount and Eventful.com announced that the movie would be release nationwide if and only if the movie got 1,000,000 demands. On Saturday, October 10, 4 days after the announcement, the count hit over 1,000,000 requests. The movie got a wider domestic release on October 16.

Word-of-mouth is one of the best marketing tools available. What the producers of Paranormal Activity did well was not only the marketing but also the film. We need not forget the tragedy that was Snakes on a Plane. The studio behind that movie used the viral marketing effectively, but what they forgot to do was make a quality movie. Movies are a business. Just like any business, consumers will not be fooled by shiny marketing mixed with a bad product.

The mix of a brilliant viral campaign with user intervention (the demand it appeal) with a thrilling, suspenseful movie is exactly how Paranormal Activity has swept the world and become one of the biggest surprises of the year.