Last week the producers of the forthcoming film by Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, Serenity, announced a grassroots weblog marketing plan. They proposed to let bloggers into screenings for free in the hopes we'd get all hepped up and write about it on our weblogs. That was the deal as presented: write about the movie after the screening in exchange for a free ticket.
Which, by the way, is a cool idea. Whedon is very popular among the geek-blogger crowd (100% of that crowd, based on a quick poll of myself), and done right, a weblog push could reach the natural audience for a Joss Whedon-helmed flick. Myself, I am a huge fan of Whedon's even to the point of appreciating the script for Alien: Resurrection even as I consider the movie to be a pile of dog puke. So, I sent in my email to the Serenity folks asking for a seat at my local screening, and this is the email I got in return:
Congratulations! You are one of the lucky bloggers to be chosen and confirmed for the screening of SERENITY for the time, date and the number of guests that you have requested. Please note, this confirmation DOES NOT guarantee you a seat at the screening.To significantly increase your chances of getting into the screening, you MUST do the following:
· You MUST include the film’s synopsis on your blog (synopsis below) and you MUST link your blog to the SERENITY website (which has the trailer and production notes) http://www.serenitymovie.com and featured artwork. After you have screened the film, please discuss it on your blog. Please provide us the links to all of your blog posts on SERENITY at serenity@gracehillmedia.com
· Print out and bring a copy of this confirmation.
· Arrive at the theater AT LEAST 45 minutes before the show begins.
· Upon arrival at the theater, please find a UNIVERSAL PICTURES representative and inform him or her that you are part of the SERENITY BLOGGER BONANZA. The Universal rep will then instruct you as to what to do next.
· DO NOT bring in a camera or a cellular phone that takes pictures. They WILL be confiscated, and you will NOT be allowed into the screening.
· Have a great time![PRIVATE STUFF REDACTED]
Thanks, and have a great time.
Warmest wishes,
Your friends at Grace Hill Media
So, let me get this straight. I have been "chosen and confirmed" for the screening, but this choosing and confirmation does not guarantee me entry to the theater. Huh. And yet, I'm s'posta do all this stuff.
If I, a weblogger, a breed of writer well known for its intransigence, independence, and bullheadedness, jump through all these here hoops, there's a chance that I might get into a screening of this movie. I've not been asked to help out, but told that if I do all this stuff and show up early with a big smile, I might get in to see the movie.
As a coblogger in my other life put it:
Actually, the funny thing about this is really just the heavy-handedness. If I went to see the movie (which I likely would have anyway) and was moved by the spirit to post about it on this blog, I likely would have included a link to the film’s website as a matter of course. Linking is what we do here in the blogosphere. Likewise, a small synopsis would have not been out of the question. That’s normal.Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
1 - LegendaryMonkey
Good post! Now I'm glad I didn't rouse myself to poke a finger at that.
Guess I'll just do what I was gonna do, anyway... pay to see the film and then write whatever I want about it afterward.
Screw all this giving in, say-what-we-want crap.
2 - Chris Beaumont
I liked this part:
"· DO NOT bring in a camera or a cellular phone that takes pictures. They WILL be confiscated, and you will NOT be allowed into the screening."
So, if i bring a camera phone, they will take away my phone and not let me see the movie? Huh?
3 - John Owen
That struck me as both shoddy editing and bad policy too... "give us your phone and get lost!" What... like trying to get it in to your screening makes it your phone?
Too bad there's no second amendment protecting your camera-phone. Then again, as we've seen in New Orleans, that's not much help either.
4 - Carny Asada
John, as one of the pathetic Firefly fanpersons who said, "What the hell, I'll wh0re myself, it will only hurt a little" -- and then wound up literally in the cold without a ticket, I can only say, right on. I lowered my standards Because It Was Joss. Lesson learned.
5 - Matt Moore
I'm glad I didn't get that email (I think my spam filter killed it). Instead I just showed up, was on the list, wandered in with my camera phone in my pocket, watched the movie, and wrote about it. I linked their site, but that was by chance.
Like I said, I'm glad I didn't know I was breaking all the rules. I guess I'll have to pay to see the sequel they might not make?