Dear ticket-buying
public:
Hello! Or, as you say online, ":)"
Welcome to our annual summer movie eView, brought to you
on the information superhighway for the first time ever.
Learn plotlines in advance so you won’t be overwhelmed
in the theater! View exclusive sneak previews of publicity
photographs! Hear soundtrack hits
( )
by Aerosmith, Jewel and Will Smith
weeks before they saturate MTV!
Why are the big studios going Web this year? Last summer
a little movie called "The Blair Witch Project"
took us all by surprise. Promoted almost solely—I’m
told—via e-mail, the low-budget independent film
became the highest-grossing film set in the great outdoors
since "The Great Outdoors."
When those "Blair Witch" vampires shrieked,
Hollywood listened. We now know "the Net" can
be an invaluable tool for spreading the word about under-funded,
poorly-conceived projects. This is the new Hollywood:
We’ve thrown out the rulebook, and made the kinds
of movies YOU want to see. We know you want to see them
because you saw the other ones we made.
Recently I visited the Web, where I learned that people
can make their own movies and distribute them online.
(Actually, I had my assistant visit the Web and summarize
its contents for me.) But rest assured that the equipment
we have in Hollywood is the most powerful and expensive
in the world, and our technicians are highly trained in
cinematography and dollying. Do you really think you could
make your own "Patch Adams"? Would you even
want to try?
As my good friend Harry Knowles says, "I like buttered
popcorn." He has a point. There really is no experience
like paying to see a movie in a theater. Sure, you could
watch a pirated DVD of "The Matrix," but do
you have a concession stand in your home, with salty snacks
and cold beverages? Does it have Milk Duds?
Enough of my witless hype. Grab a mouse, enjoy our eView,
and I'll see you at the movies!
I usually sit in the sixth row.
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Barry Banacek
Chairman, Summer Movie Committee
Motion Picture Academy of Motion Pictures
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