Winners &
Finalists OCTOBER 23, 2014 THE BREWERY, LONDON
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awards 2014 The Screen judges panel
UK office MBI, Zetland House 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ Tel: +44 (0) 20 3033 4267 US office 8581 Santa Monica Blvd, #707, West Hollywood, CA 90069 E-mail: firstname.lastname@screendaily.com (unless stated) Editorial Editor Wendy Mitchell +44 (0) 20 3033 2816 Awards supplement writer Ian Sandwell US editor Jeremy Kay +1 310 922 5908 jeremykay67@gmail.com News editor Michael Rosser +44 (0) 20 3033 2720 Chief critic and reviews editor Mark Adams +44 7841 527 505 Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray +44 (0) 20 3033 2817 Group art director, MBI Peter Gingell +44 (0) 20 3033 4203 peter.gingell@mb-insight.com Chief reporter Andreas Wiseman +44 (0) 20 3033 2848 Contributing editors Sarah Cooper, John Hazelton, Louise Tutt Contributing reporter Ian Sandwell Advertising and events Commercial director Andrew Dixon +44 (0) 20 3033 2928 Events manager, MBI Dee Adeosun +44 (0) 20 3033 2640 Events administrator, MBI Fran Rodrigues +44 (0) 20 3033 4268 Events marketer, MBI Louise Lenzi +44 (0) 20 3033 2638 Sales manager Scott Benfold +44 (0) 20 3638 5050 Sales manager Nadia Romdhani (maternity leave) UK, South Africa, Middle East Andrew Dixon +44 (0) 20 3033 2928 France, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Scott Benfold +44 (0) 20 3638 5050 Germany, Scandinavia, Benelux, eastern Europe Gunter Zerbich +44 (0) 20 3033 2930 Italy, Asia, India Ingrid Hammond +39 05 7829 8768 ingridhammond@libero.it VP business development, North America Nigel Daly +1 323 654 2301 / 213 447 5120 nigeldalymail@gmail.com Production manager Jonathon Cooke +44 (0) 20 3033 4296 jonathon.cooke@mb-insight.com Group commercial director, MBI Alison Pitchford +44 (0) 20 3033 2949 alison.pitchford@mb-insight.com Subscription customer service +44 (0) 1604 828 706 help@subscribe.screendaily.com Sales administrator Justyna Zieba +44 (0) 20 3033 2694 justyna.zieba@mb-insight.com Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam +44 (0) 20 3033 2717 conor.dignam@mb-insight.com Screen International is part of Media Business Insight Ltd (MBI), also publisher of Broadcast and shots
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A Culture of exCellenCe
S
creen is proud to present its fifth annual Awards, celebrating excellence in film distribution, marketing, advertising and exhibition. Thanks to valuable industry support, the awards continue to go from strength to strength. From our jury’s time to entrants’ thoughtful applications, to those who join our celebration on the night, industry involvement is key to its success. We had a wealth of strong entries this year, so our esteemed judges made some tough decisions. From a small DIY release to the largest studio blockbusters, it’s great to see UK distributors, publicists, marketers and exhibitors doing such innovative work to connect films to audiences. As you will read over the following pages, our judges weren’t just looking at which entries had the biggest box-office haul. It’s about which films and campaigns overperformed and exceeded expectations. Once again, I’m proud we can celebrate achievements of all shapes and sizes. We have several new categories this year, including Event Cinema Campaign of the Year — the diversity of strong nominees in this category reflects the impressive growth on this side of the industry. Our new Exhibition Achievement Award saw one clear nominee rise to the top. Andrew Myers, the outgoing CEO of Everyman, has made a huge difference to that company and the UK market as a whole. We’re thrilled to recognise such great work from inspiring people across the industry. Wendy Mitchell, editor
3 5 7 8 9
wards judges a 3D Film Campaign of the Year P oster design of the Year Trailer of the Year H ome Entertainment Campaign of the Year 10 Documentary Campaign of the Year 11 Online Campaign of the Year 13 Event Cinema Campaign of the Year 15 Brand Partnership of the Year 16 Premiere of the Year 17 Pr Campaign of the Year 18 Theatrical Campaign of the Year 19 Pr Team of the Year 21 Marketing Team of the Year 23 M edia Planning agency of the Year 24 Creative Agency of the Year, Audiovisual 25 Creative agency of the Year, Print 27 Rising Star 29 Cinema of the Year, 24 screens or fewer 31 Cinema of the Year, 25 screens or more 33 Exhibition achievement award 35 Distributor of the Year, Independent 36 distributor of the Year, studios October 2014 Screen International 1
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JUdGES PANEL
MEET THE judgEs
Mark adams
Carola ash
Chris auty
Moses Babatope
Chief film critic, Screen International
Director of Europe, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Course leader, producing and entrepreneurship, NFTS
Chief executive, Talking Drum
alexei Boltho
Edith Bowman
Peter Buckingham
Phil Clapp
Mark Cosgrove
Partner, Ink Factory
Broadcaster
Co-founder, SampoMedia
Chief executive, Cinema Exhibitors’ Association
Cinema curator, Watershed
Michelle gardiner
Claire gascoyne
david Hancock
Lee Magiday
Michael Mann
Head of client services, Exterion Media
Film publicity consultant
Director, head of film and cinema, IHS Technology
Producer, head of international co-production, Element Pictures
Creative and content partner, Brand Culture
Kate Muir
Kate Ogborn
jonny Persey
andrew Pettie
alexandra rossi
Chief film critic, The Times
Producer, Fly Film
Chief executive, Met Film
Head of arts and entertainment, Telegraph Media Group
Producer
jamie schwartz
simon ward
Peter webber
john woodward
jane wright
President of international marketing, The Weinstein Company
Deputy director, Independent Cinema Office
Film-maker
Investment director, Arts Alliance Ventures
Producer, Counterpoint Partnership
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October 2014 Screen International 3
Is proud to sponsor the 3D Film Campaign of the Year Award
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NOMINEES
guardians Of The galaxy The Walt Disney Company
Maleficent The Walt Disney Company
X-Men: days Of Future Past 20th Century Fox
how to train Your dragon 2 20th Century Fox
A
nimated sequel How To Train Your Dragon 2 saw Fox start its campaign more than two months prior to release, running a “bold, broadly targeted media stunt” by playing the first five minutes ahead of 3D screenings in Odeon cinemas. According to Fox, this drove “mass awareness” and delivered the “scale of the spectacular 3D”, kickstarting what Screen’s judges agreed was a “very visible and effective campaign”. With IMAX as a partner, the film secured strong trailer placement in the “right environment” as well as early preview screenings. Fox also worked closely with exhibition to promote the film’s 3D messaging such as the use of bespoke point-of-sale and newsletter support with the ‘Odeon Recommends 3D Real D’ campaign. A focus on “high impact, large
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‘Screen’s judges agreed it was a very visible and effective campaign’
format” based media saw the film’s outdoor campaign feature bespoke breakout creative, establishing the 3D by showcasing the dragons as standout design elements. The campaign saw Fox work with agencies Think Jam, Hoo Ha, PPC, Ignition and Synchronicity. Other aspects included a brand partnership with Tesco Opticians, giving customers free How To Train Your Dragon 2 branded 3D glasses when they booked an appointment, and an advertorial partnership with Shortlist (only the second animation to feature in this capacity) allowing Fox “to speak to the young males about the visual qualities of the 3D property”. Fox’s use of online 3D GIFs caught the attention of the judges, who hailed these as “innovative”, and they praised the distributor for “campaigning it as a 3D film” in a tricky market for the format. October 2014 Screen International 5
CHALLENGE THE PREDICTABLE INTEGRATED DESIGN & MARKETING FOR ENTERTAINMENT SEE OUR WORK AT MARKETREACTIVE.COM
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PoStEr dESIGN oF thE YEAr
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Computer Chess Eureka Entertainment
For Those in Peril Coffee & Cigarettes
The Lunchbox Curzon/Artificial Eye
Only god Forgives Lionsgate UK
Only Lovers Left alive Soda Pictures
Pulp: a Film about Life, death & supermarkets Soda Pictures
starred up 20th Century Fox
wake In Fright Eureka Entertainment
Filth
we are The Best! Metrodome Distribution
Lionsgate uK
B
acking up its eye-catching teaser poster for Filth — which portrayed lead character Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) climbing a cocaine ladder — cannot have been easy, but Lionsgate and All City Media managed it with a creation that was praised by our judges for being “witty” and “iconic”, and one that “lives and breathes the film”, according to its makers. To create a “bespoke, cult and attention-grabbing artwork” and one that had an impact with its design, the luminous poster contains nods to Irvine Welsh’s book covers (appealing to fans of the author and his source material), references to the police including the slang term ‘pigs’, with Robertson literally riding one, and a police-themed colour scheme of
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‘It had to work against the title for audiences who didn’t know what it was, and it achieved impressive success’
green/yellow and blue, with a fifth spot colour added to ensure the combination worked. As noted by one of our judges, “It had to work against the title for audiences who didn’t know what it was, and it achieved impressive success.” “The poster led the campaign and worked on several levels,” added another judge, and it was supplemented by two further adaptations of its main art, with Robertson riding different objects that referenced his character — a whisky bottle and a rolled-up banknote. “To say I’m delighted is an understatement,” said Welsh in the Daily Record newspaper about the poster, and he would also have been delighted with the box office, which saw a £3.9m haul.
October 2014 Screen International 7
trAILEr oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
Blue ruin Picturehouse Entertainment and Intermission Film
Enough said 20th Century Fox
Filth Lionsgate UK
Frank Curzon/Artificial Eye
Le weekend Zealot UK
starred up 20th Century Fox
The railway Man Lionsgate UK
The selfish giant Create Advertising
Like Father, Like Son
Yves saint Laurent Picture Production Company
arrow Films & Intermission
A
rrow Films and Intermission certainly succeeded with our judges in their attempt to “evoke a deep emotional response” by utilising specially composed music in their “thoughtfully created” trailer for Hirokazu Koreeda’s Like Father, Like Son. “You understood the set-up, you were emotionally involved but, crucially, you didn’t really know what was going to happen,” outlined one judge, with another adding the trailer was “really strong, clean and emotional”. Launched on Little White Lies’ website on October 1, 2013, two weeks ahead of its theatrical release on October 18, the trailer garnered 129,000 views on the site, with a further 27,398 views
8 Screen International October 2014
‘You understood the set-up, you were emotionally involved but, crucially, you didn’t really know what was going to happen’
on Arrow’s YouTube channel and 8,298 views on Facebook. Social media response was strong, too, with prominent film reviewers linking to the trailer. One Twitter user commented that it “brought tears to my eyes; from a trailer alone that’s a first”. A Screen judge praised one particular aspect of the trailer. “What impressed me was that they didn’t hide the subtitles, they embraced them. They took a Japanese film and made you understand what was going on in just two minutes.” It was a trailer that “really resonates”, said one judge, and it resonated with its audience too, posting a debut of £13,132 from 11 sites before going on to take an overall £95,000 at the box office.
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hoME ENtErtAINMENt CAMPAIGN oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
green street 3: Never Back down Lionsgate Home Entertainment
The Hunger games: Catching Fire Lionsgate Home Entertainment
The wolverine Way To Blue
the Machine anchor Bay Entertainment, red & Black Films, Content Films, shear Entertainment, East London Film Collective, arPr, Incite
A
imed at making a microbudget UK feature feel like a “studio-quality sci-fi thriller comparable to Species and Minority Report”, The Machine was a “stand-out release” according to our judges. Utilising its limited theatrical release at six sites as a shop window for home entertainment, the campaign’s key aim was to ensure all platforms were supporting as well as “mobilising the advocates” to create word-ofmouth buzz. Targeting both a 12-45 broad C2DE (in National Readership Survey terms) mass market and a secondary market of sci-fi fans, the PR campaign saw interviews with the film’s star Caity Lotz in titles such as Total Film, paired with stunts such as a cake in the shape of a robot’s head sent to Sci-Fi magazine. Meanwhile the online campaign started six months before www.screendaily.com
‘For such a niche film, The Machine really pushed through’
the release to build buzz through high one-to-one interaction with the film’s audience on social channels, as well as exclusive placement of the trailer online with The Guardian, which pulled in more than a million views, eight weeks ahead of release. It all culminated in a premiere with a live Skype Q&A with a Japanese inventor and his robot to “drive core fan buzz”. “For such a niche film, The Machine really pushed through,” said one judge and the numbers back it up. The release saw retail support from the likes of HMV, Amazon and Tesco to go with a VoD push from iTunes, Sky Store and Google Play, among others, leading to DVD sales of more than 18,000 to date. The film stayed in the iTunes top 40 for two months after charting in second place over its first weekend. October 2014 Screen International 9
doCUMENtArY CAMPAIGN oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
a story Of Children and Film Dogwoof
advanced style Dogwoof
Finding Vivian Maier Soda Pictures
20 Feet From Stardom altitude
W
orking on a dual strategy to “target music fans and a wider female audience looking for a feelgood choice”, Altitude’s first theatrical release, 20 Feet From Stardom, was boosted by an Academy Award win that saw the distributor “working against the wire” to feature the awards triumph on the film’s London Underground 12-sheet posters. The result was an overall box-office haul of £206,142, one of the best documentary performances of the year. An element of the campaign particularly impressed one judge: “The release on Mother’s Day, with the involvement of the female audience, really resonated with me.” This saw a Time Out London sponsorship that “urged people to take their mum to the cinema and celebrate the unsung hero in their life”. Other partnerships included
10 Screen International October 2014
‘The campaign was exciting, visual and started a conversation with its audience’
with Absolute Radio, which ran an advertising campaign after songs from the soundtrack were played, culminating in an hour-long programme, and with Sony Music that saw a social media push that resulted in Tweets and Facebook posts from artists including Gary Barlow, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Jones. “The campaign was exciting, visual and started a conversation with its audience,” noted one judge, with another adding that “it is not an easy, known story in the UK and the campaign was comprehensive”. The publicity push for 20 Feet From Stardom began at BFI London Film Festival in 2012, attended by director Morgan Neville. UK visits from two of the film’s singers, Claudia Lennear and Judith Hill, then saw coverage from the likes of BBC Breakfast, Channel 4 News, NME and Grazia. www.screendaily.com
oNLINE CAMPAIGN oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Yahoo and Paramount
Bad Neighbours Universal Pictures UK & Ireland
Filth Lionsgate UK
Frank Curzon/Artificial Eye, Element Pictures and Film4
Frozen Feref
The Fault In Our stars Think Jam and 20th Century Fox
The grand Budapest Hotel 20th Century Fox and Premier
dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Hunger games: Catching Fire Lionsgate UK
Thor: The dark world Way To Blue
Think jam and 20th Century Fox
W
orking collaboratively with Think Jam and 20th Century Fox’s partners, the online campaign for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes was tasked to “innovate with multi-platform executions to encourage new levels of fan engagement”. It did this in a way that was “very smart and risky” according to our judges, marking a media first with Channel 4 as Fox handed control to the audience via Twitter during the UK TV network premiere of The Hunger Games. Following a three-minute clip played during the first advertising break, viewers were encouraged to vote for what they wanted to see during the next break — leading to more than 8 million impressions and almost 4,000 mentions. But this was not the only major event of its campaign. Working with ITV, Fox aired an actionpacked spot during the football World Cup semi-final to target its
www.screendaily.com
‘Their Twitter engagement really cranked up the campaign, with a distinctive impact during the World Cup’
core audience, asking for online reactions that would feature at the end of the break. This generated more than 6,000 comments with some 14.2 million impressions, a global trend and celebrity mentions from the likes of presenters Chris Moyles and Alex Zane and musician Eliza Doolittle. “Their Twitter engagement really cranked up the campaign, with a distinctive impact during the World Cup,” said one judge. The campaign also saw a filmthemed challenge on Channel 5’s Big Brother, generating more than 500 mentions with 56% of Tweets sent by women, achieving the objective of engaging with a “broader, female-focused audience”. The campaign created “maximum talkability around each activation”, noted Fox and Think Jam. Strong box office followed with an £8.3m debut and a tally of £32.6m as of September 21. October 2014 Screen International 11
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andré rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert CinemaLive
Monty Python Live (Mostly) Picturehouse Entertainment
Nymphomaniac One Night stand Curzon/Artificial Eye
rsC Live From stratfordupon-avon: richard II Picturehouse Entertainment and Royal Shakespeare Company
d-day 70 Years on snappin’ Turtle Productions, Picturehouse Entertainment and TBI Media for BBC radio 2
‘‘t
he absolute definition of event cinema,” marvelled one judge of Snappin’ Turtle Productions and TBI Media’s D-Day 70 Years On. Streamed live to 209 cinemas from London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 6, the production was the culmination of a day of multi-platform activity across the BBC, resulting in a £313,083 overall gross. With a cast led by Patrick Stewart and featuring D-Day veteran Jim Radford, the production was the first BBC radio programme to be visualised and broadcast live to cinemas, a “natural partner” given that the UK public watched news reports in their local cinema during the Second World War. “It’s a massive anniversary and of course it’s a big event, but they had to try harder to get people into the cinema to see it,” outlined one judge. A five week build-up period, including support from several
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‘There’s no real precedent for doing this sort of thing on screen before’
BBC platforms and a cinema trailer voiced by event host Dermot O’Leary, saw social media play a “huge role” as participating talent shared exclusive content during the build-up. Marketing support came from partner brands including the Ministry of Defence, distributor Picturehouse Entertainment and three event charities: armed forces charities The Royal British Legion and SSAFA, and youth charity SkillForce. “Of all the things you think about doing, it’s the most unusual. There’s no real precedent for doing this sort of thing on screen before,” said one judge. Replays are planned in November to mark Remembrance Weekend, with its success establishing a “new area within the alternative content market with the potential for significant growth in coming years”, according to Snappin’ Turtle Productions and TBI Media. October 2014 Screen International 13
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BrANd PArtNErShIP oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Lime Movies with Tango
Cloudy with a Chance Of Meatballs 2 Brand & Deliver and Sony Pictures working with Richmond Mini Meatballs
Picturehouse Cinemas elevenfiftyfive working with Jameson Irish Whiskey
The Hunger games: Catching Fire Lionsgate UK working with Subway
walking On sunshine Vertigo Films working with Puglia Tourist Board
X-Men: days Of Future Past
Amazing Spider-Man 2
20th Century Fox working with Virgin Trains
Brand & deliver, danone waters and sony Pictures working with Evian
D
escribed as a ‘win-win’ for both brands, re-igniting Evian’s ‘Baby & Me’ campaign and driving maximum visibility for Sony’s release, the judges praised the partnership for “engaging the audience in an innovative and compelling way”. Driven by Sony challenging Brand & Deliver to “find new partners with powerful brands who hadn’t executed partnerships with movies before”, the campaign was “singular and inventive” as one judge remarked. The multi-platform campaign, with a 70-second spot ‘The Amazing Baby & Me 2’ at its heart, was launched exclusively on MTV before a digital push on platforms such as SnapChat, YouTube and Twitter. To date, more than 31 million consumers have watched the campaign online, which also attracted media attention from the
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‘These are two massive brands you wouldn’t necessarily put together, but that have worked well’
likes of ITN, The Daily Telegraph and Marketing Week. Commercial performance was driven by a retail-exclusive activation in partnership with Tesco, with Spider-Man branded packs and point-of-sale material. This extended to Evian creating bespoke bottles that were showcased at the film’s world premiere in London, leading to actor Dane DeHaan posing with one in photos taken for Glamour magazine. To go with the film’s numberone box office bow, the activity saw a 23% increase in value growth for the Evian brand in May 2014 against May 2013, and a 1% market share growth. One judge concluded: “These are two massive brands that you wouldn’t necessarily put together, but that have worked well for a campaign that is really good fun with a lot of personality.”
October 2014 Screen International 15
PrEMIErE oF thE YEAr
HIGHLY COMMENDED
downhill Zeffirellis and Rambling Road Entertainment Hailed by Screen’s judges as “highly creative”, the premiere of Downhill took place at Zeffirellis Cinema in Ambleside, featuring everything from sheep and a green grass carpet to a dress code of “black tie and walking or wellington boots”, plus a goody bag of Kendal Mint Cake, cheesy Wotsits and ale, as featured in the film. The sold-out event saw half of the takings from all tickets sold go to the Langdale and Ambleside mountain rescue team, and “opened the gateway” for the film’s success, even outselling Edge Of Tomorrow in the area’s cinemas. The premiere at The Old Truman Brewery, east London. (Inset) actor-director Jon Favreau
NOMINEES
The Machine
Chef
ARPR, East London Film Collective, Red & Black Films
Filth
Lionsgate uK and elevenfiftyfive
t
aking place in a bespoke cinema built by Lionsgate and elevenfiftyfive inside the street food market of The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, east London, the European premiere of Jon Favreau’s Chef was devised to “mirror the raw spirit, warmth and urban culinary theme of the film”. Praised by judges for taking “a fresh approach to a premiere event, which brought the film to life in a fun way”, the premiere was awarded a Stella Artois bursary to support its release, partfunding the special event. It featured red-carpet appearances from Favreau, chef Tom Parker Bowles and actor Mark Ruffalo, a Chef-branded food truck, a Latin salsa band and hand-crafted bar. The build-up to the event saw food-market experts KERB run a
16 Screen International October 2014
‘It took a fresh approach to a premiere event, which brought the film to life in a fun way’
Lionsgate UK London-wide promotion with each trader creating a “Chefthemed special” in addition to its usual menu. With two other Leicester Square premieres taking place on the same night (June 9), the aim was to create “standout appeal for press” and resulted in strong media attendance from the likes of The Guardian, Press Association and The Sun. PR was managed by Freud and Way To Blue, with coverage highlights including Virgin Media, Female First, NME and The Daily Mail. “It showed real innovation, connection to the film and it caught my attention,” concluded one judge, with the premiere “increasing the mass of the release”, according to Lionsgate, which led to a £606,000 debut from its 372 sites.
The Hunger games: Catching Fire Lionsgate UK
X-Men: days Of Future Past 20th Century Fox and Premier PR
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Pr CAMPAIGN oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
Blue Is The warmest Colour Curzon/Artificial Eye
Boyhood Universal Pictures International UK and Eire
Locke Lionsgate UK
Philomena Premier
ride along DDA PR
The wolf Of wall street Universal Pictures International UK and Eire
X-Men: days Of Future Past Substance and 20th Century Fox
Belle Fox searchlight and Premier
A
chieving blanket press coverage across national print, broadcast and online media as well as “significant social buzz”, Fox Searchlight and Premier PR’s campaign for Belle “punched way above its weight”, according to one judge, providing “impressive coverage”. Utilising the film’s topicality and positioning it as a “softer, more British examination of the slave trade”, the campaign delivered coverage ranging from an onset feature in Empire magazine to historical background pieces in The Sunday Telegraph’s Seven supplement. A fundamental aspect of the campaign was to raise the profiles of lead actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw and director Amma Asante, including cover features in the The Sunday Times’ Culture section and The Observer’s The New Review magazine, respectively, and a
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‘It’s still a massive issue to get coverage for black actors and to achieve this level of content is incredibly important’
short-lead press junket at Kenwood House, the ancestral home of lead character Dido Belle, leading to major broadcast and online coverage from the likes of Channel 4 News and BBC London. This particular part of the campaign was highlighted by the judges: “It’s still a massive issue to get coverage for black actors and to achieve this level of content is incredibly important.” The film’s premiere at the BFI Southbank led to three pieces of national coverage the next day, no doubt aided by musician Prince performing at the afterparty. It all led to a healthy £1.8m run at the UK box office following its release on June 13. However, the fact all this happened several months after the film’s 2013 Toronto premiere impressed one judge, noting they “had to really energise it again and achieved a lot of interesting press”.
October 2014 Screen International 17
thEAtrICAL CAMPAIGN oF thE YEAr
HIGHLY COMMENDED
stranger By The Lake Peccadillo Pictures A lively campaign — including Cineworld pulling the film and then reinstating it, controversy over the poster and advertising on nationwide gay dating application Grindr — eventually culminated in Stranger By The Lake becoming Peccadillo Pictures’ second highest-grossing film ever at the UK box office with £154,699. “It’s a really difficult sell, but they managed to get the film out to audiences and to get people who would be interested in seeing it, to see it,” commented one judge, with another adding that “they found their own following”.
NOMINEES Jack O’Connell on Soccer AM
Universal Pictures UK and Eire
Starred Up
dawn Of The Planet Of The apes 20th Century Fox
Fox searchlight Pictures
r
ecognising the “significant marketing challenges” presented by David Mackenzie’s gritty prison drama Starred Up, Fox identified two target audiences: ABC1 cinemagoers in upscale sites, given the film’s festival presence, and a male mainstream audience in the multiplexes. As a result, the creative materials carried a “mainstream, blokey pitch” but also highlighted the quality of the film-making and performances, specifically aimed at launching actor Jack O’Connell as a star. As one awards judge highlighted, it was a strategy that worked: “It is a brutal prison drama but they got it to work and it got in your face.” With the trailer striking a balance between “tense, shocking action and high-quality film-making”, the campaign also saw a targeted TV push that resulted in #StarredUp trending on Twitter in the UK immediately after a spot during an advertising break in a 18 Screen International October 2014
‘It is a brutal prison drama, but they got it to work and it got in your face’
Bad Neighbours
Filth Champions League football match. With a “comparatively limited media spend”, publicity was “allimportant” according to Fox so, working with Premier and Substance, key features about O’Connell ran in the likes of magazines Total Film and Shortlist and TV sports programme Soccer AM. Pre-release talker screenings highlighted the film’s appeal to female audiences so Fox reached out to Heat, ASOS and The Debrief website as screening partners, while O’Connell’s existing fanbase was utilised in a major partnership with E4. Described as a “really impressive” campaign, one judge also noted that “it’s hard for a studio come into a film like this, but they really worked on this project and they used their relationships to make it work”. The result? A debut of £527,000 from 316 screens and a total haul of £1.5m, proof the campaign had broken the film out into the mainstream.
Lionsgate UK
The grand Budapest Hotel 20th Century Fox
The Hunger games: Catching Fire Lionsgate UK
Mrs Brown’s Boys d’Movie Universal Pictures UK and Eire
The wolf Of wall street Universal Pictures UK and Eire
X-Men: days Of Future Past 20th Century Fox
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Pr tEAM oF thE YEAr
NOMINEES
British Film Institute dda Pr Organic Premier Think jam 20th Century Fox way To Blue
The Somerset House premiere of About Time
Universal Pictures
H
elping to deliver Universal’s second biggest ever year of trading, its PR team was hailed by one of Screen’s judges as being “amazing to deal with, considering everything they are working on”. With a team of four people handling up to 30 films per calendar year, successes over the past 12 months have included titles as diverse as Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie (£14.7m as of September 21), The Wolf Of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese’s best-ever UK performer at £22.3m) and Boyhood (£3m as of September 21). This breadth of titles was noted by the judges — “a very efficient small team working across a very diverse slate” — and the past year has also seen work on publicity during the production of About Time and Get On Up, kick-starting those films’ campaigns. The slate of theatrical releases
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‘They are one of the best, if not the best, in-house PR teams I’ve ever dealt with’
held its own varied challenges too, from introducing Kevin Hart to a UK audience for Ride Along to working with first-time film-makers on a global brand with Moshi Monsters: The Movie. As well as delivering “extensive” on-set access for the media and continuing their “fruitful relationship” with Working Title, including a premiere at Somerset House for About Time, this year has seen Universal Pictures’ PR team utilise materials in successful and innovative ways online (the trailer drop of Fifty Shades Of Grey reached in excess of 30 million views) and innovations in print (such as Boyhood’s timelapse photography on the cover of The Observer’s The New Review magazine). “They are one of the best, if not the best, in-house PR teams I’ve ever dealt with,” summed up one judge.
October 2014 Screen International 19
CONGRATULATIONS to all award winners and nominees
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Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy with an X-Men branded Virgin train; (left) Wolverine station; (below) Tesco Opticians with Mr Peabody & Sherman branding
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20th Century Fox
o
ne particular marketing stunt stood out for our judges when it came to naming 20th Century Fox the Marketing Team of the Year. To mark the release of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Fox secured a brand partnership with Virgin Trains that saw one of its Pendolino trains wrapped in X-Men branding, onboard and in-station. Furthermore the name of Wolverhampton train station was changed for the day to Wolverine station. “The Wolverine train station was genius,” commented one judge, “it’s one of those simple, but brilliant, ideas”. This wasn’t the only brand partnership in a year that also saw Fox work with Tesco Opticians to create How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Mr Peabody & Sherman branded glasses, and also forge media partnerships with the likes
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‘The Wolverine train station was genius. It’s one of those simple, but brilliant, ideas’
of ITV and E4 for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and The Other Woman, respectively. This year, Fox also removed digital-specific jobs to place digital “at the heart of each team member’s role”, leading to staff more “digitally savvy and more comprehensively integrated into each piece of activity than ever before”. Fox showcases “great variety and strong social engagement”, according to one judge, and it has all contributed to a box-office high of £211m, up 32% on 2013. The past 12 months has seen a succession of films delivering above their targets from Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (up 20% on target at more than £30m), The Grand Budapest Hotel (£11.1m, up 122% on target) and The Other Woman (53% up on target at £9.2m), leaving Fox as a clear number one in the market.
October 2014 Screen International 21
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target Media
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orking on 115 theatrical and more than 400 home entertainment releases with titles as diverse as Non-Stop and The Great Beauty, this past year saw Target Media grow and innovate in the digital space, having “continually been first in market to trial new digital products”. Target’s diversity shone through for the judges, with one stating the company “covers all bases, does great stuff and is way up there”. For Target, identifying and motivating the right audience for each title is “crucial”, citing four key campaigns over the past 12 months that showcase their versatility and ability to “diversify” according to one judge: RoboCop (exceeding its box office target by £1m at £8.1m), What Maisie Knew (VoD revenues ahead of expectations and more than £330,000 at the box office), Under The Skin (20,000 units sold in week one of
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‘Target Media is exemplary on every level, delivering an impressive range of work’
the DVD release) and Monty Python Live (Mostly), which saw Target use its experience in music, comedy and film to maximise revenues. Highlighting the company’s focus on the digital space was the RoboCop campaign, in which digital was “central” as the social strategy connected all media channels — including the broadcast of an Omnicorp infomercial (pictured) on Channel 4 to “drive social conversation”. This past year has seen Target utilise its in-house social audience tool to monitor responses throughout each campaign and minimise wastage, and also take part in beta tests on Twitter and Facebook to “deliver market leading innovation”. As one judge concluded: “Target Media is exemplary on every level, delivering an impressive range of work.”
October 2014 Screen International 23
CrEAtIVE AGENCY oF thE YEAr, AUdIoVISUAL
Maps To The Stars; (inset) All This Mayhem
NOMINEES
Create advertising digital Media services uK Picture Production Company The Editpool
Intermission Film
I
n its own words, Intermission Film tries to “avoid the obvious, have our own style and always leave you wanting more”, and our judges concurred, hailing the agency’s work as “exciting and innovative”. The past year has seen the firm create 28 original trailers, work on campaigns for everything from Maps To The Stars to Walking On Sunshine, and double in size as it focuses on “nurturing the future” — all junior members of staff receive dedicated training. New clients include Universal International, eOne and HBO Europe, and existing clients have recommended Intermission for other work: for example, after the company worked on the trailer for The Act Of Killing, director Joshua Oppenheimer spread the word to Petra Costa for her documentary
24 Screen International October 2014
‘Intermission has impressive breadth for a company in its third year, with a strong profile across a range of films’
Elena. Intermission was also approached by producers George Pank and James Gay-Rees before their film All This Mayhem had secured distribution, with the company’s trailer playing a part in its global distribution success. This year also saw Intermission nominated for six Golden Trailer awards — more than any other UKbased audiovisual agency — picking up the prize for best foreign documentary trailer for Hawking, as well as gaining a nomination for the Music + Sound awards. One of Screen’s judges noted Intermission has “impressive breadth for a company in its third year, with a strong profile across a range of films”. The company is clearly on the way to fulfilling its aim to be “the smartest, freshest audiovisual agency in the UK”.
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Filth; (inset) Mr. Turner
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Coffee & Cigarettes Empire design what Is Bobo Zero degrees west
All City Media
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iversity is the key word when it comes to All City Media, according to Screen’s judges. “What is great about them is the range of styles they’re prepared to go for,” one judge noted. “There’s no sense that there’s an ‘in-house’ style.” This also applies to its slate that, over the past 12 months, has seen All City deliver full campaigns for the likes of Filth (winner of our Poster Design of the Year award), Mr. Turner, Hector And The Search For Happiness, Blue Ruin and All This Mayhem, to go with alternative collectable posters for Only God Forgives and Cheap Thrills. “They deliver dynamic designs that drive people to see films,” said one judge, such as in the number of large international campaigns they have worked on with the aim of creating a “singular striking
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‘All City Media delivers dynamic designs that drive people to see films’
image that can appeal to a number of different audiences”. One such campaign was for Disney’s Saving Mr Banks, which boasted a media plan of 50 different press ads, 26 different outdoor motion ads plus online formats, evidence of their burgeoning “reputation for effective branding that has grown the studio considerably”, the company said. A further facet of the agency is their involvement in business-tobusiness or public-facing branding for clients. All City Media won the BFI commission to brand London Film Festival in 2013, creating a logo and corresponding motion ident, festival-wide branding featuring the message ‘Be here’. As our judges concluded, All City Media delivers a “fabulous range of aesthetics with a great diversity on display”.
October 2014 Screen International 25
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Emily Pound Substance
Hannah Tatum Way To Blue
Sam Clements Picturehouse Entertainment
S
am Clements impressed the judges with his versatility and work ethic having been promoted to marketing manager at Picturehouse Cinemas in 2013. He joined the company in 2011 as digital marketing assistant after being involved in the marketing department at Ritzy Cinema. “He’s not just doing his job, he’s driving the company in different directions and has developed a lot of goodwill,” said one judge. As well as producing the Picturehouse podcast with Simon Renshaw, Clements handles Picturehouse’s social media channels and those for the company’s film releases and event cinema launches such as Monty Python Live (Almost). Under his management and thanks to his knowledge of the platforms, Picturehouse’s social media database has grown to more than 122,000 Facebook ‘likes’ and 182,000 Twitter followers. In his role as marketing man-
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‘He’s not just doing his job, he’s driving the company in different directions and has developed a lot of goodwill’
ager, Clements is responsible for all aspects of day-to-day marketing, from arranging in-cinema activity to content managing the Picturehouse Recommends magazine, as well as being heavily involved in organising central training days for local cinema staff. The breadth of work was also highlighted by one of our judges who noted that “he has an incredibly varied body of work behind him”. As Picturehouse director of film marketing Sara Frain noted in the nomination for Clements: “Sam is an ambitious individual who excels at working in a team. However he is at his most impressive when he takes projects and drives them on his own initiative. “With an encyclopedic knowledge of both film and the Picturehouse circuit, he is a credit to the team and is vital to the overall success of marketing within the company.” October 2014 Screen International 27
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HIGHLY COMMENDED
The premiere of Svengali at Market Hall Cinema Brynmawr
Olympic studios In just over a year of trading since it opening in October 2013, Olympic Studios in Barnes, south-west London, has become “a game changer in terms of saying, ‘That’s potentially what the exhibition sector looks like in the future,’” according to one judge. The opening saw its first three main features grossing in excess of £132,500. Adding a second screen in January to complement its Dolby Atmos-compliant main auditorium has allowed Olympic Studios to increase “the breadth and variety of shows we can offer”, and the cinema has already welcomed the likes of Richard Linklater, Alfonso Cuaron and Stanley Tucci.
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CINEMA oF thE YEAr, 24 SCrEENS or FEwEr
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Market hall Cinema Brynmawr
Filmhouse, Edinburgh
W
Zeffirellis & Fellinis
hen the local council announced the closure of Wales’ oldest cinema, Market Hall Cinema Brynmawr, a small team of core paid staff and volunteers took it over. An increase in annual turnover and admissions by almost 100% suggests they have succeeded in their goal to put the cinema “back at the heart of our local community and give it the chance to thrive for another 120 years”. Under the new team, the cinema has increased screenings to five per day throughout the week as well as hosting regular all-night cult and horror film sessions and luncheon club screenings for groups of adults with physical and mental difficulties. The cinema also teamed up with a Welsh rock website to host a heavy metal doc-
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‘The level of community engagement is incredible… they saved the cinema’
umentary double bill that drew in “a legion of rock fans from all over Wales” to catch the films’ Welsh premieres. As one judge put it, “The level of community engagement is incredible,” with another highlighting that they “saved the cinema”. February also saw Market Hall host the world premiere of Universal’s Svengali, with more than 1,000 people turning out to see the film’s stars Jonny Owen and Vicky McClure delivered to the front door on a parade of 100 motorbikes. The cinema has also brokered a sponsorship deal with Welsh housing association Tai Calon to initiate low-cost admissions every Tuesday, with their programme details promoted through the partnership to 6,100 homes across the area.
glasgow Film Theatre The Kinema In The woods The Maltings Theatre & Cinema
October 2014 Screen International 29
37% OF THE WORLDS BEST CINEMAS CHOOSE VISTA
WHO DID THE JUDGES CHOOSE?
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Cineworld, the o2 Greenwich W ith an increase in admissions of 60% over the last four years, Cineworld O2’s employee engagement has risen to 76.5% (ninth overall in the company) over the last 12 months, its Unlimited base has increased by 16% and its mystery shopper score has reached 90.5%, some 3.5% ahead of its target. Recognising that this is a challenging location for a cinema, our judges noted that “what they’ve done with it is impressive”. The past 12 months has seen the cinema host Sundance London film festival (for the third year running) and London Turkish Film Festival, and act as a host site for London Indian Film Festival. The cinema also promoted the release of The Amazing Spider-
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In a challenging location for a cinema, ‘What they’ve done with it is impressive’
Man 2 with 30 people dressed as the webslinger climbing to the top of the O2 Arena, welcomed Transformers for the launch of Transformers: Age Of Extinction and hosted a Q&A with Jared Leto at a screening of his documentary Artifact. It has also worked in partnership with AEG and Sky on various campaigns and hosted the announcement of the Backstreet Boys’ world tour and documentary. Our judges praised the “range and reach” of the cinema, highlighting that the diverse nature of its events show it is “adaptable”. Arguably as impressive is that in the past 12 months, box office has fallen only a slim 1% year-on-year despite the overall soft market.
October 2014 Screen International 31
CONGRATUL ATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS AND SHORTLISTED FINALISTS FOR THE SCREEN AWARDS 2014
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Wise and including executive director Adam Kaye, for taking smart risks such as reducing capacity at Screen On The Green. “We renovated it from 300 seats to 125 seats. And we increased admissions and turnover. That wasn’t customer research, that was our gut feeling,” Myers says. Taking the brand north to Leeds was another gamble, as was the cinema at Selfridges. “You have to have a leap of faith; there’s no guarantee of success. With this joint venture with Selfridges, we want to shift people’s perceptions of what cinema can do.” Coming in as an outsider to the world of film, he says: “The main thing I was surprised about was how people in this industry genuinely love film. I thought it might be thought of more as a product. There is a genuine love for film at the core of the industry.” He says challenges ahead for the exhibition industry will include engaging the large part of the population that doesn’t go to the cinema.
Andrew Myers
‘Bang the drum’
CEO, Everyman Media group
W
ithout being rude to the competition, Andrew Myers recalls a favourite audience Tweet about a trip to an Everyman cinema: “If you’re on a date go to Cineworld. If you REALLY like her, take her to Everyman.” That was one small piece of evidence that Myers was succeeding in building a strong brand. He came in as CEO of Everyman Media Group in summer 2009, from the world of corporate finance, as an outsider to the film industry. And he now steps down as CEO — leaving the company by the end of 2014 — with a string of accomplishments. “I was going to stay for two months and it turned into five years,” he says with a laugh. When Myers joined Everyman, the company — established in 2000 with entrepreneur Daniel Broch’s purchase of a Hampstead cinema dating back to 1933 — had acquired the Screen Cinemas group a year earlier. Five years later, it has refurbished its Belsize Park, Baker Street, Walton-onThames and Screen On The Green, Islington, sites, and opened new cinemas in Maida Vale, Leeds and inside Oxford Street’s Selfridges. Plans are afoot for sites in Birmingham, Canary Wharf, Bristol and Harrogate. Box-office www.screendaily.com
‘Cinema is a great place to spend money. It’s better value than going bowling with your family for an hour’
grosses have grown from £4.5m in 2009 to £8.5m in 2013, while turnover grew from £5.3m to £11.5m. “The portfolio was underinvested, in terms of people, of infrastructure and understanding what the brand was. It needed a cultural change and a freshness,” Myers remembers of his early days at the company. “The Screen group had great locations and great potential, and we wanted to take the business beyond just running a small, great cinema in Hampstead,” he says. “We had to build a brand. We wanted to create this environment of hospitality, of comfort, of a service-oriented business.” And that they have, with the Everyman name now synonymous with quali ty p ro g ra m m i n g i n b e s p o ke , comfortable surroundings, catering to the types of patrons who don’t rustle bags of popcorn or use their mobile phones during screenings. “The challenge was to make people say, ‘It’s Saturday night, I want to go to the Everyman.’ Not, ‘What movies are out this week?’ The ideal scenario is that even if you see a film that’s not great, it could be a great evening.” He doesn’t take all the credit, of course. He pays tribute to the “brave, ambitious” board led by chairman Paul
Myers is adamant the cinema world needs to stand up more often for what it offers. “The cinema industry has to bang its drum about what a great offering we have. We can’t be apologising that tickets aren’t as cheap as they were in the 1930s, the cinema-going audience is a tenth compared to that time… People complain more about cinema prices than the theatre or music. “We’re a great place to spend money. It’s better value than going bowling with your family for an hour.” He says Everyman’s expansion has been timed well, with the digitisation of cinemas and the consumer’s re-embracing of high-street life. Of the VoD threat, he says Everyman’s box offices have done well with films that were launched day-and-date on multiple platforms. “Windows will gradually become more of an issue for exhibitors,” he warns. “The industry has to be proactive… In 50 years people will still be gathering in communal spaces, watching stories.” Myers will continue to advise Everyman in the future. He has known incoming CEO Crispin Lilly, a veteran at Cineworld, for years and says “it’s nice to hand over to someone who can take the business forward”. With Myers’ entrepreneurial spirit, he is looking for “new challenges… I like change”. But he adds: “I’ll struggle to find an industry as engaging as this one.” Wendy Mitchell October 2014 Screen International 33
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dIStrIBUtor oF thE YEAr, INdEPENdENt
The Great Beauty
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Curzon/Artificial Eye
G
oing against the grain by “eschewing formulaic release patterns to offer a unique and considered approach to every film”, Curzon/Artificial Eye posted a 66% increase yearon-year (from August 1, 2013 to July 31,2014) to £5.47m at the box office from 20 releases, as well as enjoying its best year ever for both VoD and new releases on DVD. “What they’re doing is innovative and it’s working,” said one judge. “They are trying stuff that could have a positive impact on the industry.” The distributor puts its success down to accepting the “hard truths” of the challenges facing independent distributors, but being “confident that the creative approach of our team can overcome any hurdles”. Highlights from the past 12 months include the UK’s biggest ever day-and-date release with What Maisie Knew (£346,000 in
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‘They’ve made an interesting attempt at building a brand and showcase great taste, fantastic passion and innovative ideas’
cinemas), a “traditional” release for Le Week-end resulting in a £1.46m return at the box office, and a strategy driven by word-ofmouth that saw The Great Beauty gross more than £1m from a debut of £118,000 from 25 screens. The distributor has also made its mark in the event cinema sector, with its ‘One Night Stand’ release of Nymphomaniac taking £143,000 in a single night. A collapsed window of eight days saw the film appear across multiple platforms, going on to easily beat their previous record for premium VoD. As Curzon/Artificial Eye puts it, the company has “grown into their own space in the market” and “moved from experimenting with day-and-date releasing, to profiting from it”. Screen’s judges agreed: “They’ve made an interesting attempt at building a brand and showcase great taste, fantastic passion and innovative ideas.”
October 2014 Screen International 35
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The Grand Budapest Hotel
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20th Century Fox
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ith a 32% increase yearon-year (August 2013 to August 2014) to a new box-office high of £211m, 20th Century Fox was lauded by our judges for being “consistent, adaptable, inventive and thorough in their approach”. Among the hits of the past 12 months was Fox’s first local acquisition, Starred Up (which doubled an initial target of £750,000), and frequent success with its franchises, including X-Men: Days Of Future Past and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. Highlights included media partnerships with the likes of ITV and Channel 4, unique publicity such as Empire magazine’s 25 covers for X-Men, brand partnerships with Virgin Trains and McDonald’s, among others, and the phenomenal success of The Grand Budapest Hotel, which saw a box-office gross of £11.1m (up
36 Screen International October 2014
‘You’re not talking about one-size-fits-all campaigns, you’re talking about very extensive and unique campaigns that fit the films’
122% on an “already aggressive” target), as well as the UK office driving the international creative for the film. Focused on giving “all of our movies a first-class ticket to release”, the past 12 months has seen Fox continue to build and improve relationships with exhibitors, apply a more scientific approach to budget setting following a comprehensive media spend analysis, and build a “more collaborative approach” both internally (across departments) and externally (with partners). When it comes to Fox, one judge highlighted that “you’re not talking about one-size-fits-all campaigns, you’re talking about very extensive and unique campaigns that fit the films”, with another noting the company has had “such an impressive year across an interesting range of movies”.
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