Event Programming: Has Taylor Swift Set the Bar?
The most recent episode of One Moore Hollywood Podcast has hosts Chris Moore, Katie Marpe, and Dennis De Nobile discussing event programming in the modern age. Our hosts go over what event programming means to the film industry, how it looks in practice, and how it's undergoing some rather significant changes, such as Taylor Swift’s masterful orchestration in bringing The Eras Concert Film to theaters.
Ready or not, here we go.
Taylor Swift: Defying the Status Quo
When Swift decided to release a concert film for her sold-out Eras tour, the studios she approached told her she'd have to wait until next year. That timeline didn't work for Swift and her team, so what did she do? She went straight to the source and cut out the middleman, making a direct deal with AMC Theaters to release the film themselves. With AMC Theaters acting as distributor, the film will show in its theaters along with a few other major theater chains licensing the movie from them.
On the day advanced tickets were released, Taylor's film amassed 26 million dollars on AMC's site alone, more revenue in that first day than in AMC's 103-year history, surpassing even Spider-Man: No Way Home by nearly 10 million dollars.
Swift's decision to bypass studios to get her movie released in a timely fashion brings up some very real questions: just how vital are studios to the distribution of films in theaters? Will this start a new industry trend? Will we soon see more theater chains releasing their own content and making deals directly with filmmakers and producers?
The Rise and Demise of the Paramount Decree of 1948
When we talk about the kind of vertical integration that a theater acting as its own distributor implies, we have to talk about the Paramount Decree of 1948.
As Doctor Marpe explains, the Paramount Decree came to fruition after the major studios of the 20th century formed an oligopoly, controlling all aspects of production, distribution, and exhibition for their films. In 1948, the Supreme Court ordered this oligopoly to break up, requiring the studios to divest their exhibition arm (aka studio-owned theaters) from the companies. The Supreme Court's ruling removed the ability for studios to integrate vertically, intending to force a more equal distribution of power and control onto the film industry and create more opportunities for independently produced films. As a result, the studios sold their cinemas, retaining only their distribution arm.
In 2020, the Paramount Decree was overturned, meaning theaters and studios are now legally allowed to vertically integrate–free to produce, distribute, and showcase their films all under one roof. Interestingly, Marpe argues that Netflix and Amazon have been vertically integrated companies since they stepped into the streaming world, acting as both producers and exhibitors via their streaming platforms. She adds, "...just because they're [Amazon and Netflix] streaming and only on our T.V. doesn't mean that's not exhibition…they don't have theaters, but they're still showing it to us, which is exactly what exhibition is."
And with that, we've come full circle, as this is precisely what AMC Theaters is doing in 2023 by distributing and exhibiting Taylor Swift's The Eras Concert Film on their screens.
Don't Forget About Marketing
So, is Taylor Swift setting the bar for the future of our entertainment?
According to our hosts, in many ways, yes.
However, Moore cautions us to remember the mega power associated with Swift and the massive amount of dollars behind everything she does. Because of Swift's fame, AMC Studios doesn't have to spend a dollar marketing her movie. Swift can post a single Instagram announcing an event, and millions of her fans will instantly prepare to buy tickets the moment they're released. These factors make AMC's distribution of a ready-made movie from Swift much different than if they were to do the same with a film from a lesser-known filmmaker.
While this doesn't mean we won't see theaters distributing films of their own soon (or perhaps a streaming giant adding a theater chain to their corporation), it does mean that marketing is a big part of a film's success. As Moore points out, you can't fix a bad movie by throwing money at the marketing, but if you market the heck out of a fantastic film, people will find it. The reality of event programming is that it needs good marketing, either paid-for or built-in.
These days, convincing people to leave their cozy homes to see a movie seems challenging, but that might have more to do with the kind of content studios are putting in theaters rather than the willingness of the audience to participate. The Eras Concert Film and Barbenheimer, both veritable events in the latter half of 2023, are dramatically different kinds of content. Still, they have elicited the same type of response from their target audiences: anticipation and excitement.
At the end of the day, if studios want to succeed in programming events that capture the audience like these films, they have to start taking the audience they're catering to more seriously.
Listen to the entire episode here: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or iHeartRadio.
