Filed under: entertainment, film/tv, music, new media/technology, pop culture | Tags: Daft Punk, Garret Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, San Diego Comic-Con, Tron, Tron Legacy
I may not have been born until two years after the 1982 original but I was fortunate enough to catch “Tron” at a later date and I have never looked back since. Now, the highly-anticipated sequel sees an upgrade from analogue to full 3D and given the title “Tron Legacy”.
The original was the very first film to use computer-animation extensively which saw Jeff Bridges play Kevin Flynn a former employee of the software corporation ENCOM who ends up running a arcade.Flynn has been trying to hack into ENCOM’s mainframe computer to find evidence that ENCOM’s senior executive Ed Dillinger stole four video games he created. But Dillinger’s supercomputer “Master Control Program” foils Flynn’s efforts and dictates and controls most of the computer systems. One night, Flynn’s former girlfriend Lora and her boyfriend, ace computer programmer Alan Bradley helps Flynn break into ENCOM to shut down the MCP with Alan’s security program “TRON”. But MCP uses Lora’s matter transmission program and converts Flynn into data and sends him into the computer. Flynn finds himself in a electronic world ruled by the MCP and his evil chief henchman Sark, where computer programs are the alter-egos of their creators and are forced to compete in gladiatorial games. With help from Tron, a heroic and fearless security program and his lover, Yori, Flynn sets out destroy the MCP and help Tron liberate the system from the MCP’s control, by destroying the MCP is Flynn’s only way of returning to the real world.
The new film, “Tron Legacy” is a high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn, played by Garrett Hedlund is the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant, father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
With Daft Punk creating the sound track, “TRON Legacy” will be a movie not to miss out on, penned for 2011 release mediahustler is more than a little excited.
The official trailer can be seen below, recently premiering at the San Diego Comic Con it is looking rather slick and to add some texture to this baddass clip click here for the original 1982 trailer.
Filed under: celebrity/showbiz, entertainment, film/tv, gossip/fodder, new media/technology | Tags: Borat, Bruno, Facebook, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Sacha Baron Cohen, Twilight New Moon, Twitter, Universal Pictures
It saw an incredible PR campaign which created such a buzz that the BNP most likely dismissed their prejudices to pre-order tickets in anticipation of the uber-gay-themed controversial comedy “Bruno”.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s portrayal of a camp Austrian fashionista attempting to make it big in the US introduced a publicity drive incomparable to any other I have seen in a long time. Dominating the media each day the hype was insane, and it’s opening weekend topped the charts both in the UK and the states taking £5 million at the UK box office alone, the second highest opening for an 18-certificate film in the country even though it fell short of Baron Cohen’s £6.24 million opening of the 15-certificate Borat in November 2006.
Despite the flying success of its first weekend at cinemas Bruno was soon subject to a barrage of snap judgments and word-of-mouth publicity from fan to fan via social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook such as this from user Cathy Zhang: “Some scenes from Bruno I’ll never erase from my mind.” On the flip side, many Twitter commentators raved about “Bruno.”
Bruno suffered from the “Twitter effect,” meaning audiences reacted quickly online to raunchy scenes of sex and nudity, scaring people away. A process which can boost, or bomb, ticket sales.
It is becoming more and more apparent that this instant process of critique amongst peers can create a box office hit or a flop is forcing major studios to revamp marketing campaigns.
Adam Fogelson, Universal’s president of marketing and distribution said even Twitter comments that seem critical can be good publicity because they show people are passionate about the movie and can spark discussion that increases attendance. He attributed “Bruno’s” lopsided opening day not to negative fan buzz, but to an unusually large crowd of Cohen’s fans rushing to see the film on its first day.
Film marketers look at weekly declines in ticket sales to judge fan buzz. In recent years those “drops” have widened significantly as communication has speeded up thanks to the Internet and more recently social networking services like Twitter and Facebook.
This summer, which is the most lucrative movie season and can make up as much as 40 percent of annual box office, ticket revenues for new films have dropped 51 percent, on average, from week No. 1 to week No. 2, a figure matched only in 2007, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.
In a bid to tackle this studios are actively using Twitter to not only allow viewers to voice their opinions via an official movie-Twitter, but PR-controlling everything that actors Tweet on set.
It will be interesting to see how big budget movies like the recently released “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and the up-coming, much anticipated “New Moon”, sequel to the popular vampire saga “Twilight” fair against the Twitter effect or even mediahustler‘s newly penned phrase: ‘‘Twattered’…
(source: Reuters.com)
Filed under: entertainment, music, new media/technology | Tags: Bebo, Facebook, Google, Marketing, Mars Planets Radio, MySpace, MySpace Records, Yahoo!
Now lagging behind Facebook and Bebo, MySpace is crying out for a strategy rejig – Marketing magazine reports…
MySpace launched in the UK in 2006, having already established itself in the US market, targeting the 16- to 34-year-old music fans it believed were gold dust to advertisers.
Aimed at an older audience than rival Bebo, the News Corp-owned social networking site positioned itself as a free and open community of music producers and fans, and even launched an independent record label, MySpace Records, to develop artists. The site had a meteoric rise in its early years, becoming the most-visited in the US – overtaking Yahoo! and Google – in 2006.
MySpace has become a victim of its own success, however. In an attempt to get back to its start-up roots, it is cut-ting its ‘bloated’ staff numbers, making 100 redundancies in the UK alone.
Despite its best efforts to persuade brands that a third of social network users will click through to buy services, advertising partnerships have also been harder to come by this year. Mars terminated its title sponsorship of Mars Planets Radio, for which MySpace says it is now seeking a replacement. Its deal with Google, which provides search and advertising on MySpace, is also set to expire in 2010.
Now trailing behind Facebook and Bebo, with Hitwise figures showing UK visits to MySpace have dropped by 50% in the past year, the pressure is on to make some major changes.
To see the full article and comment from Ross Taylor, Tullo Marshall Warren’s chief digital officer, and Jens Bachem, managing director of Digital Outlook click here.
(source: marketingmagazine.co.uk)
Filed under: entertainment, film/tv, new media/technology, pop culture, pr | Tags: 'Transformers: Return of the Fallen, Giant Effing Robots, Megan Fox, Michael Bay, Paramount Pictures International, Rubber Republic, Shia LaBeouf, Stephen Spielberg, The Real Effing Deal
Paramount Pictures has launched a worldwide blog campaign to promote the release of ‘Transformers: Return of the Fallen’ featuring video footage of robots “taking over the world”.
The campaign is based around two conspiracy blogs, The Real Effing Deal and Giant Effing Robots, which are run by characters from the new film and track various bizarre robot sightings across the world.
Transformer robots have so far been “spotted” in Tokyo, Berlin, Rome and Barcelona. Videos and photos of these mock sightings have been posted online.
One video shows robots appearing at the Champion’s League final in Rome.
The most recent “sightings” have been in France and the UK. In France two model-aeroplane enthusiasts watched their plane crash and transform into a robot.
In the UK, there was a similar incident involving a scooter transforming into a robot and running off in the darkness.
The overall objective of the campaign is to allow fans to get more involved in the film’s back story and find out what has happened since the first instalment.
Thousands of internet users have visited the blogs to date, interacting with the blogging characters by posting hundreds of comments and theories.
Heath Tyldesley, marketing director for Paramount Pictures International, said: “Extending the narrative of the film into the real world prior to a film’s release is a great way of building buzz and awareness among fans and viewers, rewarding them for their engagement with the first film.
“Directors are really embracing broadening the platforms of the films narrative to include the web and Michael Bay is no exception.”
‘Transformers: Return of the Fallen’, is the sequel to ‘Transformers’, which was released in 2007.
Lead characters Shia LaBeouf (as Sam Witwicky) and Megan Fox (as Mikaela Banes) are back in the sequel, joining the heroic Autobots in the fight against the evil Decepticons who are out to steal the sun.
Directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Stephen Spielberg, ‘Transformers: Return of the Fallen’ is out in the UK on June 24.
Matt Golding, creative director at Rubber Republic, said: “These clips not only take the world of the film into new spaces where fans can engage online, but also provide additional content around the film driving awareness of the release.”
(source: www.brandrepublic.com)
Filed under: celebrity/showbiz, comedy/fun, film/tv, new media/technology, news, pr | Tags: Anna Carloss, Beyoncé Knowles, Cunning Stunts, Gail Porter, Making Waves Communications, Mischief PR, Mitchell Kaye, Parliament, PR Week, Pretty Green, Trident
Stunt and event-led agencies are feeling the pinch. The recent and unfortunate demise of experiential outfits Cunning Stunts (famed for projecting a naked Gail Porter against Parliament) and Making Waves Communications is evidence of this and as more and more clients are withdrawing budgets and opting for ‘safer tactics’ it’s questionable whether this format will survive.
PR stunts are often seen as risky ‘want to do’ rather than ‘need to do’ tactics which do not necessarily generate the highest results against spend for the activity however, experiential is still a good way of reaching audiences and can often build a strong emotional connection between the consumer and a brand.
Whilst the return on investment is difficult to prove and the current economic climate is not enthusing some of the most whimsical of budget holders to take huge risks, some agencies are in fact witnessing an influx with some willing clients looking at taking a chance on interactive experiences. An example being, agency Pretty Green who recently organised for 100 Beyoncé Knowles lookalikes to dance in Piccadilly Circus to promote chewing gum brand Trident giving away tickets to her sold-out tour.
In an interview for this weeks edition of PRWeek, Cunning Stunts founder Anna Carloss said ‘clients are tending to go to digital or TV where they feel more comfortable with their money. Stunts are seen as a want to do, not a need to do and that attitude is impacting on the experiential market.’
Contrary to this, Mischief PR MD Mitchell Kaye said: ‘I couldn’t agree less. We have never done more experiential work than in the past few months and we see no trend of clients moving away from that.’
However, he did warn that stunts and experiential work had to be part of a wider comms strategy to be successful. ‘Where experiential sits in isolation it could struggle,’ he said.
Some brands have built such a reputation through experiential stunts that they have become synonymous with this activity. Offering its consumers anything less could be detrimental to their campaigns and without strong PR to accompany it, failure to deliver is likely.
Whilst there is evidence that the crunch is slowly disappearing, it will be interesting to see where the future of experiential lays. Could the cull of Cunning Stunts and Making Waves be bad fortune or is this a sign that the trend of cautious clients will soon completely dismiss the opportunity to directly engage with audiences…?!
To see the article in PRWeek, click here.
Filed under: comedy/fun, music, new media/technology, pr | Tags: donk, The Blackout Crew, V Inspired
“What’s this business?” I hear you say, well mediahustler has just learnt too…basically yeah, it’s like the that phat beat on a song to make it bangin’. Like a London night bus with yoofs playing out ringtones, it’s that loud bass noise that repeats, then rewinds, then does it again innit!?
A term penned by ‘rudeboy’ DJs The Blackout Crew, the ‘donk‘ has now been laced in to a track to celebrate the launch of the Vinspired award scheme, adding some bounce and beats and their infamous donk to a song made by volunteers called ‘We Are The V’s’ they have created another possible hit – full of comedy value of course!
Let’s hope that the added bonus of working with an admirable and worthy charity like V Inspired can surpass the popularity of their previous tune which has over 4.6 million views to date.
V aims to increase volunteering amongst 16-25 year olds across England inspiring them to take action others overcome barriers which affect lives, communities, and the planet.
Have a look at the donking genius below…
To find out more about the scheme go to www.vinspired.com
Filed under: celebrity/showbiz, entertainment, film/tv, music, new media/technology, new talent, pr, press/media, Uncategorized/miscellaneous | Tags: Britain’s Got Talent, PR Week, Shine Communications, Susan Boyle, Talkback Thames, Taylor Herring, The Corporation, YouTube
I came across this great article from PR Week in which celebrity and superstardom are discussed. An area desired by many, but achieved by few they discuss how you can ensure your celebrity client stays on the A-list?
An example of this being the frumpy middle-aged woman with bushy hair who initially disturbed the crowds but soon opened her mouth and instantly became a worldwide hit. Ordinarily you would think that’s very unlikely, but Susan Boyle did this wowing the audience while auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent, it quickly became the most viewed YouTube clip ever.
With reality shows currently saturating TV schedules with promise to transform ‘ordinary’ people into stars overnight industry figures including Sara Lee, publicity and comms manager at Talkback Thames, Taylor Herring managing partner James Herring and The Corporation CEO and founder Gary Farrow.
It offers some good points on celebrity standing and longevity with the best practices for maintaining an individual’s popularity.
Click here for the full-story and click here for an interesting blog spot from another idustry big-gun, Chris McCafferty, Director of Shine Communications digital offering who comments on Susan Boyle’s widespread fame and who is financially capitolising on this.
ENJOY.
Last month, four men who run the Pirate Bay, perhaps the largest movie-piracy Web site on the planet, were convicted in a Swedish court of promoting copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in prison apiece. These men were true believers, high-concept pranksters, and sworn enemies of the movie industry. Dubbing the proceedings a “spectrial,” (an amalgam of trial and spectacle), they and their supporters drove a bus around Europe, rallying people to their side. Friends of the cause protested outside the courthouse, where the bus was parked and served as their public relations headquarters.
(source:http://www.reuters.com/)
Mediahustler 