The Rise and Fall of a Studio Marketing Executive

I expect the brussel sprouts in my refrigerator to last longer than some of the movies currently in theaters.

Because Hollywood movies have a notoriously short shelf-life - the pressures on studio marketing execs are also extreme: Marketing campaigns MUST deliver huge audiences in the first weekend - or (like last week's brussel sprouts) the exec is tossed out.

In the Jan. 8th, 2012 NY Times, Brooks Barnes wrote a fascinating (and chilling?) article about the rise and apparent fall of M. T. Carney, Walt Disney Studios’ president of movie marketing (Hollywood Reporter photo of Ms. Carney in happier times below): "Despite successful ad campaigns since [being hired in mid 2010] for films like “The Muppets” and “The Help,” Ms. Carney has still not found her footing, and Disney appears to have concluded that she never will."

UPDATE January 9th, 2012: She's gone.

Thanks to Sheri Candler for the link.

No comments:

Randy Finch's Film Blog:

Thoughts from a film producer about making and distributing films.