Awards
23 Oscars: The Academy Will Present All Awards During Live Ceremony
Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, has confirmed that all 23 categories will now be part of the iconic awards show’s broadcast ceremony. In 2022, the organization faced major backlash after they decided to remove eight artisan categories from the live telecast. These categories were "Original Score,” “Makeup and Hairstyling,” “Documentary Short,” “Film Editing,” “Production Design,” “Animated Short,” "Live Action Short,” and “Sound.” That decision was announced well in advance of the last ceremony, and people across the film industry had a good deal of time to share their outrage. In a recent statement, Kramer said, “We are committed to having a show that celebrates the artisans, the arts and sciences and the collaborative nature of moviemaking. This is very much what the mission of the Academy is, and I am very hopeful that we can do a show that celebrates all components of moviemaking in an entertaining and engaging way.” Even with this readjustment, the pressure is on. Next year’s ceremony—the 95th Annual Academy Awards—hopes to set the rhythm that can be maintained for the 100th anniversary telecast in a few years. The organization hopes to honor the legacy of the institution within the awards shows as well by featuring the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles. Next year’s show will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who is returning to host for the third time. Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment have been selected to helm the ceremony as executive producers and showrunners. Stay tuned. The ceremony goes live on March 12, 2023 and will be telecast on ABC to over 200 territories across the world.
Film Festival
Red Sea Film Festival: The Best of Saudi Arabian Cinema
The second edition of the Red Sea Film Festival began on December 1. Over 10 days, the event will highlight some amazing local cinema and host other can’t-miss industry events. The festival in Jeddah will have several on-stage film talks. Despite being a young festival, Red Sea has managed to attract top-tier talent, with directors like Andy Garcia, Guy Ritchie, Luca Guadagnino, and Gurinder Chadha, all announced to speak at the Red Sea Mall. Other on-screen talent is scheduled to appear, with festival bosses still looking to add more talent to the roster. Red Sea was supposed to begin in March 2020 but had to be pushed to December 2021 because of the COVID pandemic. The festival opened with the Saudi film The Book of Love, which was popular locally and on Netflix. Three Saudi Arabian debut features will premiere at the festival and even more local short films will be showcased. Red Sea will include an industry-focused session—dubbed “Red Sea Souk”—that will allow for pitching, network meetings, and other market screenings. A big focus this year appears to be regional sales and the distribution of Saudia Arabian content. Many other countries have expressed interest in co-producing. Even streaming giant Netflix will have a presence at this year’s event. In addition to local titles, event programmers have selected a lineup of some of the largest titles from other 2022 film festivals, many of which are expected to become award contenders in the coming months. Aside from the local film industry, Red Sea offers audiences an opportunity to explore Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city, with its population of 4.7 million people and local architecture dating back to the seventh century.
Streaming
Festive Content: Audience Turn To Streamers for Holiday Media
The holidays are just around the corner, and Christmas content seems to be everywhere you look. New data from Roku shows that audiences begin eagerly seeking festive content as soon as mid-October. Although the holiday season officially begins after Thanksgiving, many are trying to bring about holiday cheer even earlier. Last year, the first day of holiday searches averaged out to be October 19, but searches increased by 22% by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. Not only is the holiday season starting sooner than expected, but festive content is resonating with audiences into the new year. The first week of January ranks eleventh in weeks with most holiday content searches (which usually doesn’t stop until February). David Hardin, Senior Manager of Ad Sales, Media and Entertainment at Roku, says that “it pays to continue promoting comfort viewing in the weeks following Christmas to appeal to streamers who want to hold onto the holiday spirit as they gear up for the new year.” Roku’s data also shows that for many people, winter-set movies act as "holiday movies.” Movies like Home Alone and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation are present in top searches, and movies like Meet Me in St. Louis (which is not about holidays but has a snowy setting) had a 298% increase in searches between November and December during 2020 and 2021. Franchises also seem to perform exceptionally well during the wintertime. Holiday favorite Die Hard is so popular that the whole franchise saw an increase of 200% in searches. The most popular movies during this season are usually nostalgic ones, but Roku’s data proves that it depends on who is searching. For Gen Z, nostalgic movies are from the 2000s, making up 35.5% of all searches in 2021. Only 7.6% of holiday searches are from movies released in the 2020s, which makes this a great time for marketers to focus on their stable of content and find what resonates most with their target demographics.
International
Edmonton Eyes $100 Million: Canadian Industry Hopes To Expand Production
Edmonton is getting ready to boost their film industry with the help of local government. Edmonton Screen Industries Office’s CEO Tom Viinikka put in a request to the city council this week, asking them to expand the budget to $1.5 million a year—a $300,000 increase—to adjust for inflation and welcome industry events to the city. Currently, Edmonton brings in $25 million a year from the entertainment industry, but by welcoming more productions, they hope to bring this number up to $100 million. In the council meeting, Viinikka said, "We cannot succeed in these industries without being face-to-face with the world." By welcoming more producers to the city, Viinikka believes more people will consider using Edmonton for their next production. Increased funding will go to the Edmonton Screen Industries Office, which has six people on staff, and their efforts to connect and work more closely with big production companies. Calgary has had great success with the entertainment industry recently. The provenance of Alberta has a film industry revenue of $550 million, and most of this is because of Calgary. The city also has ties to digital and interactive media, which is a subsect of the entertainment industry with a lot of opportunity. Councilor Andrew Knack said, "From the interactive side, it is an industry that far surpasses film and TV at this stage." HBO’s The Last of Us, which filmed in both Edmonton and Calgary, brought in $250 million in business to Canada. This big production also highlighted the need for local film offices who can help facilitate and source local talent for these projects. While the Edmonton Screen Industries Office is one of a dozen requests Edmonton city is sorting through for their 2023-2026 budget, the office remains hopeful that it will be approved as the film industry holds a lot of opportunity for the city.
Film
TikTok Trailers: How the App Partners With Studios To Boost Movie Attendances
New data from TikTok shows that younger audiences use the popular video-sharing app for movie recommendations, and the platform has partnered with movie studios to help get audience members to the theater. 52% of active TikTok users have discovered a new actor, movie, or TV show on the platform, and discovery can lead to tangible action. This new feature, Showtimes on TikTok, is an ad design that enables movie studios to play full trailers and then connect viewers with local showtimes. Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros. were all early adopters of this feature. Paramount even utilized Showtimes on TikTok for their 2022 film The Lost City and saw a 318% increase in conversions. Reia Davidson, Vertical Director of Media and Entertainment at TikTok, believes this feature is all about driving action and getting moviegoers to the theater. This type of ad includes a call-to-action button that allows users to browse showtimes in-app and connects individuals with their favorite ticketing providers. TikTok has been a great channel for movie marketing in the past year as well. The movie Top Gun: Maverick had great success on the app, with hashtags #TopGunMode and #TopGunMaverick amassing over 16 billion views. These hashtags, along with Paramount’s use of the Showtime feature, allowed for younger audiences to better engage with the film and boosted theater attendance. Engagement and creation are a big strength for TikTok, as 69% of TikTok users have co-created content related to a show or movie. Film communities on the app, which go by #FilmTok, have even embraced the Showtime ads by co-creating content with posted movie trailers using the ‘stitch’ or other similar features. But there is so much more opportunity for movies on TikTok. According to the GoodQues TikTok Entertainment Study in 2021, 58% of TikTok users are interested in seeing more content from entertainment studios on the app. Hollywood has embraced TikTok in order to reach younger audiences, and audiences on the app are still eager to content with movies on the video platform.
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