Hollywood studios collectively spent $3.16 billion last year on U.S. marketing efforts to draw people to the theatres in the face of competition from new entertainment options, according to Nielsen. The struggle to reach the mass audience has given rise to a diverse industry of producers that cuts feature films into bite-sized appetizers. About 15 years ago, there were only a dozen or so companies distilling motion pictures down to 21/2-minute previews. Now there are more than 100.
Fuelling this growth has been an explosion in viewing online, where previews can generate as much buzz as the films themselves. People have watched more than 35 million hours of movie trailers on YouTube so far in 2015. The explosion of online video has helped make trailer release dates into events that get their own promotional push. Studios increasingly hype teaser trailers that come out ahead of the full versions, and announce when they’ll unveil each new video to keep the audience interested for months leading up to opening weekend. The second official teaser for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” racked up millions of online views on its first day alone…. Studios are willing to spend $50,000 to $500,000 to get a trailer right.
The full, fascinating story here.