Introduction

CHAPTER ONE Introduction The Promotion and Distribution of U.S. Latino Films is an examination of how Hol- lywood has promoted and distributed U.S. Latino films over the past thirty years. Though still rare, independent, studio specialty, and studio distributors have been in- corporating more U.S. Latino films into their pipelines. In the past two decades, Hol- lywood studios, studio specialty, and independent film distributors have done a much better job of developing, producing, and acquiring U.S. Latino films. The escalating number of U.S. Latino motion pictures that debuted in theaters illustrates this trend. In fact, over thirty U.S. Latino films in the 21st century, a figure that exceeds the total number of Latino films that were circulated in the previous two decades combined. The book provides invaluable insight as to how film marketers and distributors failed to produce hits with movies like Zoot Suit (1981), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), and I Like It Like That (1994) and struck gold with motion pictures like La Bamba (1987), Stand and Deliver (1988), Spy Kids (2001), and La Misma Luna (2008). Before discussing the marketing and distribution of U.S. Latino films, it is neces- sary to illustrate the current Hollywood market structure. In the new Hollywood, large media conglomerates own Hollywood studios, television networks, cable networks, broadcasting networks, various print mediums, and websites. These conglomerates bombard diverse audiences with advertising and publicity messages by utilizing their media outlets. This strategy creates “a marketing synergy” that facilitates the branding of a motion picture. For example, Disney owned Dimension, the distributor of Spy Kids (2001). The film premiered at the Hyperion Theater at Disney’s Califor- nia Adventure (Kelleher, 2001). The film’s sneak previews were seen on Disney Channel and its radio stations aired spots for the film (Finnigan, 2001). Lastly, Di- mension managed to develop a promotional tie-in agreement with McDonald’s Happy Meals, which already had pre-existing relationship with Disney. This synergy helps to create a film’s buzz with moviegoers. When Hollywood studios develop and market blockbuster or “high concept” films, from Jaws (1975) to Shrek Forever After (2010), synergy becomes evident. Pre- existing product like a book or a theme park ride are these film’s origins, which allows them to develop a large built in audience. The major roles consist of talent with highly recognizable names. These films also have enormous production and advertising budgets, and become merchandising vehicles for a variety of products like video games 2 THE PROMOTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF U.S. LATINO FILMS or action figures. Furthermore, these films benefit from promotional tie-in agreements with enormous corporations like McDonald’s that often implement their marketing campaigns that will support the film. These numerous marketing elements constantly remind audiences when these films are premiering at theaters nationwide. In tandem, the studio’s distribution team attempts to saturate the marketplace by securing screens in the every possible theater. These theaters represent the film’s domestic box office revenue or its initial revenue stream. However, these films’ true value becomes evident in lucrative ancillary markets like foreign distribution, DVD, pay-per-view, cable and network television licensing. These secondary revenue streams eventually determine whether or not these films become a lucrative franchise or a costly failure. The issues of synergy and marketing become more complicated when applied to niche market films without the built in advantages of high concept films. Hollywood studio distributors diversify their production slates by including niche market films, because they cannot spend one hundred million dollars on producing and advertising on every single film they produce. Beginning in the 1990s, the studios developed or acquired art film divisions in order to handle the vast majority of this niche market content. These film divisions often target specific market segments based on ethnic- ity/race, sexual preference, age, or gender with motion pictures that feature storylines and talent that cater to these moviegoers. Niche market examples include Black- themed “gangsta” films (New Jack City [1991]), hip-hop films (The House Party franchise [1990, 1991, and 1994]), Black comedies (Madea Goes to Jail [2009]), teen films (I Know What You Did Last Summer [1997]), kid/pre-teen/family films (Rata- touille [2007]), gay/lesbian films (Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert [1994]), female films (Mean Girls [2004]), older adult films (Bucket List [2007]), foreign films (Slumdog Millionaire [2008]), and Spanish-language films (El Laberinto del fauna) (Pan’s Labyrinth [2006]). These niche market films serve as important vehicles for Hollywood specialty distributors because they are often low-budget projects with the potential to become profitable if marketed and circulated correctly. While the New Hollywood produces films and targets certain niche markets like African Americans successfully, U.S. Latinos films have proven to be a tricky proposi- tion for distributors. Superficially, attracting U.S. Latinos moviegoers to U.S. Latino content does not appear to be challenging. U.S. Latino films have a growing target market with disposable income. The Selig Center for Economic Growth at the Uni- versity of Georgia indicated that Latino buying power has already surpassed African American buying power and will far exceed a trillion by 2014 (Humphreys, 2009, p. 10). The U.S. Latino population is also anticipated to grow to nearly 50 million by 2010 (O’Leary, 2009). More importantly, Latinos comprise the second largest group of moviegoers among all U.S. film audiences behind only Caucasian moviegoers and Introduction 3 are worth a billion dollars to the U.S. movie industry (Wallace, 1998; Behr & Diaz, 2009). Additionally, Latinos are the nation’s most prolific movie-going demographic group and tend to watch a film within two weeks of its debut (www.mpaa.com; Behr & Diaz, 2009). Yet, recent motion pictures like The Perfect Game (2010) have not benefited from this abundant and active movie-going audience. Over the past three decades, U.S. Latino films have encountered several barriers to success. Initially, U.S. Latino films had a difficult time securing distribution deals because these films were unproven commodities. Over time, more studio and studio specialty divisions acquired and circulated more U.S. Latino films. In a highly com- petitive marketplace, U.S. Latino films have overcome huge obstacles in finding inter- ested distributors with significant prints and advertising (P&A) budgets. However, many film distributors do not understand the nuances of the U.S. Latino market and how to promote these films. For example, distributors may not have spent sufficient funds on general market campaigns for U.S. Latino movies because too much was spent on unnecessary Spanish-language media buys. This book traces the concurrent social and industrial factors within the U.S. Latino community and the larger Holly- wood marketplace. More importantly, it represents one of the first academic works to describe and analyze how distributors have promoted and released U.S. Latino films over the past three decades. U.S. Latino Film vs. “Hybrid” U.S. Latino Film This book attempts to make a distinction between a Chicano film and a U.S. Latino film. Borrowing Chon Noriega’s (1992) definition of a Chicano film loosely, this type of motion picture is created by either a Mexican-American writer, director, or producer and often features Mexican-American talent playing Mexican-American characters in leading roles (Noriega, 1992, p. xix). This definition, however, appears to be quite limited, especially when we consider that many Latinos are not from Mex- ico. They migrated to the United States from other Latin American countries like Cuba and Venezuela or U.S. Spanish-speaking Commonwealths like Puerto Rico. In order to be more inclusive of all Latin American groups, this book builds on previous definitions of a Chicano film, and defines a U.S. Latino film as having many of the following elements. The primary storyline revolves around a U.S. Latino or Latin American actor who is also playing a Latino character. 1. The feature film is in English or bilingual (English and Spanish). 2. Most of the significant supporting roles are U.S. Latino or Latin American actors who play U.S. Latino or Latin American characters. 4 THE PROMOTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF U.S. LATINO FILMS 3. The featured talent—generally the star, director, writer, and/or producer— typically have name recognition within the Latino community. 4. The film is directed, produced, or written by a U.S. Latino or Latin American. 5. The film typically takes places in a predominantly U.S. Latino locale like Califor- nia, Texas, or in Latin America (Mexico, Central American, or South America). 6. The film is often described as a “Latino film” by either the mainstream or the La- tino-oriented media. 7. The film’s marketers make a concerted effort to target U.S. Latino moviegoers by promoting these motion pictures in both mainstream and Spanish-language media. 8. The distributor circulates subtitled Spanish-language prints or Spanish dubbed prints. 9. Latino advocacy groups like Nosotros or the National Council of La Raza ac- knowledged these films in their award ceremonies. The definition above encompasses many elements that exemplify the diverse na- ture of these motion pictures and illustrates the difficulty in defining these films. A “hybrid” U.S. Latino film further complicates the description. These motion pictures include the same characteristics mentioned above, but cast an Anglo actor to co-star within the film. These Non-Latino actors often play a Latino character on screen. For example, William Hurt played Luis Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Lou Diamond Phillips was cast as Richie Valens in La Bamba (1987), and Armand Assan- te played Cesar Castillo in The Mambo Kings (1992).

Load more