Cinema Canada (Jun 1983)

oa Ne MAG °°» » 3 Larger than life story matched by lavish Canadian promotion TORONTO On May 27, the Astral Films 20th Century-Fox joint release of the Robert Cooper Production The Terry Fox Story opened in over 130 theatres across Canada, the largest-ever opening of a Canadianmade film. It also received perhaps the largest-ever publicity campaign for a Canadian feature, co-ordinated out of Toronto by Fox director of publicity Andre Beauregard and Astral's Shelley Schaeffer. “Everything has to be created here -— press kit, art work, poster, programs, buttons, T-shirts,” said Beauregard. Added Schaeffer: “This (campaign) is strictly for Canada. No material is coming up from the U.S. as with a studio film.” The film has been licensed to American pay-TV channel Home Box Office and will not be released theatrically in the U.S. so the campaign has been an opportunity to design all aspects of the film’s promotion to the particulars of the Canadian market. The partnership proves mutually beneficial to both distributors, explained Schaeffer. “Astral has benefited from Fox's Canada-wide release pattern and Fox has benefitted from Montreal: Astral’s experience of handling a film on a local level.” Over 5000 posters, 2000 press releases, and 600 press kits were sent out across the country before the film's release. All the material was developed and produced after the Astral/Fox joint distribution deal was signed Mar. 30, which made time a factor in the campaign. Directed by Ralph Thomas, the film stars Eric Fryer as Terry Fox, Robert Duvall, Chris Makepeace, Rosalind Chao, Michael Zelnicker, Elva Mai Hoover, and Frank Adamson. Fryer, Makepeace, Zelnicker, and Thomas all made personal appearances and did _ inter views to promote the film. Fryer, who made his acting debut in the film, did a promotional tour of Western Canada co-ordinated by Fox's Heather Macgillivray, stopping in four cities — Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg — in five days. The Vancouver stop included over 25 interviews. Fryer also did a U.S. tour for HBO to Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit. Personal appearances and interviews also took place in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and KODAK MOTION PICTURE FILM STOCKS Stocks of 16mm and 35mm camera original motion picture film stocks are maintained at each of these Kodak Canada branches. Telephone your order first. Cash, MasterCard or Visa accepted. 2 Place du Commerce, Ile des Soeurs Tel: (514) 761-3481 Hours: Mon. to Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Consumer Centre, 3500 Eglinton Ave. W. at Weston Road, Tel: (416) 766-8233 Hours: Mon. to Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Don Mills Office, 1400 Don Mills Rd. Tel: (416) 445-924] Hours: Mon. to Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Toronto: Vancouver: Processing pabocasiy 1225 East Keith Roa North Vancouver Tel: (604) 987-819] Hours: Mon. to Fri., 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Bringing imagination and technology into focus. Windsor. Telephone interviews were conducted for Regina, Saskatoon, and Kitchener. The campaign received an assist from Robert Duvall, who agreed to do some Fox Story interviews in New York and at the Cannes Film Festival while promoting his own film Angelo My Love. Television promotion has included a package of seven sceneclips sent to TV stations instead of the usual 1 or 2, all of which were compiled by the publicists. Also, CTV broadcast the Jillcy Prod. documentary The Making of the Terry Fox Story to a national Sunday night primetime audience May 22. The Bank of Montreal is participating in the campaign as the film’s corporate sponsor, having contributed a grant to promote the film. By May 27, posters, countercards, handbills, and buttons promoting the film were to be in every B. of M. branch across the country. Two $100-a-ticket Galas, May 25 in Toronto and May 26 in Vancouver, were sponsored by the bank, with proceeds going to C Channel short term TORONTO — An 80-hour “survivathon” has brought financially troubled C Channel 5000 new subscribers and fresh sources of funds, but unless a capital infusion of $3.5 million comes soon, that future will only be short-term. Organized in 24 hours, the survivathon was produced by Jaime Paul Rock and Nancy Avery. Telecast out of C Channel’s Toronto headquarters May 12-15 and carried unscrambled by the cable companies, the survivathon featured programming samples and pleas for subscribers by executives and personalities. At the Canadian Cable Television Convention which began May 16 in Calgary, C Channel president Ed Cowan announced that the national special-interest pay licensee was looking for new investors to achieve new financing arrangements and to relaunch the service in September with a new marketing strategy. Because of the financial situation C Channel's production commitments are on hold. The uncertain situation has caused it to lose one high-profile Canadian content production, the half-hour Leonard Cohen special [Am A Hotel which was licenced to the CBC after a lastminute deal. J Am A Hotel, for which C Channel was originally an equity participant, began taping as scheduled May 17 at Toronto's King Edward Hotel. A two-hour concert documentary of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Vienna, will be telecast June 6, as the Canadian Cancer Society. Twenty-five premieres were held across Canada May 26, according to Beauregard, including French and English premieres in both Montreal and Quebec City. Many were for charity. The Fox/Astral campaign also developed a School Study Guide based on the story of Terry Fox, which was sent to 6000 schools across Canada. Included was information on special screenings for school groups. Test screenings, often part of Fox’s marketing and promotional strategy, were held for industry members, the media, and the public. Beauregard estimates there were close to 100 screenings before the May 27 release. “There's sucha thing as overkill (with screenings), but not in this case,” says Schaeffer. “With a subject like this, people are possibly hesitant at first. There is no better way to show them what it’s about than with the movie.” Press screenings were not limited to the trade press in order to give the film a broader profile. Toronto Sun _ sportswriter John Robertson, after screening the film, wrote a glowing column in the sports pages the next day. His article was incorporated into the campaign as part of 20 theatrelobby standees set up in Toronto-area Famous Players Theatres May 20. The tone of the large campaign from the beginning has been restrained. “Emphasis has been on selling a commercial product, a movie, not on selling the real Terry Fox” said Schaeffer, The publicists turned down all offers by local entrepreneurs to peddle Terry Fox T-shirts and other souvenirs, and the campaign’s own T-shirt design understates both the film and the Marathon of Hope legacy. “We never tried to do any promotion toresemble the real Terry Fox,” said Beauregard. “We used material from the film, not from Terry Fox's life. We have been really careful in our promotion not to exploit the real Terry Fox.” Fox/Astral ready for Porky's Il TORONTO — Porky’s II: The Next Day, the sequel to the biggest money-making picture in Canadian film industry history, Porky’s (which earned $11 million in Canada, $152 million worldwide in 1982), will open nationally June 24, distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film is being billed as “a 20th Century-Fox release of a Simon/Reeves/Landsburg Production and Astral Bellevue Pathe Inc, presentation.” The producers are Bob Clark, the originator of Porky’s (who also directs and co-wrote the script), and Don Carmody. The original Porky’s was co-produced by Harold Greenberg of Astral Prod. and Mel Simon, and was a joint release of Astral Films and Twentieth Century-Fox. Returning cast members iInclude Dan Monahan, Kaki Hunter, Wyatt Knight, Cyril O'Reilly, Roger Wilson, Tony Ganios, Mark Herrier, Scott Colomby, and Nancy Parsons. Newcomers include Joseph Running Fox, Bill Wiley, Cisse Cameron, and Ed Winter. PRODUCERS AMERICAN CINEMA MARKETING DISTRIBUTES FEATURE FILMS TO THE U.S. MILITARY anD GOVERNMENT MOTION PICTURE CIRCUITS. PRODUCERS EARN LARGE ROYALTIES FROM THIS ANCILLARY MARKET. CONTACT US AND WE'LL GET YOUR FILMS SHOWN. AMERICAN CINEMA MARKETING A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION IN CANADA CONTACT — JACK F. MURPHY MONTREAL (51 4) 487-1447 10/Cinema Canada June 1983