Tom H. C. Anderson - More Than Market Research

Stop-Loss Director, Kimberly Peirce and Tom H. C. Anderson discuss the Movie and Online Youth Marketing

 
Kimberly Peirce
Movie Director

As you may know I’ve been doing some comparative analysis between the four movies targeting the 18-24 year old demographic that opened last week (Stop-Loss, 21, Superhero Movie, and Run Fat Boy Run). Anderson Analytics’ research among GenX2Z has shown that Generation Y is generally not very interested in Iraq, and are likely to prefer humor/escape. Therefore I was impressed by the results of the online viral marketing campaign for the movie Stop-Loss, especially on Facebook.com.

Below is a summary of a discussion with Stop-Loss Movie Director Kimberly Pierce. Kimberly who has also directed Boys Don’t Cry has taken an active part in promoting the Stop-Loss movie.

Tom H. C. Anderson - In regard to the movie, why Stop-Loss specifically rather than Anti-War say?

Kimberly Peirce — As Ive said before in lots in interviews — I started with a deep curiosity about the soldiers - interviewing them and their families- finding out why they signed up, what their experience in combat and upon coming home was -

While many were deeply affected by combat and many did not want to go back, I did not find that most of them were suddenly “anti-war,” “anti-all wars” or “anti-this war.” Many were mulling it over.

What I did find was that many signed up after 911 for patriotic reasons, to defend their family, their country and their home and upon entering combat discovered what most soldiers of most wars (ive spoken to WWII and Vietnam vets who affirm this) will tell you, its not about why you signed up, its about comaraderie and survival, keeping the soldier to your left and right alive bringing your fellow soldiers home –

SO when they find protecting their fellow soldiers difficult to do (as it can be in urban combat) coupled with not knowing for sure that risking their lives and their soldiers lives is in fact making America safer thats when you start to see them questioning whether they should be there.

Most soldiers I interviewed said that though they didn’t want to go back to this conflict, if America was in trouble they would go back to protect their country,, their home and their family.

In Regard to STOP LOSS

We were writing the stories of these comrades when a patriotic soldier on active duty told me about STOP LOSS -

he was pissed because it was happening to his best friend with whom he had done combat in Iraq with –

HE called it a “backdoor draft, “he said it was “recycling the soldiers who had already done their time and should be getting out” - he was PISSED because he thought it put his comrade in harms way, could cost him his life and would certainly mean the end of his marriage.

IF WE JUST FOLLOWED THE CHARACTERS everything fell into place - if we had tried to make a polemic, a movie about WAR, whether it was right nor not, we would have lost the characters and the story and what interested and moved me most

THE SOLDIERS - and how they were experiencing this.

STOP LOSS heightened everything the soldiers and their families were going through.

So it wasn’t a movie about War or about Stop Loss it was a movie about these people who were in War and coming home and getting stop lossed

Tom H. C. Anderson: — Have you thought about, getting more extreme is one angle (create controversy). With SNS I think the key is to get deeper relationships with fewer people and get them to pull the message out to their friends rather than you pushing it out. What if the Stop-Loss fan page tried to organize an Anti War rally. Just throwing it out as an example. Wonder if there are campus groups you could somehow work with perhaps tie in with the election and the interest around Obama with this demo?

Kimberly Peirce - -I dont see how we get “extreme.”

I agree about getting deeper relationships — that takes time and interaction which I am trying to do now that I have some more time.

Tom H. C. Anderson – Did you know how apathetic youth were about political issues especially the war before you made this movie?

Kimberly Peirce I haven’t found the youth apathetic. I have found them ENGAGED when we get through to them.

I am not surprised or discouraged that they go to the movies they go to - that they want light entertainment a lot of the time, fine.

i think it’s a misanalysis to say that America wants the light entertainment and DOESN’T WANT drama. That isn’t what’s happening. Dramas just require more attention.

When we get the youth into our theater which we are doing, they stay for my Q/A’s, they talk, they ask questions, they pour their heart out - they engage, they say thank you, they say they like the experience of being engaged emotionally, of being entertained by something that is HAPPENING RIGHT NOW that reflects their generation - they say they love the movie, they post on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK - I don’t think thats apathetic.

Tom H. C. Anderson — In marketing Stop-Loss, did you get push back in terms of not making it too anti-war? It seems that the message about this being an anti stop-loss movie rather than anti war movie has been received by some, yet it’s obviously somewhat anti-war. Was it purposely spun more as anti-stop-loss than anti war? If so why? Do you feel it should have been marketed more as anti-war in retrospect?

Kimberly Peirce - Its not an anti-stop loss movie. Its a pro-soldier movie - its all about the soldiers and seeing it from their and their family’s POV - understanding their value system, what they are fighting for.

One soldier in the movie doesn’t want to be STOP LOSSED and fights against it because he feels he’s done his time and wants to get out and on with his life.

The other soldier is indifferent to STOP LOSS because he re-enlists because he finds he is better suited to returning to war than to getting out

Tom H. C. Anderson-In regard to the efforts on Facebook and MySpace, any idea of which efforts were more worthwhile so far?

Kimberly Peirce - I have enjoyed building communities on both FACEBOOK and MYSPACE and have been fascinated by the different audiences and the differing types of comments - I would like to know more about the difference — regardless of which one provided more box office would have done build both communities - I love intreracting with the audience s- thats what directors do - FRANK CAPRA used to tape record his audience and listen to them to cut his movies - its quite a love affair with them - BUT I would love to know which one did send more people into the theater.

Tom H. C. Anderson – How about application you have on Facebook, sending the flag. Did that work as well as you had hoped? How would you have done it differently? Also, What else have you learned about SNS/Web 2.0 Marketing since you began this campaign?

Kimberly Peirce — I think we could have used the flag better — Ive wanted to write a post on where the flag came from - why its backwards — - its such a great history to it - Ive just been so busy doing everything else - its sitting in my draft box - And I would have loved to have come up with something that connected better - this was all new to me _ i think i started on facebook in August 07 — so I was pretty excited that there was even this capability at all and learning it as we went. And so excited by the prospects for artists like myself to connect directly to their audiences to be interactive.

Tom H. C. Anderson - I think you did a great job in creating and allowing discussion on the Facebook site. I think perhaps a more formal discussion board would have done better though. Did you consider this? Whose idea was it that you participate in the discussion? How much time does it take?

Kimberly Peirce - Thank you . I agree a more formal discussion board could have been good - I knew we needed to make it more accessible but I didn’t know enough about how it could be done to advise on that

It was my idea to give cameras to soldiers and have people write in - that echoed the way I research - it must have been my idea to participate (I think) maybe someone else suggested it — it just made so much sense since I do the Q/A’s and the press and publicity plus I have fun with the audience and I learn about the mocie and my work from them

In terms of how much time it takes — A TON. Seriously. I like to read all the incoming comments on all the sites just so I know what he pulse is - in the beginning when traffic was less I tried to answer every comment, that became impossible, so then I started grouping them - I’d see a bunch of people talking about something and I’d try to respond to that. I wish I could answer them all. It was hilarious on the tour, we’d be working on it on airplanes, at airports, in hotel rooms, we’d jump on the internet.

re the formal discussion board - again I was new to this so I dove in - at one point my good friend OMEN of SKEOO advertising gave the site a facelift - if Id’ had more experience I would have been able to be innovative in response to what I was discovering from my audience AS we were doing it, but as I was doing it for the first time, travelling the country to 24 cities, doing tons of press and publicity and opening the movie, even keeping up with posting became a luxury, but I sustained it - what id do next time is see for myself what worked best on sites so I could be responding to my audience and innovating to better serve them and stimulate the community as we went - I have friends who have made cool interactive sites - I just didn’t know anyone who had done it for movies - everyone says what we did is unique, which is cool, maybe now that I have a bit more time since the rush of publicity is over I can give the site what it needs - open to suggestions

Trailer: