The Pop Pirate

The Internet Is The Future

I've discussed before on this site how the internet is the future of movie marketing. One way studios are generating interest in a project is by setting up fan communities like The Browncoats, the fan group for Serenity or Kongisking.net, a similar site for King Kong fans which is marketing Peter Jackson's remake coming late this year.

But there is a movie that is being marketed a completely different way on the internet: Southland Tales. You've probably never heard of it. It's not even coming out until mid to late 2006. Heck, the filming hasn't even begun. But there are still a growing number of fans addicted to this movie.

Why? Mostly because of the website but we'll get to that. First of all, how does anyone find out this thing exists? The vast majority of ST junkies have found out about it researching the director's previous film: Donnie Darko. That's right, Richard Kelley, the young writer director who went from obscurity to cult stardom by making a film about time travel and a guy in a bunny suit. I, for instance, check out my favorite movies and directors consitently on IMDb, and once I saw the genre was "Comedy/Musical/Sci-Fi/Thriller" I was intrigued.

But it wasn't until I visited the official site that I was hooked. When I first went there wasn't much there, but the juxtaposition of historical and modern imagery, beautifully tied together with interactive Flash animations amazed me. It's a puzzle, and one that is continually unfolding. Every couple of weeks or so, another step is added to the adventure. It now consits of a decent size site, that links out to several other teaser sites, all of which giving just enough information to entice you to want to know more. If you go there to explore, do make sure you're clicking on everything that can be clicked: you're not done until you've read Krista Now's poetry, flown to Dockweiler Beach, or watched a very disturbing video about SUVs.

What does it all mean? Well, we don't know yet. But I know that I want to know more, and that's how this marketing is working. At the rate I'm going (and I know I'm not alone), I'll be a rabid Southland Tales fan before I ever even see a trailer. That kind of marketing is hard to come by, indeed.

posted by Jeff @ 8:37 PM