Tag: searchlight pictures

not okay – marketing recap

How Searchlight Pictures is selling a dark comedy of influencers and influence

Not Okay movie poster from Searchlight Pictures
Not Okay movie poster from Searchlight Pictures

Zoey Deutch plays Danni Sanders in Not Okay, arriving on Hulu this weekend from Searchlight Pictures. Sanders is an aspiring social media influencer on a trip to Paris to break out of her creative rut and attract some new followers with fresh content. Fate helps her out when a terrorist attack in the city results in her being mistaken for one of the attack’s survivors, a status that’s untrue but which helps bring her attention. But the truth is the trip was faked and the truth is hanging out there, waiting to come to light and tear down Sanders’ newfound fame.

Written and directed by Quinn Shephard, the movie costars Dylan O’Brien as Colin, the man Sanders has a crush on and Mia Isaac as Rowan, the actual survivor of a school shooting Sanders encounters in her new role as advocate for peace and love.

With all that in mind, let’s look at the campaign.

announcements and casting

The movie was announced in June, 2021 with Searchlight producing, Shephard writing/directing and Deutch starring. The rest of the cast joined over the next couple months as filming began.

During production there was already a decent marketing effort underway on social media, especially TikTok, where videos were being posted showing Deutch and the rest of the cast engaging in hijinks and having fun behind the scenes. The studio was also posting behind the scenes photos, memes about influencers and more on Twitter and elsewhere.

Not all of that is directly tied to the movie, some of it is just tangentially related to themes of the story or characters. But the goal here was to create share-worthy content that’s in-line with the influencer culture of that story that fans could relate to and begin to build some buzz about.

the marketing campaign

The official campaign finally kicked off in early March with the release of a first look photo along with an interview with Shephard talking about how she worked with the film’s costume designers and stylists to mine TikTok and other social media platforms for the kinds of trendy fashions Sanders and the other characters might wear.

At the end of April the movie’s release date was moved up a week from early August to the end of July.

The teaser trailer (3.5m YouTube views) that came out at the end of June opens with a warning about how it contains an “unlikable female protagonist”, which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say until you realize it really isn’t. From there we see the consequences of Sanders’ actions before we see the actions themselves, all of which are highly questionable but which, she explains, are taken because she’s desperate to be noticed.

More memes and other trendy content was posted on social media following that, with the team jumping on each new format that popped up online.

Isaac was profiled about this and other new movies she’s in that are coming out soon. Another profile came out a little bit later that covered similar ground.

Shephard was also interviewed about casting Deutch, taking on some of the worst aspects of the extremely online culture and more. A similar interview with O’Brien had him talking about how he got involved, the limited research into the social media world he did and working with Deutch again.

The poster was released in mid-July showing Sanders in anguish, the French flag painted on her eyelid and colorful tears coming down her face.

At the same time the full trailer (1.9m YouTube views) came out. We see that Sanders is pursuing online fame in part to make up for the fact her personal and professional lives are somewhat disappointing. So she tells everyone she’s going to Paris to help her writing career and proceeds to Photoshop enough evidence to make it look like that’s what happened. When the places she’s pretending to visit are bombed, pretending to have survived the attacks is easier than telling the truth. Fame follows, but it comes with the promise/threat that things can turn bad at any moment, which they inevitably do.

Both Deutch and Shephard appeared for a Q&A following a screening of the film at the Future of Film is Female.

Two clips came out just before release, one showing Sanders trying to get writing advice from Rowan and another showing Sanders explaining her fake trip to her mother.

A pop-up event in New York City that promised some surprises along with free goodies and treats from a handful of sponsors was announced at this point and said to run throughout the weekend.

The studio put together a bunch of Spotify playlists themed to each of the major characters.

overall

Satires taking aim at social media and the lengths people will go to for online stardom aren’t exactly new, with several coming out in the last few years. But most of those focus on the lengths themselves and how outrageous they are.

The campaign here shows Not Okay may be slightly different in how it deals with the repercussions of those actions. It seems to be more about the price Sanders pays for what turns out to be a fleeting celebrity than just the wacky hijinks involved in pulling off her scam.

Of course we could ask the question of what the difference between “scam” and “hustle” is, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole.

Deutch is a consistently enjoyable actor and the campaign shows the role asks her to pull from her entire range, from energetic and funny to alone and tragic. It seems like she hasn’t quite had a breakout role to date, but this could be that.

good luck to you, leo grande – marketing recap

How Searchlight has sold a story of discovering yourself

Good Luck To You Leo Grande movie poster from Searchlight Pictures
Good Luck To You Leo Grande movie poster from Searchlight Pictures

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, written by Katy Brand and directed by Sophie Hyde, stars Emma Thompon as Nancy Stokes, a recently widowed woman who is seeking to explore life after what turned out to be a lifeless, boring marriage. To that end, she acquires the services of a sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) to do all the things she heard about but was never able to experience with her husband.

The movie is in theaters this weekend from Searchlight Pictures and has an impressive 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so let’s take a look at how it’s been sold.

announcements and casting

News of Thompson’s involvement with the project came in late 2020, with McCormick cast in the title role in early 2021, just before filming began.

First look stills came out in late May 2021.

It then was among the movies that screened at the 2022 Sundance International Film Festival.

Thompson, McCormack and Hyde were among those interviewed during Sundance about how they got involved with the project or what it was like to sign on such well-respected actors. Hyde also spoke more about handling post-production during the pandemic lockdowns.

Searchlight Pictures picked up the movie following that Sundance premiere. It then screened at Berlin where Thompson was again interviewed about the physical nature of her role and more.

the marketing campaign

Things finally got underway in mid-May with the release of the trailer (2.8m YouTube views). As it begins Nancy is greeting Leo and explaining to him all the things she’d like him to do with/to her in their time together. While there is some sex shown, what is clear is that the story has much more to do with Nancy letting go of a lifetime of inhibitions and negative thoughts with Leo’s help. It’s much more about intimacy and comfort than it is about orgasms.

At the same time the movie’s poster came out showing Nancy and Leo sitting on the floor at the end of a hotel bed, both in a state of mild undress. The slightly befuddled looks on their faces make it look like a slightly more broad comedy than the trailer, but that’s a small quibble. A couple positive quotes from festival reviews are at the top while the film’s release date is at the bottom.

The first clip that came out in early June offers an expanded look at Nancy going down her list of things to take care of with Leo.

TV commercials like this started running around the same time, with messages about how the movie is body- and sex-positive, featuring wonderful performances from both leads.

The cast and crew reassembled for a screening and Q&A at Sundance London a week or so before the movie was set to come out.

McCormick was interviewed about the process of auditioning for and getting the role as well as how he and Thompson worked to become comfortable with each other over the course of production. An interview with Thompson had her talking about getting naked in front of the camera and her experience with being offered “sexy” roles over the years.

overall

Acknowledging that everyone’s mileage will vary, I’m on board for anything Emma Thompson has done since Dead Again, so the campaign doesn’t need to work that hard to get my attention. And that’s not because of the sexual nature of the story, it’s just because Thompson is an acting marvel.

Emma Thompson Dancing GIF by Searchlight Pictures - Find & Share on GIPHY

But the campaign is still pretty good, emphasizing its sex-positive nature without feeling like it’s making a big deal about putting a 60+ year old woman in the lead, just letting Thompson own the screen as she is wont to do. And McCormick gets plenty of attention in a performance that’s garnered positive buzz and could take his career to a new level.

the french dispatch – marketing recap

How Searchlight Pictures has sold a symmetrical literary movie from a symmetrical literary filmmaker.

The French Dispatch poster

There’s been a startling – and disappointing – lack of hot takes about how The French Dispatch is opening the same weekend as Dune means a showdown between two filmmakers who, unlike many assigned that title by studio marketing departments, can truly be called visionary. Dune’s Denis Villeneuve creates stark, massively scaled backdrops for the characters to perform within, while Wes Anderson is known for creating detailed, symmetrical dollhouse rooms that are just as quirky and slightly dingy as the characters inhabiting them.

(Both of those movies also star Timothée Chalamet, which in and of itself is…wow…)

Anderson’s films have always carried highly literary themes. Playwrights abound in his films and characters are always journaling, sending cables or handwritten letters or writing books about their experiences. Now he brings those themes to the fore with what’s been described by him and others as “a love letter” to journalists and magazine writers.

At the center of the story is The French Dispatch, a magazine modeled after The New Yorker. Edited by Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), the periodical has a number of writers, illustrators, photographers and writers, each of whom are followed in their own sub-stories. Playing those contributors are Anderson regulars like Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Angelica Huston, Edward Norton and others, with Elisabeth Moss, Léa Seydoux, Timothée Chalamet and others joining in the highly-stylized hijinks as well.

announcements and casting

Initial news about the movie came in mid-2018, with initial reports saying Anderson was developing a musical comedy set in France. The casting of Tilda Swinton and Mathieu Amalric was announced at that time with most of the rest of the principle cast joining in the last months of 2018.

Plot details were revealed in September 2019 at the same time Fox Searchlight announced it had acquired the film. A few months later in January 2020 a release date in July of that year was announced.

the first try at marketing

In February 2020 the first set of exclusive photos debuted in, of all places, The New Yorker.

The poster released at that time is so on-brand for an Anderson film it hurts a little. Illustrated by Spanish artist Javi Aznarez (whose work is seen in the movie as well), it displays the offices of the titular magazine as quirky drawings, the faux French city it’s based in seen in the background. Each of the top-billed cast is shown and named here.

The first trailer (5.5m YouTube views) came out at that time as well. It starts by introducing us to Arthur Howitzer Jr. and his publication, The French Dispatch, intended to share stories of interest about politics, culture and more. After briefly meeting some of the people who work at the Dispatch the trailer shifts to showing us the three stories being covered by the magazine and which the movie will follow. What’s shown is an assortment of dry wit, colorful quirkiness and odd characterizations that are part and parcel in Anderson’s work and therefore immediately attractive to anyone who’s a fan of the filmmaker’s.

While reports abounded that the movie would premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival that wound up not happening because the festival itself didn’t happen save for a scaled-back virtual event.

Cinematographer Robert Yeoman was interviewed about the books and movies Anderson put together as a reference library for the cast and crew to use.

There was a feature profile of Chalamet in October 2020 that covered the actor’s role in this film as well as his rise to stardom over the last few years, including comments from Anderson.

At this point Disney/Searchlight pulled the movie from its release schedule for the time being while the pandemic continued to cause uncertainty and delays across the board.

a second attempt at marketing

Things picked back up in May of this year when a new release date was announced along with the news it had been selected to screen at both the Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Festival

Details on the film’s soundtracks, always a highlight of Anderson’s work, were released in early June.

During the Cannes press cycle, which included the cast arriving to the screening in a party bus, Wilson was interviewed about his decades-long collaboration with Anderson and how original he feels this latest movie is. That cycle also produced a much-circulated meme using a photo of Anderson and the three primary leads.

A clip was released at the same time showing Zeffirelli soliciting feedback on his manifesto.

Costar Henry Winkler, a newcomer to the Anderson troupe, spoke about the movie on “Late Night” in July.

In early August Searchlight revealed fans could sign up to receive an actual issue of the titular newsletter, with a video promoting the newsletter released showing the cast flipping through it and reacting to its contents.

August also brought a new poster, this one showing the massive cast assembled via obviously cut-out photos pasted together into a collage.

A number of short videos came out around that time that each focused on stories for the paper being filed by the various reporters and writers. There were videos from Sazerac, Berensen, Krementz and Wright.

Anderson begins a featurette by explaining just exactly what the movie is and what format it takes. Murray, Wilson and others from the cast also appear to introduce their characters and offer insights into what those characters add to the story.

The producers and production designers were profiled here about how they went about creating that signature Anderson look of symmetry and scale.

A set of character posters all featured those characters standing or sitting in a pose that hints at who they are and what they do, with the design background helping to communicate their actual background.

An Anderson-directed video for “Aline” came out toward the end of September to keep things going and hint at what the rest of the soundtrack would sound like.

New York’s MoMA held a screening of all 10 of Anderson’s films, including this one, over 10 consecutive nights at the beginning of October.

How the set designers, costumers and others created the world of the movie was covered in this profile of the technical aspects of production.

Murray and others appeared at the BFI London Film Fest screening of the movie earlier this month. The same kind of pop-up cafe experience was also staged in London around this time. The film also screened at the Chicago International Film Festival.

A featurette that focused on the eclectic and impressive cast was released last week. Another had that cast talking about bonding on set and how Anderson creates a family-like atmosphere during filming.

TV spots like this finally started running just days before the film’s release, selling little about the story but instead communicating both the cast and the very Anderson-like tone and look.

Also in New York City, Searchlight launched another pop-up cafe experience where visitors could come by and immerse themselves in a small bit of the film’s world.

overall

If a Wes Anderson movie campaign communicates that it’s for a Wes Anderson movie and contains all the necessary elements – dry line delivery, balanced imagery, clever illustrations, unique use of aspect ratios etc – then it can objectively be considered successful. After all, this is not going to bring in many converts. Instead it’s meant to speak primarily to Anderson die-hards who are already on board with the director’s style.

Wes Anderson Applause GIF by Searchlight Pictures - Find & Share on GIPHY

Nomadland – Marketing Recap

How Searchlight has sold one of this year’s buzziest dramas.

(Note: This was originally published on 11/30/20, which was the release date most widely cited. It has since come out that Searchlight is giving the film a coordinated theatrical/Hulu release on 2/19/21, preceded by a limited IMAX distribution schedule, so the piece below has been updated as such.)

Frances McDormand stars as Fern in Nomadland, the new movie from writer/director Chloé Zhao. The movie, based on the book of the same name by Jessica Bruder, follows Fern in the wake of losing everything in the 2008 financial collapse. With nothing holding her down or back, Fern begins living out of her van, becoming one of the many nomads driving across the country engaging in piecemeal work and forming a supportive community of their own.

The story, while set a decade or more in the past, is still unfortunately timely. PBS Newshour recently reported on the older Americans who have done something similar because of the coronavirus pandemic. So this is still relevant, because capitalism still throws out the most vulnerable first.

Searchlight’s campaign has been relatively minor, relying mostly on the buzz the film built up at festival screenings. Those positive reviews have earned the film an exemplary 97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Posters

Set against an all-white background, the first poster (released in mid-August) features the movie’s title spelled out in segments of different state license plates, a nice way to communicate the wandering nature of the story and its characters. Aside from that there isn’t much information, just McDormand and Zhao’s names along with the credentials of the festivals the movie screened at.

A motion poster came out in mid-January

The Trailers

A teaser trailer (2.9 million views on YouTube) was released in early September just before its festival screenings. It doesn’t show much, just Frances walking through a camp on an evening walk, the trailers and tents of others in the background.

The second trailer (2.7 million views on YouTube), which came out in mid-December, does a much more complete job of introducing Fern and her situation, which includes living out of her van and traveling across the country. She takes what local work she can get, helps others like her and makes do. It’s a restless life, but one she enjoys and is rewarded by, so there’s little room for others to complain about her choices. Most of all, this is presented as a great showcase for McDormand.

Another trailer came out in February that hit many of the same story notes.

Online and Social

Not much beyond the basic marketing information on Searchlight’s page for the film, nor on the social profiles the studio setup, which has primarily been focused on touting the festival awards the movie has earned. More promotions and other updates were shared on the movie’s Twitter profile and other social media sites.

Advertising and Promotions

Fox Searchlight acquired the movie after it debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

In July 2020, dual announcements came out with the news it would screen at both the Venice and Toronto film festivals, winning the Golden Lion at the former and the People’s Choice Award for McDormand at the latter. It was also scheduled for the Telluride, with Zhao receiving a Silver Medallion Award at the latter, and New York film festivals, all of which resulted in a wave of positive word of mouth and buzz about awards potential, especially for McDormand. It also was slated to open the Montclair Film Festival and screen at the Middleburg Film Festival.

Searchlight released a short featurette showing some of the highlights of the Telluride drive-in screening, held at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles and with McDormand and Zhao in attendance. In early October the movie was named as the opening feature for the Denver Film Festival. At the Montclair Film Festival the movie won the audience award for a feature film.

MoMA announced the film would serve as the closing feature at this year’s virtual contenders showcase.

Another featurette on the story and characters was released in late January with a second coming out in February focusing on how the kinds of people depicted in the film are a kind of pioneer.

A clip showed Fern out for a morning walk and getting ready for the day ahead. Another shows her dealing with a mechanic working on her van.

Media and Press

In advance of those festival screenings, a profile of Zhao about how she approached this project as well as what else she had coming up. Another interview with the director later on covered her filmmaking techniques and how she has a tendency to leap before she looks.

As festival season was getting underway there were a number of additional interviews with McDormand where she talked about her character, the story and more.

Cinematographer Joshua James Richards was interviewed here about capturing the film’s naturalistic look and more. Zhao also spoke about how the story came together in the editing.

There was finally an interview with Strathairn, who didn’t make it into much of the marketing.

THR had a substantial feature on how McDormand and Zhao collaborated on the story and worked to create a sense of authenticity about the culture being portrayed.

Overall

Throughout the life of the discourse around the movie it’s remained conventional wisdom that it would be among those seriously competing for Oscar and other award consideration when that season rolls around early next year. Searchlight has steadfastly stuck with a fall theatrical release for precisely this reason, despite so many other films being delayed or going to PVOD/streaming.

What’s surprising then is that the studio didn’t make a bigger deal of this week’s theatrical debut for the movie. There’s just the one teaser trailer that doesn’t offer much in terms of the story or characters, and the single poster isn’t much more informative. With a star like McDormand and Searchlight trying to follow the established book as closely as possible, a bigger campaign would have been expected, even if it was narrowly targeted at the film festival crowd and their ilk.

The Personal History of David Copperfield – Marketing Recap

How Searchlight is selling an unconventional take on a classic story.

(Note: Yes, this movie came out last week, but it got missed and I didn’t want to abandon it completely. Anyway, here we are.)

The Personal History of David Copperfield is based on exactly the Charles Dickens book you think it is, but writer Simon Blackwell and director Armando Iannucci have something unusual in store for audiences. While the story follows most of the same beats as the book, the casting and presentation of that story are somewhat unusual.

The core of that is the casting. Dev Patel plays Copperfield, whose life is followed from youth to adulthood. In that time we see him grow and move away from home, lose his mother, move in with his aunt and ultimately achieve his dream of becoming a writer and part of society. Starring alongside Patel are Tilda Swinton, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie, Benedict Wong, Nikki Amuka-Bird and a host of others.

With that cast providing the film a substantial pedigree, the campaign has promised audiences a fun bit of fresh air, a new take on an old story with a fizzy, eclectic energy.

The Posters

Copperfield himself looks out at the camera on the first poster (by marketing agency Creative Partnership) from early October. The gist of the story is shared in the copy “From rags to riches…and back again.” while the floating pieces of paper with drawings on them communicate some of the supporting characters and story points audiences will encounter.

A second poster (by marketing agency Concept Arts) came out in February. This one takes a visual approach that’s akin to some of the posters for Terry Gilliam movies, showing a veritable funhouse of elements, from Copperfield in the background behind the curtains to the supporting characters arranged around him. It shows off the inclusive cast, giving the impression of being a stage play of sorts, which works in the context of the film being sold.

The Trailers

Copperfield is leading the audience at a lecture through his childhood history as the first trailer (3.2 million views on YouTube), released in February, begins. He falls in with Mr. Micawber, who helps David learn how to survive on the streets of London. Years later after his mother dies he seeks out the only family he has left, starting a cycle of ups and downs throughout his life mixed with adventure and romance. Iannucci’s sense of humor is on display throughout the trailer, which shows a story that mixes straight ahead retellings of Copperfield’s journey with fantastic elements and more.

Online and Social

Not much beyond the basic collection of the trailer, a poster and a story synopsis on Searchlight Pictures’ page for the film.

Advertising and Publicity

In mid-July it was announced the movie would open this year’s London Film Festival. A few weeks later it was slated for the “Special Presentations” section of the Toronto Film Festival.

Searchlight acquired the movie in mid-August before those festival screenings. Buzz out of Toronto was surprisingly mixed, though most reviews praised Patel’s performance and other aspects of the film. A release date was finally announced in late October, shortly after the movie received 11 BAFTA nominations, including for Patel, Swinton and Laurie.

Searchlight pulled the movie from its release schedule in mid-March in response to the Covid-19 outbreak that was closing theaters and more. It was later rescheduled for August.

The first clip came out in late July showing Copperfield flirting awkwardly, setting a nice tone for the movie and the rest of the campaign. Another has him helping his mentor literally and physically release the thoughts he’s been troubled by while a third has Copperfield finding out the home he’s about to enter is not one that welcomes donkeys.

An exclusive featurette given to AMC has the cast and director talking about the joy of Dickens’ work and the wonderful experience of working on the project. Another featurette from Searchlight covers similar ground, with behind-the-scenes footage mixed in to show the cast at work. A bit more background on the period the story is set in and how the team recreated that in their own way is covered in a third.

Media and Press

As production began Iannucci talked briefly about how he was taking a colorblind approach to casting the movie, not worrying about how the period would have been almost exclusively white. That topic was soundly dismissed by Laurie in an interview that took place during Toronto. How the film was cast without worrying about ethnicity was the subject of another interview with Patel.

Additional profiles of Patel covered how he wasn’t a huge fan of Dickens’ original before beginning production and how he got involved with the project while further interviews with Iannucci had him putting this film in the context of his other films and shows.

Overall

What a fresh, breezy campaign Searchlight mounted here. It’s enough to make one wish the movie were coming out at a time when a bigger percentage of the audience was able to make it to theaters in order to see it. Though of course if this were a normal year for movies (or anything else, really) it likely would have been swallowed up in the hype cycle for one of the big genre entries.

While the lack of story details in the campaign is usually a negative, here it doesn’t really matter at all. What’s being sold is a charming little jaunt with a pulsating energy, not a detailed character journey. In that respect it works by putting the story on the backburner and allowing the vibe of the film – propelled by the cast, script and direction – to come through. Even those who may not be willing or able to see it in theaters will likely mark it as one to see at a later date.

Picking Up The Spare

Another featurettte was released that looked at the romantic elements of the movie’s story. 

Downhill – Marketing Recap

How Searchlight is selling a romantic comedy remake about what happens when disaster strikes.

downhill posterThe 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure was critically acclaimed when it came out, praised for its depiction of how a single event brings into sharp relief what someone’s priorities are.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell star in Downhill, a remake/homage of that film, opening this week. The two play Billie (Louis-Dreyfus) and Pete (Ferrell), a husband and wife who take their two kids on a ski vacation to the Alps. Everything is going fine until an avalanche comes careening toward the resort they’re staying at. In response, Pete runs away, completely abandoning his family. Everyone is fine, but Pete’s actions have repercussions, understandably angering Billie and casting a pall over the rest of the trip.

Like the original, the new version – directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash – is a mix of drama and comedy, but Searchlight’s campaign emphasizing the latter, an approach that makes sense given who the leads are.

The Posters

Just one poster (by marketing agency Eclipse) has been released, coming out in January. It communicates the setting and premise pretty well, showing Billie and Pete clad in ski gear at the top of a mountain, pointedly looking away from each other. The pose highlights the tension between the two that will permeate the story, a feeling emphasized by the copy at the top reading “A different kind of disaster movie.” That copy might be a tad cloy, but it attempts to explain that the audience shouldn’t expect a desperate struggle to survive under hundreds of tons of snow but something else tied to their relationship.

The Trailers

Late December brought the first trailer (4.3 million views on YouTube), which starts off by showing an awkward but loving family on vacation as part of an effort to spend more time together. When an avalanche hits the ski resort they’re staying at, Keith clearly abandons the others, which leads to problems between him and Billie, especially since he won’t admit what he’s done. The humor and drama of the movie, then, come from how the two of them deal with the fallout from what he’s done.

Online and Social

Pretty standard stuff on the movie’s official website. The “Cast” and “Filmmakers” sections have those involved offering a brief comment on the story or setting, which is somewhat interesting.

Advertising and Promotions

The first look at the movie was offered at the same time it was announced it would have its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

A clip was released in early February showing Keith and Billie bringing their complaints about how the avalanche was handled to the management of the resort, who insists things went just as they should have.

There was only one promotional partnership, with e-card company Postable offering a number of movie-themed cards with passive aggressive notes you could send to someone you want to send a pointed message to.

Promotional videos like this were used on social media and presumably TV as commercials, all of which highlight the broader comedic elements of the story and show the awkwardness of the vacation.

Media and Press

Ferrell and Dreyfuss debuted the first trailer in late December when they both stopped by “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to have a bit of fun with the host.

Just before the Sundance screening there was a feature on how Dreyfuss worked for years to make an American adaptation of the hit Swedish film happen.

During the festival there were numerous interviews with the cast and filmmakers where they talked about how their movie was an homage to the original, how the two leads bonded during production and more. Dreyfuss also addressed how surprising it was she and Ferrell hadn’t worked together before.

The leads, as well as costar Zach Woods, made the talk show rounds in recent weeks to hype the film and talk about working together.

Overall

One question that keeps coming up is this: Why was the campaign so truncated? It’s been less than two months since the first trailer debuted, and while there was some press about the movie prior to that the actual campaign has all been executed within that period. Some of that might be the result of not wanting it to get lost in the Oscar cycle. Or the production schedule combined with the desire to hit the Valentine’s Day release date might have simply been the reality at hand.

Whatever the reason, Searchlight’s marketing has made the understandable decision to focus on the comedic dynamic between Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus. That might be what was seen as most appealing to U.S. audiences, but it also means the campaign has frequently downplayed the drama and played up the comedy. In doing so it unfortunately makes the movie look like some of the generic comedies Ferrell has starred in recently. Meanwhile, you have Louis-Dreyfus in the press, particularly at Sundance, getting deep about the story and the drama inherent in relationships, especially when they’re being tested.

Picking Up The Spare

Louis-Dreyfuss and Ferrell appeared together on stage as presenters during the Oscars ceremony just before the movie opened.

Searchlight released a clip of the family post-trauma dealing with the repercussions of what happened.

Additional talk show appearances included Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell on “The Late Show,” Ferrell, Rash and Faxon and Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus on “Late Night”

There were more interviews with the cast and crew about the experience of filming at an actual ski resort, how the story sought to balance drama and comedy, how filming took each out of their comfort zone. Everyone also spoke glowingly of everyone else on the premiere red carpet.