Amen... but...
It has come to my attention that NATO (The National Association of Theatre Owners) NATO. That's freaking hilarious... NATO.... I just pissed myself.
NATO has determined that movie trailers, which average 2.5 minutes, are too long and take away from the movie going experience. The studios disagree. One studio executive who chose to remain anonymous, said, "My trailers are 2.5 minutes because that's what we need to send the right message..."
My experience reviewing movie trailers is that more than 2 minutes usually means spoiler. Spoiler usually means that I will refuse to see the film because they've served me the appetizer as the main course. While there are exceptions, the rule is generally that trailers give away too much and the longer they are the more they give away. Except Cloud Atlas. That was 6 minutes of me saying, "huh?" Don't get me started...
What is NATO really saying? I think NATO wants to have shorter movie trailers - shorter by 30 seconds from what I'm reading - so that they can throw in more paid advertising. While I enjoy watching movie trailers at the cinema, I despise commercials at the cinema. The cinema should be a sacred place.
The studios don't seem to care that their trailers are too long and give away too much. The studios don't care that they continue to treat movie goers more and more like mindless cattle. Both NATO and the studios only want to make more money. Well, that's a given.
The reality is that movie trailers are a marketing tool and are treated by the studios us such. Understandable. From a marketing perspective, it's trying to convey a message in a limited amount of time for the purpose of attracting customers. Simple. Some, like me though, find art in movie trailers. Others find art in television commercials, as there are awards for television commercials. I have the Beerbohm Awards for movie trailers...
NATO, congratulations on saying the right thing, but for the wrong reason.
Here's the story from the Hollywood Reporter...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/theater-owners-seek-new-rules-559164
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