While much of the commercial production house community is grappling with how to most prudently diversify into branded entertainment, intriguing developments that run the gamut from short films to larger-than-life IMAX content are starting to emerge. Embodying both ends of that spectrum are deals involving bicoastal Moxie Pictures, the spot/feature/TV company owned by director Dan Levinson and executive producer Robert Fernandez.
The most recent is in the short-form space as readers of February’s Glamour magazine can attest. The publication has initiated a contest asking its readers to write a short essay (750 words or less) about an event, encounter or moment in their lives that made them victorious, stronger and/or wiser. Up to four winners will be chosen whose stories will be scripted for film, produced and distributed. Venues for the films are to be determined, with festival exposure among the possibilities. Plans call for each film to be sponsored by a separate advertiser.
For the project, dubbed “Reel Moments,” Glamour has teamed with Moxie to develop the stories, produce the shorts and assemble an advisory board of leading female Hollywood executives who will oversee the selection process of essays, cast the films, and line up directorial talent. Heading “Reel Moments” for Moxie are its head of film and television, Francesca Silvestri, and Roundtable Management’s Kevin Chinoy.
The advisory board thus far includes: Meryl Poster, co-president of production at Miramax; Cara Stein, The William Morris Agency’s co-COO, New York; Caroline Kaplan, IFC Entertainment’s senior VP, production and development; actress/producer Lucy Liu; actresses Katie Holmes and Julianna Margulies; and Glamour associate publisher Leslie Russo. Story entries may be submitted online (www.glamour.com) or via mail until March 14.
The project is a means for Glamour to extend its reach into another medium. And it’s Glamour‘s reach that could entice prospective short film sponsors. The magazine reportedly has some 12.3 million readers nationally, reaching one in every 10 women in the U.S.
IMAX
As first reported last year in SHOOT, Moxie has a working relationship with IMAX to produce a documentary on sailboat racing. The film will center on this year’s Volvo Ocean Race, a nine-month competition that spans the globe. The involved parties are in the process of lining up financing.
IMAX is the Toronto-headquartered company (with offices in Los Angeles and New York) that showcases films on screens eight-stories high and as much as 120 feet wide. Brad Ball, who maintains the Ball Entertainment Group, a Burbank, Calif.-based branded entertainment marketing and production company, spearheads the push to secure sponsors for the IMAX slate of original films, including the Moxie project. Ball made his first mark in the ad agency community as a partner in Davis, Ball & Colombatto, Los Angeles, which turned out the lauded “Mac Tonight” McDonald’s commercials. He then served as McDonald’s senior VP, marketing USA before becoming president of theatrical marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures, and later executive VP, corporate marketing, Warner Bros. Entertainment.
IMAX’s stock has risen in terms of its ability to draw attractive demographics. The company’s film events draw primarily the youth, young adult and family markets into theaters. Initially that reputation was built in IMAX theaters at museums and educational institutions. But IMAX’s reach has in recent years extended into commercial entertainment, spanning major Hollywood features (35mm films such as The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, The Polar Express and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban have been converted to the IMAX format for presentation), as well as a budding slate of original IMAX films. The latter includes last year’s release, NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience, which ranked among the top 20 grossing motion pictures for a stretch.
Upon entering into the deal with Moxie last year, Greg Foster, president of filmed entertainment for IMAX, said that Moxie’s connections in the ad and production communities would benefit IMAX. That dynamic propelled his decision to team with Moxie on feature development and production.
There are more than 240 IMAX theaters in 35 countries. About half of those theaters are in educational/institutional venues (museums, space centers). The other half are in the entertainment market, including in such multiplex operations as Universal CityWalk, Los Angeles.