week seven - jaws

Name three ways in which the publishers of the book and the producers of the film worked together to promote Jaws. How did they know that their logo for Jaws was successful? [Include names/companies in your answer.]

The publishers of the book (Doubleday as hardcover, Bantam Books winning the bid for softcover) and the producers of the movie (Universal Pictures, headed at the time by Richard Zanuck and David Brown) worked in conjunction to heavily promote the movie Jaws, knowing that it would help both angles of the media. The book had already been worked up by the press, and was receiving a lot of attention and publicity. So when they decided to make a film about it (Universal Pictures only winning the bid after successfully convincing the author, and first-draft screenwriter Peter Benchley that they could make the best film in the least amount of time) Zanuck and Brown knew that hyping the book was the fore-runner to a successful movie. First off, they intended to be able to release the movie shortly after the book (and during the beach season), hoping that the books popularity would spark more excitement over the film, and that the film would, in return, keep the books flying off the shelf long after its release. The two companies (Bantam and Universal) worked together to create one promotional image, settling on the underwater picture of the shark headed for a lone female swimmer (with some heavily sexual undertones.) Zanuck and Brown also kept hype up of the idea (as opposed to only the book or the movie form) by sending out thousands of paperback copies of the book for free to people "who talk to people," such as waiters and cabdrivers. Bantam Books also sponsored a nationwide publicity of Zanuck and Brown, in which they promoted the book and the movie. By working together, these companies were able to reach thousands and thousands more people than they ever could have individually. And one reason they knew this logo pitch was so successful was due firstly, to the hype of the book before it was even released, secondly, the popularity and sales of the book once it was on (and quickly flying off) the shelves, and thirdly, the demand for the movie known thru sneak previews and such.



What is “blind bidding”? Why did exhibitors object to the proposed blind bidding for Jaws? Why was the blind bidding for Jaws called off?

Blind bidding is essentially when exhibitors are offered the chance to show the film by the distributor, with specific guidelines and regulations, but not in advance necessarily knowing how their profits will turn out, and with never having seen the film. Exhibitors objected the proposed blind bidding for Jaws because the amount of money being asked (read: demanded) by Universal was so incredibly high. These exhibitors, whom were not hugely wealthy corporations, but rather the opposite, knew little to nothing about the film and were very weary of spending so much money on something that would either break them or make them. According to the Justice Departments regulations (and as mentioned earlier) exhibitors are not allowed to see the picture before blind bidding. In March of 1975, a sneak preview of the film played in Dallas, and due to this "unfair advantage" to gauge the film of those exhibitors over others who had not seen the sneak preview, all previous bids were void, and new bidding began once more. Instead of blind bidding now, and much more confident in their product, Universal provided sneak previews across the country for all exhibitors to see, and then upped the price of their bid. And from what many recall, it was very cut or dry, you take it or you don't, no negotiation.



How was the saturation booking and marketing of Jaws different than other Universal films (or earlier blockbusters such as The Godfather)?

The marketing of Jaws began as early as promotion for the book, and ran heavily all the way thru the three-day run of television spots immediately prior to the films opening. Even these TV spots were incredibly planned, marketing different commercials to different groups and at different times or programs. There were also advertisements put into newspapers and magazines such as TV Guide, the Readers Digest, and Playboy. Obviously, the studio took much care (and spent much money) to make sure that as many people as absolutely possibly saw the ad for Jaws just previous to the opening of the movie. In addition, the exhibitors were required to pay for certain parts of this advertising technique, which was unprecedented.

Concerning saturation, this movie behaved differently than any ever before. Typically, a movie was release in one or two theaters in New York and one or two theaters in Los Angeles, and based on those reactions, the studios let the media reviews do the work and then they went from there, typically hitting approximately 125-150 theatres nationwide (for a blockbuster). The Godfather had such a huge demand for it, that it went nationwide from almost the very beginning, but still with only a typical number of theaters. The hype for Jaws was so big, that Universal decided to open with 464 theaters nationwide, and throughout the summer, that number only grew, amounting to being in almost 700 theaters within six weekends of it running.