More Linkroll: Exploring the Depths of Film Marketing on the Web

In order to obtain more resources for my own analysis of film marketing, as well as provide my readers with further information to explore this subject, I have once again decided to add to my linkroll (located at the right) with websites and blogs that I have critiqued using the Webby Awards and IMSA criteria, respectively. Just as I started my last search with web-based versions of printed new sources, I found two additional sites that do just this. The first, Empire: Movie News, is a website based off of a popular magazine and offers the aesthetic polish that one would expect from such a publication. In addition, the site puts forth its information in a very straightforward and visually pleasing manner, although most of its articles are notably lacking in depth. The second source that has managed to make the conversion from print to screen is Guardian Unlimited: Film News. This resource can't boast the flashy appearance of the former site, but makes up for it by offering a substantial amount of substance in each of its articles. Another type of website I explored was one which serves as a resource for support rather than for articles. The first of these, Rotten Tomatoes, is an aggregator of film reviews from more than a hundred different critics. It has intuitive navigation and design and is visually pleasing but, more importantly, it is a valuable reference for determining the quality of a film being discussed. The second of these sites is called, Box Office Mojo, and gives listings from the latest box office numbers on released films. While it is poorly designed and difficult to navigate, the value of its content for supporting arguments over effective marketing makes it an important resource.

In my search for linkroll sources, I came across a number of blogs specifically dedicated to the topic of film marketing. Risky Biz Blog (pictured above) is a blog supported by The Hollywood Reporter trade magazine and, thus, gains authority by association. This is also true of the blog, Deadline Hollywood Daily, which is supported by LA Weekly and Thompson on Hollywood, which is powerd by Variety. All of these blogs, however, suffer from surprisingly low reader comments despite this authority and quality content. Movie Marketing Madness is a blog that looks simple but goes into a fair amount of depth into its topics, despite reading more like a news site than an opinionated blog. On the other hand, both Cinematical and Spout Blog offer highly opinionated, yet informative, posts on many of the same topics. Each of these is a valuable source, as all seem to have sufficient authority.

My Linkroll: Film Marketing Resources at a Glance

In an attempt to expand my research in this blog's area of emphasis, I decided to scour the internet for exceptional resources. To help me determine which of these would be the most helpful to me, I used the sets of criteria established by the Webby Awards and the IMSA, respectively. Using these as a guide, I was able to discover ten resources that offer unique and valuable perspectives in film, marketing, or a combination of the two. Links to all of these resources can be found in the Linkroll located to the right. I started my search for sources on the internet in the same way I might have conducted a similar search elsewhere: the newspapers. I found that The New York Times website has a section specifically for media and advertising and, while the resource seems to list valuable articles and obviously maintains a high amount of authority, it is lacking overall in interactivity, seeming to read and navigate more like a newspaper than a dynamic website. This problem has been addressed by another newspaper-turned-website that I explored, The Wall Street Journal: Media and Marketing Edition, as it boasts a significant amount of interactivity and can be easily navigated. The site's accessibility is severely limited, however, as a number of the articles require a subscription to be read at length. The third website version of a printed publication that I visited was the Hollywood Reporter: Marketing site and it seemed to succeed as a resource on all fronts. Originally a trade magazine for the film industry, the site surprising shows a great balance between accessibility and interactivity and demonstrates plenty of good content and high authority.

Another type of resource I explored was the "insider" website, which shares Hollywood insider information with the general public. Arguably, the most popular of these is called Ain't it Cool News, which offers easy navigation and an awesome combination of functionality and content. All of this comes at the price of visual design, as the sight looks only slightly better than simple text on a screen. This particular element is not a problem for JoBlo.com (see left), a similar site which posts the same type of articles yet displays a sharp visual component that manages to elevate the site's overall experience. Movie Marketing Update is another website that looks good and contains very good content, but its system of organization makes it a difficult site to navigate. Rounding up this type of "insider" website is Total Film, which trails behind the other resources in content and accessibility despite having a moderately pleasing visual design. In my search for valuable places from which to glean information, I came across a handful of blogs that stood out from the rest in terms of the IMSA criteria. SlashFilm: Movie Marketing is a blog devoted to exactly what the title would suggest: movie marketing. While the writing in the blog is neither sophisticated nor particularly opinionated and reads much like a "insider" website, it does serve as a hub for commenters, displaying its strong influence within the advertising an film communities. Although it cannot claim the number of commenters as SlashFilm, Adverblog, an advertising-themed blog, is nevertheless a valuable resource based on its timely postings and its huge archive of posts. Based on content and sophistication of the writing, however, a blog called Biz of ShowBiz has the clear advantage. Yet, despite also possessing an impressive archive, Biz of ShowBiz also lacks in comments, which casts doubt on its influence within the communities it serves.