When Momentum Pictures was born, in 2000, it distributed none other than the Coen brothers (“O Brother!”), Christopher McQuarrie (“Hell Kidnapping”), John Waters (“Cecil B. Demented”) and Darren Aronofsky. Has not done this. (“Requiem for a Dream”). Even then, Over the years it has become the bastion of independent cinema among independent or very low-budget cinema Movies that barely smell a billboard or go straight to the video-on-demand market.
For this reason, after seeing ‘To Leslie’ at the SXSW festival, the distributor decided to release it in such a limited way that It barely grossed $27,322 in the United States. They didn’t even set up press passes, special screenings or screeners: “To Leslie” was on its way to becoming just another movie of those who artificially curate some streaming service’s catalog. Then, How has it happened that Andrea Riseborough has been nominated for an Oscar without any publicity? Have the awards done justice or is there something more behind it? Is this an organic or planned campaign? We are going to clear all doubts regarding the ‘To Leslie’ case, the movie you didn’t know about until yesterday.
for the oscars
before anything, It is necessary to explain how the campaign “For your consideration” works of the Oscars, without even delving into it, because there are no few people who believe that academics watch all the movies and choose the ones they like best. In a world where marketing didn’t exist, it certainly would. But it does exist, and in what way: producers and distributors choose the awards they think their films deserve and They promote to those they find most economical.
For example, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ asks for Best Picture consideration, But where it really hits is the interviews and soliciting votes are what’s closest to hand.: Angela Bassett. It doesn’t seem like it, but companies spend millions of dollars every award season to attract the attention of academics and, above all, the American press. This has already been done for decades as a widespread practice.
That’s why the movement that ‘To Leslie’ has started is so important., leaving the press and Koba for academics and pulling contacts. Its director, Michael Morris, has worked on series such as ‘House of Cards’, ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ or ‘Better Call Saul’, and his wife, Mary McCormack, is known for ‘The West Wing of Casablanca’ are ‘murder one’ or ‘in the open’. His spider web reaches out to the most powerful people in HollywoodAnd they weren’t ready to stop engaging him.
what hollywood taught us
A week before nominations, when academics were to vote, Support began to emerge from tweets, Instagram posts, interviews and, in general, all over Hollywood. Encouraging people to vote for Andrea Riseborough. Edward Norton Tweeted Regarding her powerful performance, Gwyneth Paltrow posted a photo on Instagram after her screening (“Andrea should win every award out there and that haven’t been invented yet”), with Kate Winslet referring to her. Do you want more public support? Demi Moore, Naomi Watts, Laura Dern, Jennifer Aniston … Even Jane Fonda made up a story for her nomination and Cate Blanchett herself named her when she got the Critics’ Choice!
This run down to the awards (and this week in particular) has revealed three very important things in Hollywood: First, Rewards Matter, especially for developing careers that may have gone under the radar. Tom Cruise’s nomination means little to her, but it does open doors for Andrea Riseborough. Second, that the actors (see the protagonists of every award ceremony and ‘everything at once everywhere’) They want to sell us in an exaggerated way that they are all friends And there’s no rivalry between them, like the way to rebuild a battered star system.
Third and most important: Production companies no longer need media or spend millions to put up posters throughout Los Angeles with “for your consideration” films. If ‘To Leslie’ got the nomination based only on contacts, favors, friendship and A wise use of social networks during an important week, with exquisite timingHow far can a film go that uses its efforts and its budget in new ways to reach academics beyond traditional ones?
And now he?
your own andrea riseborough have tried to sell this milestone as a small miracle that came together naturally, but the truth is that you have to be very naive to believe that something happens naturally in Hollywood. And for proof, the fact that many of the celebrity messages were copied and pasted (“a small movie with a huge heart”), perhaps asking for something along the lines of “put it in your words please.”
It has attracted attention, but in any case it cannot be confused with more than doing a favor to a friend who works outside of distributors and producers. It’s something that’s also important: Momentum Pictures has no interest in promoting the film beyond the usual four tweets and an Instagram account, and If interest revives now, it will not be due to his efforts, but due to the efforts of the director and the team themselvesWhich now they have to give half the industry.
‘To Leslie’ may live on as a footnote in history or as the blaze that started the blaze of change. in Hollywood. Who knows! At the moment, Riseborough is also nominated for Independent Spirit, which is awarded a week before the Oscars, but two days after voting closes, so winning or losing would be irrelevant. Could This Viral Campaign Leave Cate Blanchett or Michelle Yeoh Without a Prize? Only time will tell.
For now, a tidbit of information: Of the two awards he’s already won for his performance, one was in Gijón festival, So that later they say that we are not twenty steps ahead in Spain.
