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This was emailed to me by a Bandslam insider who's also a prominent filmmaker (and asked to be anonymous) in response to my box office report that the Walden Media/Summit Entertainment pic had a disastrous $2.3M weekend despite great reviews, and that the marketing/packaging was so young that moviegoers thought it was High School Musical when it was closer to School Of Rock:
"Isn't there a story here? Death by marketing? A movie that gets 80% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes -- 90% from top critics -- won't see the light of day because Summit consistently made some of the worst choices, and their core audience summarily dismissed the movie without seeing it based on their sale.
Start off with the fact that they chose BANDSLAM for a title instead of WILL. They thought WILL was too indie. But that’s what made this movie special. It was an indie voice wrapped up in a high concept. So, instead of selling it quirky and cool (a la Juno) they sold it on the Disney channel's Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Milchaka. Instead of selling the concept, band of outcasts like The Commitments, they Disneyfied this movie with glitter paint. So what is an ironic, smart script with a killer soundtrack was sold like High School Musical meets Phil Of The Future. Instead of embracing it for its quirky-ness, for its unique voice (Will, the lead, calls high school “Guantanamo Bay with a lunch period”) they flattened it out so it looked like everything else. There have been literally dozens and dozens of calls today and e-mails from heads of marketing at different studios saying this may be singly the worst job they've ever seen on a movie whose unique voice deserved to be heard through positioning, title, marketing tie-ins, and knowing your audience. But Rob Freidman and Summit infantalized their audience. They presumed that since HSM was a hit, and the same star was in their movie singing, they should just sell it the same way.
Nancy Kirkpatrick took instructions from Rob. He had this idea in his head to sell it with the Disney slant, and no one could sway him. People tried, trust me. They knew the movie tested through the roof but the materials didn’t. And still he was bullish. He’s just so fucking arrogant. The real problem was that this was [Walden Media] Cary Granat’s baby and when he was let go, and Alex Schwartz was let go – the project got taken over by Summit. Eric Feig was in the middle of TWILIGHT, so it became Rob’s baby. He saw Vanessa singing and he could only could think of one way to sell it. The only problem is, she’s not playing Gabriella from HSM. She’s playing a dark, monotone goth character. And she’s really pretty good. But you wouldn’t know it by the ads. They should have let the audience re-discover her as this Aly Sheedy, Breakfast Club, freak, but instead, they found shots of her smiling, and sold it on that. And even though the movie was so NOT Disney. You’ve got lines like “A Nuremburg rally produced by MTV”, and a whole section that takes place in an abandoned CBGB’s talking about The Killers, The Sex Pistols, Black Flag, The Police, and U2. I mean, come on, this is NOT High School Musical. You’ve got a kid obsessed with David Bowie, writing him letters throughout the movie.
Look at the comments you got in your own section on this, the movie deserved to be seen. Todd Graff wrote and directed a beautiful lyrical film with a killer soundtrack that the Hollywood Reporter critic compared to a cross between Cameron Crowe and John Hughes. Read the Washington Post review. It’s crazy making.
For what it’s worth, Rob is very contrite now. He’s apologizing to everyone. Tail between his legs, that kind of thing. But as the reality hits, it’s too little, way too late. Heartbreaking.
Shame on them. The movie's good. It deserved a chance."
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the reason this movie bombed is right in the middle of the poster.
totally agree. great movie. bad marketing. had no idea this wasn’t a disney special. look at that one sheet, nikki. that alone makes you wonder, what were they thinking?
I always thought it seemed like they put the interns in charge and neglected to actually manage them. The bandslam twitter account following all the fake vanessa hudgens twitter accounts was my first clue.
Why didn’t Walden market this since it was their movie? I don’t get it. On what planet does anyone think that Summit does a good job? I mean, who couldn’t sell Twilight? What a shame. This is a good movie.
Will, the lead, calls high school “Guantanamo Bay with a lunch period”
Seriously, dude, if you think that was a strong point of the movie, no wonder it died.
What’s the difference between The Ugly Truth and Bandslam? One’s a bad movie with good marketing, and the ohter is a great movie with bad marketing.
I’m not questioning that marketing screwed up. They obviously did.
They relied on Vanessa Hudgens’ and to a smaller extend Aly Michelka’s boxoffice power but it turned out they have NONE.
Would they have any starpower the tweens would have shown up opening weekend and been disappointed because the movie was different than advertised but that would effect its legs and not opening weekend.
I hated everything about their campaign. And honestly I bought a ticket for Time Traveller’s Wife and snuck into bandslam to see the trailer for Twilight. But then I watched the movie and was shocked how good it was. It’s funny, and smart – but you couldn’t tell by the ads.
It honestly breaks my heart that a film with so much heart && such amazing reviews won’t see the light of day because Summit screwed them over.
I don’t know how many of the actual fans that’ve been following this film since its production last year, but even they were outraged with the corny name changes. && having been to a couple screenings, I know first-hand that the film did in fact touch basis with an older demographic – the content was far too witty to be be comprehended by tweens obsessed with Disney-fare.
Bandslam was an amazing teen film – when do we get those anymore? I paid to see it this weekend despite having gone to a screening, it deserved my money. It deserved to be a success. It’s a damn shame.
I have nieces and nephews who are so-called “tweens” (although they hate being called this) and they saw the trailer for this movie and assumed it was some sort of cheesy Miley Cyrus corporate schlockfest and said they had no intention of seeing it. They even jokingly referred to it as “Buttslam.” Not all kids are stupid, Hollywood. Most know when they are being pandered to by nefarious multi-national corporations seeking to make a buck, just as MTV did to me and my friends back in the day.
There have been literally dozens and dozens of calls today and e-mails from heads of marketing at different studios…
“Literally”?
How many studios are there?
Did anyone else know that Lisa Kudrow is in this thing, she wasn’t in any of the ads. If you want any grown ups to show up to this movie it might help to show a grown up in the add.
It’s a shame that the marketing of Bandslam made people think it was some kind of tween movie when it’s not. It’s a fun feel good film that more like a coming of age movie about changing and growing up. I liked it and even critics who reviewed this film ended up liking it when they were not expecting to. It should have been marketed on its merits as a good film that has actually received a fresh rating from rotten tomatoes rather than for a trailer for the new twilight movie. Plus now you have the fact that it did not debut in the top 10 and that might turn some people off giving this movie a chance even though this film is getting good reviews everywhere.
This asshat dares compare it to THE COMMITMENTS?!?! OMFG, clueless! The mere fact that whoever the hell this idiot is thinks that Hudgens was a good casting choice for a “dark, monotone goth character” immediately signals their lack of credibility. You people cannot make movies, plain and simple! Go away and sell ad space for a living!
the truth is Rob has no talent for marketing anything but the obvious. He sucks at being original. It just isn’t in his DNA. Can you imagine what searchlight would have done with this.
What a waste
Movie was so good. Smart, funny, ironic, fresh. It deserved better.
I was invited to a screening at CAA last week. I knew nothing about this film. Nothing. It was opening the next day, and I, a person in this business, had never even heard of it. When I tell you how much I loved it, the dialogue, the music, the humor, I was stunned that this little sleeper was opening in less than 24 hours. I went home and researched it, because I thought either I’m out of the business, or the people marketing this film are. I think it’s the latter. (I hope.)
Why didn’t summit promote it better? Why didn’t they platform the release? They had to know they were getting good reviews. Why didn’t they call it Will?
Honestly, I pay attention to what’s coming out and what looks good and is worth getting excited about, but I was pretty distracted by District 9 and this, I confess, is the first I was aware that Bandslam was any good. I’m gonna take my daughter (13 — she’s long ago lost interest in all things HSM; this is right up her alley), if it’s still in theaters next week. It is a shame. I guess people (companies, etc.) only take risks when they feel like they have to.
I think Rob Freidman, historically, is great at only one thing. HIGH CONCEPTS. Like KNOWING, or STEP UP 1, 2, A BILLION, or TWILIGHT. Seems to me he tried to sell the concept and not the movie. And in reality, the concept was common, and the movie was stellar.
I read the script a year or two back, when it called “Will,” and credited solely to Josh Cagan. Your correspondent names director Todd Graff as the writer, but the lines he or she quotes and praises originated with Cagan, not Graff.
cant say if the movie is any good or not, but the marketing makes it look rubbish teen pap, even worse when it mentions that a Twilight promo is attached to it, make sit look like the movie itself is not worth seeing, but at least you get to see some of the latest rubbish tween trilogy Twilight.
This is really heartbreaking for the cast, director and writer. They made a good movie that was critically acclaimed, more importantly, they attempted something fresh that has become rare with teen movies. it deserved to be seen.
I agree, the title change was ill-advised, the release date was also ill-advised, there was just too much competition, the marketing was a disaster.
I mean, how many established actresses can carry a movie with a no-name cast, no heartthrob and no in-built franchise? Obviously, Vanessa and Alyson cannot at the moment and shouldn’t have been expected to. Besides, the tweens have moved on from HSM. It’s no longer cool and has overstayed its welcome.
The actresses, judging by their roles in the movie were attempting to transition from Disney and they chose a great movie to do so. I’m sure when Vanessa auditioned for a supporting role in a quirky movie, she did not have in mind that she was expected to sell the movie to the audience she’s trying to move away from.
Why anyone being paid for their brains would think that packaging a fresh movie like everything else would work beats me.
This is just lazy and bad marketing. It’s just sad that some of the lesser known cast that could have gotten recognition through this movie will have to wait for another chance. This is someone’s livelihood. For the writer and many of the cast, this was their first theater release. It’s just a shame because they did good work.
My wife and 11 year-old daughter saw the movie over the weekend. My wife read the positive reviews and had to convince my daughter to see the film. They both LOVED IT! I hope the film can keep screens as it deserves a chance. best of luck to the filmmakers and summit!
Surprised that todd graff would allow his movie to be called bandslam. I know him a little, and he’s got way better taste than that.
I thought Vanessa Hudgens was amazing in the movie. They sold it to 7 year olds, and tried to tell them it was High School Musical 2. But even 7 year olds can see through hype.
Why didn’t they trust their material more? I loved this movie, and am sad for everyone involved that more people won’t see this instead of the crap out there.
movie was cooler than any kid movie out there. Great soundtrack, too. But check it out – Todd Graff, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas – how did you let them call your movie Bandslam? I mean, don’t you have mouths? I’m just sayin… You had to approve the title, right?
why write it off so quickly? If it plays so well, then summit should keep advertising it, with reviews and different trailers. there’s not much coming out in the next month. sounds like they owe the filmmakers that much. at least.
Why does Hollywood have an almost involuntary need to piss on vulnerable talent? Always they smugly pull the Tonya Harding.
A question for the ages, never to be answered.
Could John Hughes even have a career if he starting out now? Nevermind.
Anyway… my two cents is worth even less than usual: I haven’t seen the movie.
But I saw the trailer. I was like, oh, shit… this is not a joke movie, not a bubble gum infommercial. How about that?
And, fool, I actually thought it would open strong.
So, why can’t it build an audience? Movies can do that, still, can’t they?
After all the coverage today, I’ve decided to go see it this week and ask my friends to consider going as well.
Yikes, welcome to current film marketing. That one-sheet says it all, what a headache.
Yes, it’s not HSM and it was marketed improperly, but this is hardly Hughes-level work.
At best, it’s a lame PG version of Adventureland that also featured a song from David Bowie. Adventureland featured more marketable actors than Bandslam, a better soundtrack, and also could have benefited from better marketing.
Adventureland had a stronger assessment by critics than Bandslam and has topped out under $17 million in grosses. Even Almost Famous with an Oscar-winning screenplay grossed under $47 million.
Bandslam had a tough marketing job ahead of it no matter how it was done. Blame marketing all you want, but this wasn’t going to be a strong performer, despite quality claims.
I’m basically shocked that people liked this film. It was so after-school special.
I honestly don’t know why they would cast Vanessa Huggins in this film…that alone made the movie bomb
Marketing problems aside, a much bigger problem was casting Vanessa Hudgens in a movie supposed to attract anyone over the age of 15 .
When a movie is this good, this smart, and this cool, we owe it to the movie to let it live. I’m not sure Summit did anything than any other studio wouldn’t have done. It’s hard to go indie when you have disney stars cast in the lead.
I saw this, and am grieved that it will never get the praise deserved. Vanessa Hudgens (as many critics have stated) outdid herself in this little film.
She showed the world she can do more than sing and dance with a pretty smile. She is going places.
I sure hope summit corrects this. This is the second time this year that bad marketing has resulted in a film that failed in the B/O but should have succeeded because it was in fact a great film.
Okay, seriously though. Do you think this could’ve sold if you marketed it like Juno? Juno had Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and the can’t miss future oscar winner Ellen Paige onboard. Here you have Lisa Kudrow (does she still work?) and two Disney girls. LOL! And School Of Rock??? Don’t give me that as a comparison. School of Rock had Jack Black.
The reality here is that they had very little to work with. Vanessa Hudgens was the only name they had. So marketing it to her audience was probably the smartest move. Was it risky? No. But if you would’ve marketed this to my age group (29) I would’ve taken one look at Vanessa Hudgens, laughed, and said, “Why the hell would someone pay to put this commercial in front of me??” It’s like advertising tampons on ESPN.
Coulda Shoulda Woulda. More like “Wouldn’t Have Mattereda”.
Josh Cagen wrote this film. I know Graff did some work on the script but how ’bout we give some credit to the original writer.
Feels like a lot of “Bandslam” boosters typing in today! I saw the film, thought it was pretty inoffensive, but nothing even remotely worth recommending with more than an “eh, it was pretty inoffensive.”
Tested through the roof?
Um…
no.
But it did deserve better.
I just saw the film with a healthy dose of skepticism. It looked like HSM4: The Rejects. What I saw was actually more of a Nick & Norah/Charlie Bartlett hybrid. Why didn’t they follow the N&N model of last year? It would have done so well. All the parts are pitch-perfect, and the film is quirky enough that anyone can find something to love about it.
Here’s hoping some word-of-mouth might make a difference.
@literally
There may not be dozens of studios, but there are more than dozens of marketing heads in this business, even if they’re from smaller production companies.
And yes there is a good chance it can build up an audience, just like Slumdog did. Don’t take me wrong, I’m not comparing it to Slumdog, but that movie did come out of nowhere (despite its high-profile director) and blow people’s minds away and then build a whole new campaign after its original release.
And I thought the main character was Will (Gaelan Connell), not Vanessa.
The movie did deserve to be seen and the cast and crew did a wonderful job. What an unfortunate situation.
I am amused by certain people who are commenting here who didn’t bother to read what was posted and do not care about this movie at all or have any intentions of watching it, but simply came to bash Vanessa Hudgens. People really do disgust me. She gave a strong performance and isn’t going anywhere.
Glad you posted this Nikki. Too often box office (or lack thereof) is reported without insight as to why/how. The epitat for this sweet smart, funny film should not be that it bombed, but rather, that it never had a chance. It could have been a contender.
When a film is killed by an marketing campaign that underestimates it’s audience, everyone needs to rise up and say – I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.
I hadn’t even heard of the movie. I’m staying in Thailand for a while and saw the poster at a cinema and instantly thought “no way in fuck I’m seeing that HSM spin off that Hudgens did for an easy pay day.”
I guarantee you everyone else thought the same thing. I’m in the airport flying back to LA right now, I’ll be checking it out this week.
I worked at Summit. From what I recall there were many internal fights about how to sell this film. The filmmakers didn’t like the title. Screaming matches, nasty e-mails. The filmmakers wanted it to be cooler, they hated everything about the campaign – they didn’t want to concentrate on Vanessa Hudgens. They knew older kids didn’t think she was cool. So they wanted Summit to sell it a different way. I remember a meeting where Elaine and Todd walked out in the middle. Todd refused to come back.
It was hard internally because the temptation to sell it to vanessa’s audience was the only hook. And even though the fimmakers didn’t want it, they did it anyway.
I heard that Elaine Goldsmith got so frustrated with the Summit marketing people about the title, that she and the kids on the movie made a video pleading with the studio to not name it Bandslam. She almost had them convinced, but Rob gave her a choice either BANDSLAM or ROCK ON! How’s that for creativity? Truly. Dumb or Dumber. So Todd Graff threatened to take his name off the movie if they called it ROCK ON. And that’s how they ended up with Bandslam.
Todd and Elaine wanted it to be called, “WILL”. But Summit said, no one will go see a movie with that title. Unbelievable.
Here you have two great films this weekend, this one and District 9. The difference is that Sony has a spot on A+ marketing group that turned a little picture into a monster hit. If only Summit had a similar group.
Any similarity between creativity and Summit Entertainment is purely coincidental.
MOOKI AND OTHER V HATERS:
What an asses you are Vanessa had very little screen time and btw got the best reviews. Next time know what you’re talking about.
J:
It had nothinng to do with their box office power it had to do with the marketing of it like High School Musical and the audience said we saw her in that already and we saw Aly in Disney already.
But they were not playing characers even remotely like their Disney personas but the audience was never given a chance to realize that because of the mareting.
I’m not in the industry, but it seems as though Summit was playing to a perceived strength: the presence of Disney/Nick stars in a movie set in high school with music.
If they marketed as an indie, guess what? It makes the same amount of money (albeit from a different audience) if it’s lucky. Why NOT try to get the “Camp Rock”, “Hannah Montana” “HSM3″ crowd into the cinema? They would have been foolhardy not to at least aim for that audience.
But the word-of-mouth about that flick on this site has been pretty astonishing. Maybe this movie has some life in it yet.
“The Straight Story” suffered a worse marketing disaster. It received a “G” rating so the geniiuses at Disney released this very adult film with a one-sheet showing Richard Farnsworth in silhouette sitting on a tractor under the huge Walt Disney Pictures banner thereby managing to turn off both adults and children in the process (and blowing their first real chance at a best picture oscar).
But that was a great movie. I saw “Bandslam” and I would generously consider it mediocre at best.
I hope more aticles like this are printed and that word of mouth gives this movie a chance. Summit also should buck up and do something to help since it is why this movie is in this fix. I say do something to at least try to fix your miserable mistake. Those kids in that movie were amzing. It is also a movie that is enjoyable because it is NOT one of those formula types and one that is predictable.
Never heard the word Bandslam before reading this article. I can’t say the marketing was bad as I never saw any.
Hmmm.
This may be the biggest fuckup since the Rural Purge.
(Okay, for those of you with a limited history of Hollywood, CBS actually canceled The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Family Affair, Ed Sullivan, Andy Griffith and Hee Haw all at the same time in order to try to attract a more sophisticated audience. Needless to say, they killed shows that are still playing today all over the world, far longer than the career of Fred Silverman who decided to do the cancelling. Pat Butram said, “He cancelled everything with a tree in it.” It was an amazingly stupid move – just like this one.
Unfortunately I think the male lead Galen’s looks had a huge impact on marketing, media and box office-he makes Michael Cera look like Taylor Lautner.
The presence of Vanessa and Aly would make marketing the movie to an indie audience (or even an audience of slightly hipper teens) a challenge-yes, even if it was called “Will.”
The movie was pretty good-but the generous reviews it received were in no small part a result of reduced expectations.
How is it a movie that has a rating of 4.9 on IMDB is getting so much praise?
Wow. Scary. The power in how such shortmindedness can nearly de-rail careers. If Summit had any balls they would take it out of theaters and re-release it six months later with a campaign that reflects the true nature of the film. Fat chance of that happening.
To Ben:
I guess it means that IMDB doesn’t know what it is talking about.
To everyone else. I brought my daughter, wife, and neice this weekend. I only went because I had read the source material and remembered how much I liked it. Unfortunately, based on the marketing Summit (or whomever is responsible) had successfully alienated my 12 year old daugther, 14 year old neice, and my wife who said, “you expect me to see something called Bandslam?” I prevailed and they all went, and LOVED IT. LOVED IT. I don’t think it’s getting raves because people’s expectations were low, I think it’s getting raves because it’s good, and smart, and charming. I think it’s getting raves because it reminds us all not to lower our standards just because something is for kids. And finally it reminds us all that just because it’s for kids, if it’s really good, adults will like it too. And we did.
And Kilgore – we loved the new kid who starred as Will. His odd ball looks kept it real. If you would have made him cuter, it would have only made this more disney like. We loved Vanessa Hudgens in this movie like we’ve never loved her before. And Aly was a revelation. I agree this was a challenge for a marketing dept. And I don’t like pointing fingers, but once you all saw that the campaign was headed south, you needed a plan b. You can’t let a movie this good sink. So my question to Summit is -with this disasterous result – do you continue to put money in and hope wom carries it – or do you cut it off, cut your losses, and let it die becakuse you were the wrong doctors for this surgery?
This movie isn’t even on the radar outside of Hollywood – even with the tween girl HSM crowd. No one literally knows it exists.
Great article, Nikki. When a movie is this smart and is this badly marketed it deserves some explanation. I didn’t even know it was out until I read your article. They say a movie is made four times.
Writing,
Shooting,
Editing,
Marketing -
Bandslam scored with 3 out of 4.
OMG!
That’s ridiculos!
I am italian and here the movie is called “High School Band” and released by local Eagle Pictures that always do this kind of things (they called “Sex Drive” “Sex Movie in 4D”).
So Summit is not the only one with a dumb marketing department.
Am I naive or not jaded enough? Can’t a really good movie be saved? If Summit woke up and realized their head honcho blew it and he removed his tail from between his legs by making a commitment to market the film properly, couldn’t it still have a second chance? There are plenty of ways to reach viewers through any number of digital platforms and not the same old same old trailer/heavy spot rotation on television. If the critics really believe in this film, why not enlist their help and talk it up? Why not get the PR flacks to use a botched marketing campaign as a means of securing television interviews? It would be an interesting angle. It’s not too late to recoup the investment and — despite declining DVD sales/rentals — prime the ancillary pump for later profits. Whether Vanessa Hudgens is good or not is meaningless in the equation, HSM is over and done, it’s time to move on and not be so quick to rely on someone else’s marketing mojo. It was a lazy move that might make many talented young writers/directors think twice about entrusting their films to Summit in the future.
This is a microcosm of the industry’s greater problem, which is that competition and expenses are so huge that it is no longer feasible to wait for audiences to find a film; rather, films have to find their audiences, and fast. Exhibitors refuse to allow a film to sit until word-of-mouth kicks in, even in the age of Twitter. They gotta sell popcorn and make that house nut. (Maybe if they had to pay guarantees they’d be more tolerant). Perhaps a side-effect of the industry’s slowdown will be that, with less new product to bump old product, exhibitors will be forced to allow pictures to stay on their screens instead of pulling them to make way for the next one. (I said “perhaps”; exhibitors can oftentimes make more money by placing ads than by showing a picture).
The lesson is that marketing departments have to sell the picture that the filmmakers made, not a picture that their focus groups tell them will sell three years after the green light was given.
Ben, it was like that already before the movie went out. (nationally and internationally) People and Vanessa’s haters already gave out that rating before even attempting to watch it. As a fan of Vanessa, you’d be surprise how dedicated her haters are. Even more so than we are.
I’m sorry but any movie with Vanessa Hudgens as the lead does not deserve any type of praise in my opinion. The disappointing thing is I think hiring her was their biggest mistake, regardless of whether she did a good job or not. The thought of watching her on screen for approximately 2 hours makes me want to pull my hair out.
That’s the reason why it’s a no go for me, and probably for a lot of other people too.
Never heard a word about this. Never seen the poster. Nothing.
I’m surprised some of you are talking about it having known a little about it. I think of myself as following the movie world pretty closely. First I’ve heard of this.
It sounds a lot like what happed with WONDER BOYS and how badly it was marketed and then put back out months later after the studio had already killed a really great film.
Guess they’ll still try to blame the economy for that blunder.
Given that the film was marketed the way it was, what sane parent would choose to take her/his child to see this movie?
Between the PG rating (versus High School Musical’s G rating), the lack of a Disney logo (to reassure parents), Ms. Hudgens’ adverse publicity regarding the internet-distributed nude pictures, and reports that the male character “pimps out” his own mother, it’s not surprising that not even the TARGETED demographic showed up.
If they wanted to make a hip indie movie then they wouldn’t have cast Hudgens, Aly, or Mike Myer’s kid brother from So I Married An Axe Murderer.
The filmmakers have no one to blame but themselves for making an unmarketable tweener.
“How is it a movie that has a rating of 4.9 on IMDB is getting so much praise?”
Because it has 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, which put it on par with “District 9″ and above “Julie and Julia”, “Inglorious Bastards” and most other films this year., “
Why not ‘repackage’ the movie??? Come out with a whole new campaign, dont market Vanessa as the star of the movie but market the supporting cast, and change the name? If not for another theater release, do it for the DVD release.
I wrote this film off when I heard Vanessa Hudgens was starring. Why? Because she is horrendous actress. That mixed in with cheesy marketing made it completely out of the question for me to buy a ticket. It’s a shame because of its praise but its just hard for me to take any film seriously with her in it.
its such a shame.
This movie sucked. The reason people went to see it is because of the New Moon Trailer. Thats why i went.
Ok, short and simple. This movie flopped because they made it seem like a Disney kid movie. Also, why would they put Vanessa Hudgens right in the middle of the poster?! It’s sad, they even offered a Sneek Peek at New Moon. That should have had a lot people running to see it. Another reason was probably because “District 9″ was out, and that had a BRILLIANT Marketing Plan with the Bus ads saying “This Bus for humans Only”..ETC. Goes to show that people are getting tired of HSM and Disney.. I would be pissed if I were Vanessa.
Maybe they’ll do better on the Oscar campaign?
This thing was in trouble from the start. The part of Will was recast early early on. The name was changed what, two, three, four times? Should’ve been called Dear David Bowie, or how come they couldn’t just leave it at Will, like it was written? It should’ve been an Indie sleeper hit…instead just another Summit f*ck up on the domestic side. Problem with Summit is they put every dollar and hour into the Twilight series and everything else goes by the wayside. They’re sweating bullets about that, too. Word is they had an employee pitch day a few weeks ago because they’re so hard up for product. All they’ve got is Twilight and they’re effing that up royally, too. The domestic side of Summit is so dysfunctional it’s incredible they get anything on screen at all. Maybe Summit should just focus on what it’s good at – distributing Internationally and forget about everything else. The audience certainly has. Oh,yeah. Except Twilight. How much longer is that crap gonna last?
This movie is so smart, funny, and fresh. Went with my family, and we loved it.
COME ON!!!!!!!!
All you have to do is watch a clip or two online to see the acting sucks. No nuance, just “Disney teen acting”. Vanessa Hudgens doesn’t get points for not being bubbly. That’s what sunk it for me. The same way watching any of the advance clips for Twilight makes you amazed at how bad the acting can look in a couple of second snippets.
You want an indie film? Cast indie actors who have more going on in their faces. You went for the pretty face in casting, then you wonder why the film is marketed on it.
That poster is a crime for having the sexy “all smiles” thing gong on though – because it lies about the tone and main characters.
Seriously? They wanted to call it Rock On? These people should retire from marketing. The movie was fresh and fun, and deserved the great notices. Either way it will not be forgotten.
“Guantanamo Bay with a lunch period”
“A Nuremburg rally produced by MTV”
SO QUIRKY!!
You mean to tell me that they cast Vanessa Hudgens WITHOUT trying to bait the HSM audience? Be careful what you wish for…
One, don’t trust IMDB on info. It’s a commercial website that allows anyone to enter just about anything, whether accurate or not… like this comments section. (like me!)
Two, as soon as I saw the name “Bandslam” I knew I would go NOwhere near this movie. Sorry, cute little teenagers + “Bandslam” = HSM clone. That’s what it meant to me.
I’m glad the film wasn’t an HSM clone. But this town has very little creativity. When it sees someone made a fortune with robots and gadgets, everyone then does it to cash in…
And that’s what “Bandslam” said… we’re copying Disney’s HSM… come see a cheaper copy…
Summit ruined a good film…
Its Summit after all. But beside marketing, they sold out for what they thought would be tween money. It was a casting problem. I read the script, the tone of the it was great. Than they started attaching light weight Disney kids to it. You can’t do that and not get what you did. Will is the lead, but they put Venessa out there smiling- front and center- on the poster. Proves you can’t always follow the money.
Not arguing with anything here but anyone who thinks JUNO was “quirky and cool” has a very sitcom sense of those words.
i saw the movie the day it came out and it was really good. i didnt think that vanessa could act so differently from gabriella. people thought that it would be like a quirky disney moviw cause of the bad marketing. its a great movie and deserved to be watched and have a chance to prove itself.
The concept and title made this DOA, regardless of marketing. The poster sucks, the logline is weak. The title WILL is just as bad.
This is what happens when Hollywood closes itself off and just works with little clicks and purveys nepotism and cronyism. And I’m a relative insider. You’ve got coke-laden gatekeepers at the agencies and managerial offices, people who were brain dead even before their addictions…Hollywood is broken.
the reason why is bombed because the new moon trailer leaked all over the internet a day before, Bandslam came to theaters. So, the people who live in a cave as in they to go on the internet lol. Didn’t see it and still went to it… or they really wanted to see it… Another reason they didn’t want to see it because there tired of Vanessa Hudgens singing in movies, it just makes her look like she can’t act, so she just sings lol!
Josh Cagan wrote the script.
Todd Graff is pretty dictatorial. Insecure. Needs too much credit for things he didn’t do.
The film needed a Fox Searchlight campaign. Maybe word of mouth can get it going.
Truthfully, I didn’t see very few advertisements of this movie and had no idea what this movie was about. I kinda think that many people didn’t even know that Vanessa Hudgens was part of the movie or even lisa kudrow. Perhaps it needed a slow rollout or more sneaks. The ads I did see, did not make me want to see this movie and why open on such a crowded weekend?
This is a lot like the movie put out by Summit Entertainment called Sex Drive, it also tested very well but was promoted terrible due to Summit’s Rob Freidman, looks like he just isn’t in touch with the younger generation and should leave it to marketing people that are in touch.
In the first place, they shouldn’t have hired Vanessa Hudgens who was just coming off of HSM3. Isn’t there another edgy young actress out there who could have played her part? No matter how they marketed this movie, it was bound to bomb because Vanessa’s image is inked with Disney. Don’t kid yourselves into thinking that you can convince your audience in 30-second ads that this is not HSM3 when you have Hudgens there in high school. With a mic. And a guitar. Singing. Again.
Meh.
This is common. At least one in five films is mis-marketed- We’re only hearing about this one because one of the whiny film makers wrote a bitchy email to Nikki.
And no, film makers should NOT be marketing their own films.
The truth is that the filmmakers made a mistake in bringing it to Walden. This is a focus film. It’s smart, and edgy, and could have benefitted by being PG13 instead of PG.
Why it failed?
Could it be PARENTS dont want to take their kids to see a movie which stars a teenage girl who posts naked pics of herself online a week before it opens?
also terrible poster, terrible title, terrible marketing, no star power from any of the leads
I thought it was Camp Rock 2…
I agree. Hindsight is 20/20. Summit came off a MAJOR loss with City of Ember…not surprisingly, they were looking for what they thought were “sure things.” Critical praise is not a sure thing, but tween girls pestering their mothers to take them to the latest Vanessa Hudgins pic…if the movie was so “indie,” I agree, they should not have cast Vanessa because she brought the HSM4 veneer. And, um, “Will”…seriously?
You want to market this as an indie, then you take a big risk. Indie’s don’t open in 2121 theaters, they open in 6, then expand from there if there’s traction. Plus they don’t open in the damned summer next to a film that’s outspending them like crazy. Sony’s dumping 40MM into D-9, how is Summit supposed to match that. This could all be Rob’s fault, but whoever wrote this email should have written the film off when they picked the release date. You don’t open Juno’s in August at 2121. You won’t be able to compete in the marketing marketplace against summer budgets.
81% on rotten tomatoes-but they’ve got a poster with Hudgens ’shopped on the side
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bandslam/
I’m not saying that the marketing was good, but you dodged a bullet with Cary Granat and then Granat-less Walden. That place was/is a mess made up solely of idiots.
A couple of weeks ago a teen movie icon, John Hughes, passed away. He wrote movies with heart, and we remember them 20 years later. Will we remember High School Musical? No. Sadly, we might have remembered Will. We can learn a few things from John Hughes. Oh, he was a Mad Man, he worked at the Leo Burnett Ad Agency so I’m sure he knew a thing or two about marketing. He also knew how to tell a story.
People need to learn that no one really likes High School Musical anymore
It was from 2006, it was a decent Disney movie, with all it’s clean glory. Aly and AJ made some good hits too. Mostly, it was just a failure in marketing. From the trailer, Vanessa’s voice sounded awkward and squeaky, the movie looked too happy, and the Disney people looked like they just wanted to not be so irrelevent in today’s media. And Adding the whole “with an exclusive look at Twilight’s New Moon in theatres” would have been a good move, but it’s just stupid. It looks like they are just trying to sell a cheap New Moon Preview, that could also be found in Transformers 2, and all over youtube. The film could have been absolutly brillient, the trailer just made it look stupid and like an exagerated version of High School Music and whatever else some pathetic film company funded to create. I had no idea what the film was even about. The casting could have been improved too, Mixing Disney stars just looks like a big scam directed at 8 year-olds when the film looks like it’s directed towards teenagers. The lead male doesn’t work either, he looks really awkward in that poster, like a ugly and disoriented version of Michael Cera while drunk. It doesn’t help that the poster looks REALLY photoshopped. Overall, I just feel bad for whoever spent a couple million dollars on this thing.
Never heard of it. Been going to the movies all summer, reading the film blogs, watching more TV than usual, too. Never heard of it.
@ Bull
The release date for Bandslam was change 3 times (along with the name of the movie). It was originally slated to come out the weekend that Miley Cyrus movie came out in April. It was then moved to July 31 and finally August 14. I can’t recall if the District 9 was listed for release on that date at the time but even if it was, it pulls an entirely different. I never expected the film to get blockbuster results but it deserved better than the juvenile marketing it received.
As for those of you bashing Vanessa Hudgens, she was very good in this film. Her part is minor so it is unfortunate that people blame her for the lack of support of the movie. They focused on the wrong thing and obviously the wrong group when it came to marketing and now a good film is suffering because of it.
Walking Tall was salvaged with a reworked ad campaign; perhaps Bandslam could as well.
IIRC (hey, I was a kid then), Walking Tall was orignally marketed as a “law & order” type movie, sorta like a countrified Dirty Harry. When that didn’t quite work, the marketing changed the movie into a “tender love story” where people stood up and applauded. That marketing turned the film into a success.
I saw it last weekend with my little cousin (she thought, a little bit like me, that it was some sort of HSM (maybe because of the poster, Vanessa Hudgens and the title “Bandslam”)). Well, it was clearly not like HSM, but, still, she liked it a lot! A really great movie that really deserves to be seen ( We were just 6 or 7 people in the entire room watching it, and it was saturday!!!). Let’s just hope it will do better the next weekend, it not impossible… P.S. Sorry for my writting, I’m french
They should have hired — dare I say it? — Ellen Page for the main female role.
Here you go, Summit. Repeat after me: Ellen Page, Ellen Page, Ellen…
Well after reading this, it’s a shame they didn’t roll it out like an indie movie. Honestly though, Summit is only good at distributing Twilight and those movies suck so…
WILL is another horrible title. There’s nothing in that name that implies story or offers intrigue. It’s not MR. AND MRS. SMITH. Nor is it JUNO, which implies indie tone. Character names in general are dic
That said, I only found myself interested in the film after seeing the great reviews. Until then, I thought it was sloppy seconds product over cinema.
Summit blew it.
Since when is “Juno” the norm? Films like this rarely find their audience in the theaters. Hell, most of them don’t even get screened in more than 500 or so theaters.
The marketing didn’t help but I’m really not sure if this film (a 66 at Metacritic) ever would have been able to cross over. I’m really not sure how selling Hudgens as Ally Sheedy would have helped matters nor do I think the title “Will” is going to change anything. Also, I agree that the biggest mistake was the release date.
On a related note, look at Summit’s “The Hurt Locker”. The film is getting rave reviews AND Oscar buzz and is in about a fourth of the theaters that Bandslam opened with. At least Bandslam’s word of mouth campaign has a better shot since the film is actually playing across America.
@ Clare
No duh it pulls a different audience. I’m not talking about the audience I’m talking about available marketing ad units. D-9 had those units before they even announced a release date. Sony would outspend Summit hands down. Thus your share of voice in the ad marketplace was going to be week. All of the dates you referenced are terrible for a small film with heart. There are too many competitors marketing films with bigger budgets and they will spend more than you can for better ads. Plain and simple. That’s why you release small movie’s in fall, the ads are a little easier to come by, the competition isn’t as stiff, and theater chains are willing to bring on proven product. Summer is not the time for Juno’s plain and simple. The dating of the film sounds like either a Rob or Distribution mess up. The Marketing seems to play the hand they were dealt. The risk is if the movie doesn’t get good reviews and good word of mount you don’t make jack on it.
It does seem ironic that the week John Hughes sadly died and people lamented the dearth of authentic iconic films for teenagers, one was released and got flushed down the drain. BANDSLAM fell prey to 2 common Hollywood ailments: The stubborn refusal of marketing to ever consider what filmmakers know to be a movie’s core strength (especially with a very personal film) and the desire of a new regime that is hostile to the old see a movie fail. Bandslam had no real advocates on the inside. Todd Graff made a great film from Josh Cagan’s script. Sadly Todd and Josh are the losers here. Good work should be rewarded.
@ Clare
Also what other group is there to market too after the D-9ers and HSMers in the summer? 35+? The reason why Summer gets big box office, cause kids are out of school and can see movies all day long. If you’re going after everyone but HSMers and the Action crowd, why go in summer?
Summit marketed it all wrong. The trailers made it look cheesy and corny and deliberately made us think Vanessa Hudgens was playing the same kind of role when she was not. They made it seem like she was the lead when she is not and it did not help that main shots we got of her were singing on the stage reminding us of HSM. People have moved on from HSM and this is what she was also doing in this film, successfully playing a character that is very different from the sweet vanilla one she had played before but summit chose to portray her character as a rock lite version of Gabriella when they are nothing alike. This film deserves to be seen as it is actually good, the cast and crew done a fantastic job and I enjoyed this movie.
I have never posted here before but feel compelled as I loved this movie. I saw it before the passing of John Hughes and thought of him when I saw it. The time seemed so perfect for this smart and genuine movie about being an outsider teen. Graff made a movie with a heart and a head. He made a movie that is not cotton candy for the HSM set. Shame on the people who can’t figure out how to sell a movie that is getting raves and is also a funny and appealing movie suited to a wide range of people — not arthouse doom and gloom. If I saw that poster I would never go see that movie. Lame.
So very frustrated at how this terrific little movie has been mismarketed — not since Gramercy bobbled Soderbergh’s KING OF THE HILL and Linklater’s DAZED AND CONFUSED have I seen such a good movie mucked up. The John Hughes comparisons are apt, and had Summit been smart, they could have built more of a critical and popular groundswell before the film opened in theaters. (One critic told me she went to one of the two L.A. media screenings and that there was only one other critic in attendance.)
Bandslam might be the worst title of all time, but at least it’s unique. “Will” is as hokey as it is vague and boring.
Had they originally used a better title than “Will,” the studio might not have changed it. Seriously, “WILL?” Give me a freaking break.
I kinda expected this film to fail. Summit is the one releasing it! They made the MAJORITY of their money from Twilight and that is what they are banking on carrying their asses for the next 4 years! They did not make the effort to promote it the right way and it didn’t help that they had two “robot and action” movies being released at the same time! The only way this film will make a profit is if they re-market it or WOM which isn’t too strong nowadays!
I saw plenty of ads for “Bandslam” on television, but I thought it was a TV movie. I was surprised to find out last week that this was in theaters. I guess that IS bad marketing. If it really is good, it might still find an audience on DVD.
About the only good thing to come out of the film at this point will be the Burning Hotels. What a great find by director Todd Graff. I thought they were actors, but the fact that they are a real band was a kind of a cool and clever twist at the end of the day. But then you see that goofy ass poster and realize how a small detail like this is easily wasted.
Zero real advertising. What a shame!
I wanted to see this movie when LIAM AIKEN was still in it… then he was released with no reasons to be given! He has the talent and the looks to make a crap HSM-like movie look good…
Now I believe he wouldnt like to be connected to this movie… at all…
But the shamest part is that they replaced him with this very ugly newcomer…
And obviously Vanessa can’t sell a movie…
Oh well.
My daughter and her friends , all 14 , hate Vanessa . They just don’t go for her, but they are very good at picking up on word of mouth. If this is any near as good as School of Rock they will go countless times anyway.
Vanessa is NOT THE LEAD! Will is the lead character. His POV people!
Get off Vanessa, the girl can act. Aly did an amazing job too. The poster sucks, but no one saw any ad’s anywhere! And it’s in a lot of theatres. It may be okay, me thinks.
You know what actually deserved a pity party like this? Crank: High Voltage…still the best movie of 2009, so far.
“Guantanamo Bay with a lunch period”…Jesus Christ. That’s about as inert and obvious as a Family Guy joke.
I saw this with my two daughters, ages 10 and 13, neither of whom are Vanessa fans, and they really liked it. One thing I will say, though, is that the audience they were marketing it to (kids who have to be taken by their mommies — which is not, as the article says, the correct audience) does not necessarily rush out and brave the crowds to see a movie on opening night. So it may build in the next week or so, if they don’t kill it.
By the way, the difference between the imdb user rating and the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating PROBABLY has something to do with the fact that the real critics were required to SEE the movie before they gave it a bad review. Half the imdb ratings went up before the movie opened.
@Chew Chew: filmmakers shouldn’t market their own films? Really? DISTRICT 9 seemed to do okay and Jackson directed the campaign. Say what you will about the final product, but CLOVERFIELD exceeded expectations and that was all JJ’s people. IRON MAN? Favreau and Marvel masterminded the marketing, and Nolan hand picked and approved everything about THE DARK KNIGHT’s viral campaign.
One hopes that the artistic, financial and – yes – marketing success of D9 will tell studios to get out of the way and let filmmakers do their thing. Sadly, their take-away will probably be, “hey! Let’s do a project just like D9, only for $200mm with Brett Ratner directing!”
I’ve had all kinds of disagreements with Nikki’s editorial slant on a number of issues, but she’s dead-on right to shine a light on this one because it’s an indicative of a problem across the business. BANDSLAM should have been marketed like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Instead, a pack of unimaginative rubes ended up killing a fine film in the crib.
I would rather call it death by casting.
Having read the script and seen the movie I thought what were they thinking? Ally and Vanessa are Disney girls in an indie movie. In my mind Rob Friedman just tried to save the day.
So glad to read this story as I thought I was going crazy trying to DRAG 5 tween/teens to see it! Even my 8-yr-old didn’t want to go. I took them based on reviews and they ALL were shocked that they liked it. I think one quote was, “it looked like HSM which was SO last year.” And the other, “Vanessa Hudgens wasn’t even the star…”
I don’t agree that it’s GREAT with some very clunky scenes, too much exposition for the backstory and some weak editing but its definitely a different take.
It also doesn’t rank up their with any of the John Hughes movies or other awesome high school looks like “Pump Up the Volume” or “Empire Records,” or even “Nick & Norah” but it did tell an unconventional story that doesn’t whitewash the high school experience.
Hopefully the industry will realize it was the marketing and consider making other off-kilter films.
I ONLY saw this movie b/c a friend of mine has a small role in it. A group of us went (20’s to 30’s, NYC professionals and artists), and we were all teasing him about preferring to watch G-Force instead — that’s how Disney teeny bopper we all thought this movie would be.
To a man (and woman), we all enjoyed the movie and were shocked at how good it was and different than expectations.
Does not deserve the box office egg it laid.
“will” would have been an awful title to market as well. Face it, this movie was unmarketable. They had to go the route of featuring Disney actors because that’s the only one that might have worked. The indie thing wouldn’t work. The only thing they had going for them were going good reviews, which don”t affect movies aimed at kids.
poor eric kops, he is walking into a real mess over at summit… good luck, if you cannot turn this around, no one can…
Marketing is what killed Bandslam, but it started before the picture even started filming. Despite a highly publicized “talent search for REAL MUSICIANS,” Bandslam was cast in a cynical attempt to cash in on two Disney – manufactured stars whose “acting” consists of making faces. Added to that mix is lead actor Gaelen Connell, who has zero acting experience. I saw the movie Saturday, and the result is exactly what anybody sane would have expected – yawn-inducing mediocrity. Here was a good script with lots of potential that just needed the right talent. Wake up Hollywood – the days of fans going to the movies just because they know the star’s name are long past. Concentrate on making a film worth seeing, with a good story and good acting, and people will pay to see it.
Wait a second…a decent film with great reviews gets buried in the marketplace by crap marketing and has to find its audience on DVD/cable? That NEVER happens. Yawn. This is news?
Because of this article I went and saw Bandslam and really liked it. While the marketing was indeed all wrong, I wonder if the movies lackluster performance has more to do with the overcrowding of releases at the end of the summer. The title was wrong and should have been called Will or better yet, Dewey (DUI).
Glad to see some of the underappreciated actors from Friday Night Lights, Scott Porter getting work. He was good, in a more or less nothing role.
I saw it and thought it sucked. The lead was incredibly ugly and the story lacked any believability whatsoever. The motivations were ridiculous. As far as edgy, if this movie is edgy, then Urkle was downright street. Give this turkey a pass.
There were two studios involved in BANDSLAM not just one. What did Walden do or not do for this little gem of a film?
Did Walden offer any kind of marketing pushback to Summit, did it have a marketing plan of its own, a view of the film separate from Summit’s? Where was the oversight on Walden’s part? Makes you wonder what’s going on over there too.
They should have called it I Can’t Go On; I’ll Go On, after the band in the film.
I worked in post on this film and everyone who touched this film fell in love with it. The talented and ascerbic director Todd Graff knew exactly what he wanted to make and he did just that.. to echo the comments above, a funny, charming, off-beat, teenage rock n roll movie with heart. It’s a shame that it didn’t get the proper marketing or a chance to find its audience. They took a loss on this one…
I thought the movie was watchable but not much more. And how come no one is talking about the horrible finale number? They cover a song by …….Bread????????
WTF?
I almost choked on what was left of my soda.
I worked for Rob once upon a time and I really like him a lot. He was a good guy. It’s too bad this marketing blunder falls on his shoulders, but c’mon, everyone has their ups and downs in this biz. Rob’s done some good work and so has Nancy Kirkpatrick… That said, wtf???
I CONSIDER MYSELF A MUSIC SNOB, AND THE MUSIC IN THIS FILM WAS GREAT. VELVET UNDERGROUND, BOWIE, AND YES, BREAD. THEY HAD SOME GREAT SONGS. I THINK THE MOVIE WAS GOOD, AND MY VIEW IS, AS LONG AS PEOPLE ARE TALKING, IT’S STILL GOT A HEARTBEAT.
We saw it and it was VERY good. It wasn’t all cream puffs & sunshine. Summit could’ve done SO much as far as the band’s MySpace page, etc. There were several things that could’ve been done in a viral sort of way. I hope word of mouth can help it somewhat. It really is disappointing that so many were led to believe it was going to be Disney-esque.
Bandslam was surprisingly good. And i entered the film very un biased and found the acting talent to be fresh. Many of you mentioned Vanessa Hudgens as a problem in this film. I don’t think casting her was the problem, that’s still on marketing. They made this film out to be a High School Musical wannabe and sold it to a much younger crowd that it would be best suited for, not to mention they made her seem like the lead. The trailer and poster are awful and again make Vanessa seem like the lead and a Disney TV movie. She is hardly in the film, sings one song and played a more darker character and color me impressed but well too. But the trailer had her singing and the poster had her smack in the middle, smiling? With a guitar?
This film should have been sold to a wider age group and more targeted to teens and adults even. Am I suppose to believe that 12 year olds know what CBGB is? And about the sex pistols and the velvet underground? If it was correctly marketed it would be clear that HSM girl was only a supporting character and I believe older audiences wouldn’t get into that middle school crap about some pictures and use it against her. At least that’s what happened to me. I went wanting to see District 9 (sold out) and a friend insisted we checked this out. I’m not a Disney pop fan therefore smiling tween stars smiling on a poster didn’t really appeal to me, not to mention i dislike twillight therefore i had no interest in the trailer. I’s a shame this film wasn’t better advertised. This and probably the hangover are the only two films on my movie list worth seeing this summer.
I’ll go see it tomorrow with my aunt and sister. I’ll drag them if I have to. I don’t want indies like this do so horribly due to bad marketing, while GI Joe and Transformers do so well.
Just so everyone knows…the filmmakers of District 9 did a fabulous job of creating the whole “for humans only” campaign, but can we give just a little credit to the publicity departments who were relentless in getting Neill Blomkamp’s and Sharlto Copley’s names out there?
As for what Walden did to promote Bandslam – pretty much nothing. And yes, Eric Kops will be walking into a mess at Summit, but the insinuation that the failure of Bandslam is to be all on the person he’s replacing is a giant load of horsecrap.
Maybe Summit should have released it in the Fall. Maybe they should have changed the release date yet again once they saw how District 9 was tracking, even if the dems are different. Maybe Summit should’ve really reworked the campaign and lame creative.
Oh, well. They can’t all be Twilight, can they? Maybe this is Summit’s place in the industry: Putting out disappointing non-hits one after another.
After reading this and the comments, I have to agree that the marketing screwed the movie. Well, not the movie because it was refreshing to watch and it did not make me feel like a pre-tween. The PR/marketing screwed the director, the writer, the staff and the cast. They could have use that music video, that ‘Where are you now’ song, as promotions, if they still wanted to target the ‘infants/kids’.
And I agree with the person that the title should have been ‘I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On’.
“Summit marketed it all wrong.”
Ah, Monday morning quarterbacking. I don’t know Rob Friedman and I haven’t seen the campaign, but how would YOU market a movie with a lead actor who bears more than a passing resemblance to Welcome Back Kotter’s Ron Palillo – only not as good looking?
“The trailers made it look cheesy and corny”
That’s because the film IS cheesy and corny.
On the basis of the bewildering comments here, I saw the film tonight and thought it dreadful. Juno may not have been a paragon of emotional honesty, but it’s Bergman next to this. For those believing the BS here that it’s the next great indie film, IT IS NOT. It’s a very simple minded little film that IS geared towards kids. Perhaps if I’d ignored the hype here I could have enjoyed it like my 11 year old, since he’s the target age for the campaign AND the filmmakers.
Absolutely true. Personally, as someone who is tired of the HSM movies and all the hype surrounding them, I legitimately thought it was a Disney Flick. All the smiling faces and covers on the poster didn’t dissuade me against that notion. However, after reading this, I’m really interested in the seeing the film. Thanks for the eye-opener.
“Summit marketed it all wrong.”
Ah, Monday morning quarterbacking. I don’t know Rob Friedman and I haven’t seen the Bandslam campaign, but how would YOU knuckleheads market a movie with a male lead who bears more than a passing resemblance to Welcome Back Kotter’s Ron Palillo – only not as charming or good looking? And to the other marketing know-it-alls here, I’m sure if you were in charge, you’d have created a campaign that would NOT have showcased Vanessa Hudgens. Yeah right…
“The trailers made it look cheesy and corny”
That’s because the film IS cheesy and corny. The film is not without some charm, but I’m really beginning to wonder if the raves on this site shouldn’t be viewed as some sort of insidious reverse guerilla marketing by Summit. The uncalled for praise makes no sense otherwise.
On the basis of the rather bewildering comments here, I went last night with spouse & child to see the film. It really was pretty mediocre – and I’m being polite. Juno may not have been a paragon of emotional honesty, but nest to Bandslam it’s Bergman. For those believing the BS here that if it only had great marketing it would have been the next great indie film, IT IS NOT. It’s a very simple-minded little film that IS geared towards tweens. Perhaps if I’d ignored the hype here I could have enjoyed it like my 11 year old did, since he’s the target age for the campaign AND the filmmakers.
I felt truly angry with myself for falling for all the hype generated here.
THIS WAS “WILL”??
I’m shocked. I saw the script for “Will” and teen actors all over the US were begging for the role. The script was very, very good. When they cast Vanessa, everyone was bummed because apparently the film makers apparently did not realize that she is so “bubblegum” and so yesterday. The fans of High School Musical are in college now and they left all of Disney behind. We kissed the film goodbye then.
And no, the re-release of Vanessa’s naked pictures didn’t fool those young adult fans. It just showed that she belongs back at Disney.
In all the marketing, even after having read the script, I saw ZERO resemblance to the “Will” script I saw. Wow, did they blow it.
First in casting Vanessa and Aly, next in marketing.
How sad. They finally had a good original script and they screwed it up by doing exactly what Disney has screwed up for the last 6 years or so: Recycling. They take the same old people and concepts recycle, ad naseum. Now they are recycling movies that haven’t been used yet!
A
I wouldn’t have gone if it were free. Once I heard Bobby Bones was in it that sealed the deal. Wouldn’t waste a nickel on it.
Seriously… Wilco, Velvet, Bread, Nick Drake and even this band, the Burning Hotels! Come on. How do you drop the ball here?
To be fair, if you don’t want your movie marketed as a Disney musical you shouldn’t cast your two female leads with two Disney singing stars.
Saw it this weekend with my teenager — it was fabulous, and she was blown away by how good it was. She expected it to be another “HSM” (which she grew out of three years ago), but reluctantly agreed to see it with me when I showed her some of the reviews. Great great film — thanks Nikki for exposing what went wrong.
Hey, all hype – you’re wrong. it’s a good movie. I, likeyou, was hater. I didn’t want to see it. couldn’t make me see it. Vanessa Hudgens was no draw. But I went out of curiosity, and I found myself really surprised. Charmed. And I guess I have to admit, Vanessa Hudgens was really good. She had depth, and humor, and gave an understated performance. Obviously she took this movie to change her image. Not that the people who marketed this cared. But if I were here manger lawer team, I’d have been all over them forcing them not to see this like it was a disney flick.
Vanessa Hudgens your team failed you in that they should have convinced the studios not to sell it that way, not to call it bandslam, but rather to sell it on the very concept of the movie. A guy named Will who’s a nerd, a guy named Bug who is Fela, a guy from Newark who talks with an English accent, a girl with an intial in her name, and the rest of them. That’s the sale. Boy did they mess up.
No hype here. It’s a good movie with a bad campaign. As someone said earlier, if video killed the radio star, then marketing killed bandslam. RiP.
I just saw the new ads for Bandslam on ABC Family, overnight they have changed, much more edgy. Maybe they got the message in time.
The original breakdowns for casting this movie said NO DISNEY STYLE ACTORS. How did they fall so far from their original plans? It’s sad that the original vision for the film, when it was still called Will, was competely lost in their effort to just make money. If they hadn’t tried to get the HSM audience and left this as the quirky, fantastic story that it is they would have had a huge hit.
Great Movie. Horrible Marketing.
Vanessa did a good job in this movie – I usually hate her.
Aly did excellent – I’ll say this now and I’m sure i’ll say it many more times. ALY HASNT BEEN ON DISNEY SINCE SHE WAS FREAKING 16. She’s 20 now and hasn’t done anything other than her music in association with Disney. I can’t blame her for auditioning for the LEAD female role in a great script. Vanessa was the biggest problem when it came to tying this film into a dinsey-esque type thing, which is a shame because vanessa actually did well.
Liam Aiken would have been better in turms of acting but Galean Conell wasn’t horrible. At least he was real. I’ve come to face it. Kids that look like scott porter or are clean cut/good looking kids just aren’t outcasts. Casting a not so good-looking kid was good. It made the situation believable.
I can’t say what I would have done with the marketing but I surely wouldn’t have capitalized on Vanessa Hudgens who wasn’t even the lead – not even the female lead, in this movie.
I saw Bandslam because of the reviews.
I was shocked by how bad the film was. But first let’s talk about this so-called marketing folly. This film was a marketing disaster before any materials were created! Who is the audience? It’s so confused. You cast Disney stars and then complain that the marketing is Disney? You don’t like the title BANDSLAM but you *do* like the title WILL? You have a modern day teenage band do a rock performance at a competition, and they do a cover of a Bread song? You want it to be an indie delight, but the emotions and content is all surface level.
But let’s get on to the creative choices…
Casting. You have a character who is supposed to be half of the romantic center of the film, and you choose to have her character to express no emotion. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Your lead is terrible. He has no charisma, and at best seems to be doing a bad Shia impression circa Evan Stevens. At worst he’s doing a bad impression of Michael Anganaro’s bad Shai impression in FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. The casting is a disaster in almost every role, with the possible exception of Scott Porter.
Story. The film revolves around a ridiculous non-romantic love-triangle. On the surface this may seem like a good idea, but it leads to extended sequences of nonsense unfounded jealousy and fake obstacles in the path of romance. It also suffers from the ridiculous “all my actions are undone because once upon a time I told a lie” conceit of the most generic of teenage movies (which makes it all the more ridiculous that people are claiming this is smarter than the average teenage film). Could go on, but don’t want to waste all of your time.
The music. It’s a problem if your hero band never actually sounds good. You fill the music with great music (which in my opinion, rarely actually fit the pace of the scenes they’re stuck in) and then have our band of heroes play crap. They consistently are bad, even when they’re supposed to be good. The final performance is honestly terrible. They deserved to lose, and the only redeeming thing is that they DID lose. But then we’re going to pretend their crappy Bread cover is going to get them a record deal and a huge internet following?
Let’s talk technical issues… The sound mix on this film is one of the worst I’ve ever heard. It’s a music movie, and the music sounds like it’s coming out of a can of cotton swabs. It looks like one day was spent on a DI stage, with the goal to make the dailies look even worse. The whole film is technically a step above a student film, and I’m honestly shocked because I’m sure the crew of the film are capable of much more than this.
I think the only reason this movie got high reviews from critics is John Hughes died, and critics were going to give any John Hughes ripoff a pass that week.
I think the critics owe the audience an apology.
Why are some people hung up on Disney? Are all Disney kid actors that bad? And even if they were that ‘bad’, at some point, these ‘bad’ kid actors do grow up and could probably develop their acting. It is not like they are going to be a kid forever and be bestfriends with the mouse.
Just because some of the cast of Bandslam made some shows with Disney, doesn’t mean they can’t break out from Disney. Point is, this film is good and it can reach out to the young generation of today (this should have been the ad campaign for it).
And hey, if Shia LaBeouf, a former Disney star, can do it, why can’t the others?
‘Roger’ took the words out of my mouth. The ‘insider’ filmmaker who blames the marketing needs to take a good long look in the mirror. I’m so tired of filmmakers blaming marketing when they should have considered marketing when making decisions for the film in the first place. To be sure, Rob Friedman is a marketing executive from another era when uncreative campaigns could play to lowest common denominator, when audiences could be taken for granted and they would still turn out, but really, filmmakers of Bandslam – or WILL – get real. This was no indie sleeper, just a mediocre, nice, film with no discernable audience. Good if you get a free ticket. Even on the page, without the added challenge of casting Vanessa, Ally and a charmless male lead (if you were trying to find the next anthony micheal hall, oops), this was doomed. Yes, it was a good read, but it was never edgy enough to play to really cool older kids, and not pop or safe enough for the disney set. This is another example of a bunch of out of touch adults in hollywood believing their own bullshit. Positive reviews as other commenters noted, were certainly a result of reduced expectations.
This movie deserved so much more than what it got from stupid Summit, who is too obsessed with it’s Twilight crap. They targeted an audience way too young for this movie; young kids would just not get the writing, the music, the themes. The older teens and music buffs, who would love this movie, would not be caught dead seeing a Disney-like movie.
My daughter and I LOVED this movie, and they just don’t make good, clean, fun movies like this anymore. Shame on Summit.
Well, I for one am glad that you published this story. I had no interest in seeing the movie, as I had very little awareness of it beyond the fact that it looked like HSM, and I’m not twelve. This story made me go see it.
Loved it. It’s charming, well-written, mostly very well-acted, and comparing it to “School of Rock” is ludicrous; this movie has a much more authentic passion for and love of music, and the kids are actually real characters with pasts and emotions.
As for the “charmless” male lead — he was terrific. Loved him, loved his non-cookie-cutter looks and attitude, and loved the smart script. Thanks for posting the story, Nikki, and giving me one of my favorite movie experiences of what’s been a pretty thin year so far.
Having been a producer who worked a film through summit i can say the place is doomed. there are actually some good people over there. they work hard, come up with good ideas, sometimes, and present them to you. then rob walks in the room, late, with a different opinion, seemingly rendered on the spot, and everybody just nods their heads like those fed ex commercials. total joke. no spines cuz rob doesn’t welcome debate or conflicting opinions. they also have no balls as a studio. they go half assed on every release. no real commitment, just hoping for a flyer to come out of nowhere. they know (or think they do) that if they just play it safe and wait for a new twilight every year they can keep their jobs for a few more years till that franchise plays itself out. really sad, cuz the idea: a studio with low overhead and good foreign sales, could have prospered had they had the right top down management.
I feel bad for the bandslam filmmakers cuz summit did the same thing to them as everyone. they base the marketing on what they think (always wrongly) the audience wants, instead of the strengths of the film itself. and the audience can smell out the bs everytime, particularly since they don’t really commit even to their own vision and instead deliver watered down pap.
I thought it was going to be HSM4 type of movie. I took my youngest girl to see it, and she didn’t like it. I loved the music and the story idea and the indie git look of the film. She’s 10 and thought it was boring. She also thought the lead actor Gaelan Collen was really ugly. I thought he was unappealing and I found it unrealistic that Vanessa and Aly would give him the time of day. He was really miscast. Other then that the movie was pretty good.
Wow guys…all you people talking such amazing things about the movie actually encouraged me to go out and see it.
Worst decision ever. I actually walked out (and stayed out) when the ex-boyfriend starting singing for Vanessa. Seriously, this was worse than the crap Bollywood comes up with.