Foreign film companies are far more professional when releasing films compared to domestic film-makers, resulting in few tickets at the box-office for the home grown industry.

Mai Phuong Thuy in Japan joins the global premiere of Transformers II.

Overseas companies release films in a professional manner

It is a simple fact that foreign film companies prepare serious marketing and advertising campaigns for films soon to be released. The style and professionalism of such programs also continue to improve and evolve.

Recently, MegaStar, an overseas company, has spent a large sum of money for Miss Vietnam Mai Phuong Thuy to travel to Japan and join the global promotion of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The intension is to actively approach world movies instead of waiting for them to come to Vietnam.

This campaign was well prepared with photo shoots and schedules for Mai Phuong Thuy to meet the director Michael Bay and actors from the film.

Pictures of the trip were presented via different means of communication, and for the release of the film, MegaStar is preparing a more costly plan than the trip to Japan.

“There might be a robot riding on a bus around the city, for instance,” a company representative said.

MegaStar’s plan for the film Hannah Montana: The Movie, another big budget film from Disney, included the singing contest “Hannah Montana Idol” with prizes worth millions of dong.

Contestants had to see the film in advance to participate.

In another example of creating hype, the premiere of the film Confessions of a Shopaholic had tens of models.

The professionalism of a film company is also shown by the way to it attracts publicity, especially when audience numbers start to drop.

An example can be seen with Hannah Montana and its “Cinema with the Stars” promotion.

During the middle of the film’s run, young audiences coming to the cinema whispered with each other about the next show time in which the singers Khong Tu Quynh and Wanbi Tuan Anh would come for photos, as well as play games with fans.

That plan was obviously a success.

Domestic companies: when to be the same?

While overseas film companies become more professional, domestic companies seem to have remained stagnant.

For decades, the structure for releasing a new film is merely a premiere with reporters, some posters on the streets and brochures at ticket booths, or advertising on television if the budget allows.

The film is then released and quietly pulled at the end of its run.

Hundreds of films paid from the national budget have been pulled early due to the lack of audiences.

Recently, the film Moon at the Bottom of the Well, winner of the Golden Kite film festival, had to find its audience overseas, as there was no official plan for a domestic release, according to the director of Liberty Film, its producer.

Some other films like Living in Fear, Black Forest conducted their own releases and advertising campaigns, but were not a success either due to the lack of professionalism or budget constraints.

This is a common problem for films produced by domestic studios, especially regarding the issue of marketing budgets.

“Giving a film to professional film promoters will definitely help it become a success. But then who pays?” one director once asked.

The problem has been raised in many movie related meetings and various solutions mentioned, but all of which seem to be confused.

One solution receiving much support is to let the Government take care of both production and release budgets, with a clear rule of a certain percentage of the latter compared to the former.

It is highly unreasonable to spend billions of dong for production but only a few million dong for marketing.

Seeing foreign films make such a success in the market, domestic producers cannot help feeling grieved about their products. They could only hope for a better future, but then that future may never happen.

VietNamNet/SGGP