Covid & The New Film Market

For years, Hollywood studios have developed marketing strategies in order to present and introduce audiences to their films, from the small, independent films to the biggest summer blockbusters.

Whether it be through poster material, social media outlets, film trailers, or film festivals and conventions, studios have found a multitude of ways to promote their products.

Release dates were set. Promotion began. That was, until Covid-19 hit the globe. And then everything changed.

Studios were forced to push back films. Promotional material released now sits, over a year prior to the new release. One such film, the new Bond film, No Time To Die, released a film trailer was first released 11 months ago. The film will now be released some time next year, leaving that trailer sitting for well over a year. No Time to Die’s theme song, for instance, was released all the way back in February. And now, the films lead, Daniel Craig, is appearing on talk shows promoting a film that is now six months away from release.

But that does not mean promotion for the film has stopped. Studios have just had to get more creative with their approaches. Zoom is a large gateway in that regard. As guests cannot physically walk on set for talk shows, they now speak and interview over Zoom with the host in order to promote their films. Trailers are still made and released, except, they now hold back on release dates or exact timetables as Covid could change and impact that. Same goes for posters and other promotional material as well as social media.

While the system still isn’t perfect and adapting is still going on, the studios and their marketing continue to develop and find new and innovative ways to promote and release their material.