I used to hate Marketing. I used to hate advertisements. I still do a little. But I'm also more reconciled to the idea that marketing isn't necessarily the Devil. And there are so many great ads now, like the latest Spike Jonze gap commercial.
And yet, there's something so appealing about an organization like AA, which operates by "attraction, not promotion." I used to try to make films according to that credo, and never did any promoting whatsoever. But the end result was poverty and obscurity.
I was resigned to this, believing that I was making my films for posterity. But at a certain point, it became clear that I couldn't continue to make films if they weren't making their money back (which they weren't). And it also became clear that filmmaking is a competitive sport, and that the only way to sustain a film career was to play by the rules, to enter the box office arena, and to engage in the cultural conversation of late capitalism, however shallow or distasteful.
And the surprise (thank you, God) was that it's fun. It's as fun as anything else. Or, to put it another way, it, too, is God. And so, I don't hate marketing anymore.
posted by Caveh Zahedi at
12:03 PM
