Brand Consultant for Blumhouse
Letter of Interest to Blumhouse
To whom it may concern,
My name is Julia Conoscenti and I am currently a PR and Advertising student at USC.
Blumhouse as a brand has been a game-changer for the Horror genre, creating innovative and creative movies on a micro-budget. With several high-grossing films, including Get Out, Halloween, and Split, Blumhouse’s films have topped the box office on several occasions.
I am applying to the position of Producer for you company and I am confident I can make an immediate contribution to your team given the opportunity. Highlights of my qualifications most relevant to your needs include:
Assistant Producer and Production Coordinator, Jellysmack
- Casted talent for new projects
- Oversaw contracts and negotiations with future talent
- Help in production development, producing and Public Relations for a multitude of Jellysmack shows
- Created scripts for SuperMission show on YouTube and Facebook, accumulating > 5 million views
Marketing Intern, BD Prime
- Developed website content and communicated with potential clientele.
- Maintained social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and Website
- Attended to phone calls regarding problems and concerns with clientele
I also have considerable experience in front of the camera. I have been passionate about Blumhouse and your mission since the very first Paranormal Activity. You were one of the first productions companies to include more diversity and inclusion within your cast and crews, and I believe that your business model of shooting low budget films and taking creative risks is phenomenal. I believe I would be a great addition to your team due to all the qualified highlights above.
Bad Marketing - The Hunt
An issue that Blumhouse Productions faced recently involved their movie The Hunt, a film originally set to be released in September 2019. The Hunt is a highly graphic and violent film, and after the two mass shootings that happened in 2019, the idea of what the film might be about — wealthy liberal elites mercilessly killing right-leaning Americans — came to overwhelm what it was — a satirical horror action thriller.
- The initial controversy over the movie only intensified after conservative news outlets caught a peek of the word “deplorable” in the script. The term “deplorable” was most famously used as a moniker for Donald Trump’s voters in 2016 when Hillary Clinton said it while campaigning: “You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.”
- Clinton continued to say that those in the basket were “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it.”
Message Failed
Even though no one had seen the actual movie, only the trailer, the marketing team failed to convey the desired message sufficiently.
- The Hunt was framed as a brutal battle of Blue versus Red. Even Donald Trump caught a glimpse of the trailer, arguing that the movie was made “in order to inflame and cause chaos,” in a Twitter post.
Much of this was due to the marketing strategies of Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures, whose message for the movie was submerged in a political fiasco and taken out of context due to public sensitivity of recent tragic events.
For example, ESPN pulled an ad for the film because it opened with a sound resembling an emergency broadcast signal, which triggered many people in the wake of two mass shootings that killed 31 people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in August of 2019.
Good Marketing - US
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The movie poster for US is a prime example of phenomenal advertising. The poster plays up the scary doppelgänger premise of the film and catches the audiences attention as Lupita Nyong’o‘s character is scene revealing her true self. It’s an incredible piece of art and I believe that having Nyong’s character remove her “normal” face brings a sinister feel to the whole poster.
The advertisement demonstrates that you don’t have to do too much to have a message come across and really shock your viewers. I love that she is also submerged in the darkness behind her and the red of her clothing really pops. The color red is usually used to evoke feelings of danger and strong emotions.
Storytelling Campaign for Five Nights at Freddy's
Five nights at Freddy’s Campaign Idea
I would love to make an interactive game on the internet to help advertise the film. A Twitter account would be set up for the main security worker in the video game and a team would act as him giving updates on his restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
In the video game, the security worker is terrorized by murderous animatronic characters. Every night leading up to the movie, he will tweet about these murderous animatronics and ask twitter users for help on how he can defeat these creatures. This type of advertisement allows for user engagement and allows fans to interact enthusiastically with the brand. Since it’s called Five Nights at Freddy’s, it would be good to release these tweets five nights before the premiere. On fifth night, the security guard will defeat the animatronics and ask viewers to see his battles in real life within theaters.
The Truth About Pam Advertisement
Why is this good advertisting?
Blumhouse and NBC’s advertisement on Instagram for The Thing About Pam is phenomenal. It’s captivating, unique, innovative. NBC’s target audience is usually individuals aged 18-49, however, I feel like Blumhouse is going to potentially bring in that younger demographic of those 13 and up who love the horror/crime genre. I do feel the show advertisement is aimed more for an older audience, 25-49, and those familiar with the involvement of Pam Hupp in the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria since that’s what the show is based upon.
I love how the newspaper completely mummifies the main actress in the beginning, showing the audience that the masks she wears in public is based upon there assumptions people have made about her on the news, newspapers, social media, etc.
- The big bold headlines are intriguing. As an audience member, I am eager to learn why she’s a “suspected murderer”, who was “shot to death”; it reels you in and makes you want to watch the show so you can uncover these truths.
- I also think it was brilliant how they uncover Pam completely once she says “I’m just Pam” and you realize that she looks like your typical nice next door neighbor. It’s interesting to see that the audio contradicts the words being show on the screen.
- For example when she says “And a good friend” then the headline Friend Stabbed to Death makes its way across the screen.
- Due to the dark atmospheric colors, the advertisement brings a type of eeriness. However, there is a lightheartedness there with the monologue and her sipping the big slushy at the end, demonstrating that there’s going to be comedic aspects in the show.
In the Future
I suggest they post more behind the scenes content, especially on TikTok. A lot of viewers like to see what happens behind the scenes of a film and horror films have a tremendous amount of hair, makeup and costume special effects. Socials can also have videos of actors doing fun stunt work, Q&A sessions, and funny cast pranks.
These types of videos allow for “parasocial” relationships to occur, which is a psychological term for the one-sided relationships viewers and fans have with celebrities