Spoiler alert! What you are about to read may not answer all of your questions about effective entertainment PR, but it will tackle one of the most pressing challenges entertainment marketing professionals are having to address in today’s Incessant Information Stream media.

It’s no secret that, particularly American, entertainment production companies are struggling to capture and keep the same audience market share that came so easy a few short years ago. Take the latest Transformers movie for example. Sure, it did well in the States, but nowhere near as well as prior installments in the franchise. Some major production houses just flat out sat out of the summer blockbuster season, preferring to release small budget films throughout the year and hoping to score with quantity rather than quality.

Public Relations & Marketing for a Movie

Could it be that Hollywood is finally beginning to feel the sting from streaming media and on demand television? Pick a cable provider and scroll through the on demand titles. You can expect to find one or two “watch while in theaters” opportunities. Even the concept would have been laughable a decade ago. For years companies turned a blind eye as pirates threw up recorded copies of first run movies online. They didn’t see the competition. But, a generation raised on bit torrents and Netflix certainly understands the value of watching what I want, when I want … WHERE I want.

The days of waiting for a film to come out, of camping out on opening night, and theaters sold out days before a release are starting to see a decline as more consumers opt for other entertainment options.

Producers and film PR firms have fired back by offering longer and more frequent trailers, hoping to entice viewers by offering an extended tease. The new TMNT movie has released three different trailers in the span of a month, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy just dropped a nearly five-minute block of the movie to give fans a taste.

Where once the teaser trailer was a real art form, snippets strung together into a 90-second emotional roller coaster, now companies are just cutting out chunks of film and throwing it up on YouTube.

Is this the studios giving ground to new media, or do they have another plan up their sleeve? What do you think?

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Ronn Torossian is the Founder & Chairman of 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independently owned PR firms in the United States. Since founding 5WPR in 2003, he has led the company's growth and vision, with the agency earning accolades including being named a Top 50 Global PR Agency by PRovoke Media, a top three NYC PR agency by O'Dwyers, one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces and being awarded multiple American Business Awards, including a Stevie Award for PR Agency of the Year. With over 25 years of experience crafting and executing powerful narratives, Torossian is one of America's most prolific and well-respected public relations executives. Throughout his career he has advised leading and high-growth businesses, organizations, leaders and boards across corporate, technology and consumer industries. Torossian is known as one of the country's foremost experts on crisis communications. He has lectured on crisis PR at Harvard Business School, appears regularly in the media and has authored two editions of his book, "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations," which is an industry best-seller. Torossian's strategic, resourceful approach has been recognized with numerous awards including being named the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, the American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year, twice over, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist, a Top Crisis Communications Professional by Business Insider, Metropolitan Magazine's Most Influential New Yorker, and a recipient of Crain's New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Outside of 5W, Torossian serves as a business advisor to and investor in multiple early stage businesses across the media, B2B and B2C landscape. Torossian is the proud father of two daughters. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member of multiple not for profit organizations.