NATO Says Movie Trailers Too Long

The National Association of Theater Owners released guidelines calling for movie trailers to be no longer than two minutes (or 30 seconds shorter than the current average trailer).  The guidelines also stipulate that a trailer can not be shown more than five months prior to the release of a movie and that marketing materials, such as movie posters, stand-ups, etc, will not be displayed inside a cinema more than four months prior to a film's release.  NATO wants these guidelines to be implemented starting October 1st of this year.

These new rules are NATO's effort to give cinema operators more control over how Hollywood markets movies. NATO has concluded that many exhibs believe trailers are too long and give away too much of the film's plot.  However, the studios believe that trailers are a major marketing tool for pitching movies and firmly think a two and a half minute trailer is not too long. While it is not uncommon for cinemas to run 5 to 8 pre-feature trailers or 15-20 minutes worth, in addition, to any in-house advertising, I believe, moviegoers like viewing trailers.

CMG's TAKE

NATO has no power over the studios. Fact is, the trailer guidelines put forth are voluntary, in addition to being a really bad idea.  Movie exhibitors gain as much from the trailers as the studios and there is currently nothing to prevent an exhib from running trailers or not!  Shaving 30 seconds off trailer time for a movie which has potential for 'huge audience draw' would be self-destructive. In fact, in the post that follows, I detail the relevance of trailers to moviegoers.  Simply put - the NATO proposal has no merit.

In-Cinema Previews: Best Movie Promotion

Movie trailers for the upcoming summer blockbusters have already hit the Internet - and people view them in droves.  According to a study by YouGov, an internet website that follows trends in entertainment, 50% of American moviegoers indicated that movie trailers "probably" gave away too much plot; however, only 19% said trailers deterred them from wanting to see the movie, and a whopping 24% responded that in-theater trailers made them want to see the movie more!

The study further found that trailers remain very important to audiences - playing the largest role (48%) in motivating people to see a movie, followed closely by personal recommendations (46%).  There was no correlation found between length of trailer time and moviegoers decision to see a film.  Simply, moviegoers want to experience a good film.  77% want good plot or storyline, 45% rely on casting, 22% on genre, 20% on director, and 15% on book or play a movie is based on.

So there you have it.  Movie trailers are a big part of moviegoing and a significant tool for marketing a movie. Why the NATO group wants to mess with reducing a trailer time is all about the large cinema circuits wanting to have more time for pre-feature, non-movie related paid promotions and product advertising.  If that is the case they should say so and not feed us a bogus story about moviegoers wanting shorter trailers that reveal too much plot.

Best
Jim Lavorato