URBAN MOVIE MARKETER//: 5 Ways to Get The Word Out on the Movie Push

A movie that has Oprah Winfrey’s backing, and Tyler Perry’s high five, and is produced by Lee Daniels (the genius behind Monster’s Ball), but is not expected to do much at the box-office?

This, I had to see.

The film in question is Push (not to be mistaken with the sci-fi thriller of the same name), a movie with an all African-American that has practically wowwed this year’s Sundance Film Festival, winning multiple awards and garnering standing ovations from an audience who has seen it all.

So, how come it’s not expected to do gangbuster’s at the box office? Brooks Barnes of The NY Times pretty much sums up reason:

African-American audiences of all demographics could wince at the film’s negative imagery. As films like “The Great Debaters” and “Miracle at St. Anna” have shown, a release labeled a black film by the marketplace — and “Push” already has been — can be an incredibly tough sell to mainstream white audiences.

The movie’s Oh-No factor is at the base of its plot: the protagonist is an obese teenager who’s being sexually abused by her father, an ugly circumstance made all the more horrendous because her mother endorses the act.

1. Oprah Show Segment. Oprah is already endorsing the movie. Why not have a special segment of her show on incest survivors? One of the movie’s stars comedian Mo’Nique has already spoken to a women’s magazine about being serially molested by her brother as a child, and has emphasized how breaking one’s silence is essential to healing. She could be Oprah’s guest of honor on the segment, complete with a psychologist and therapist panel on how we can all heal. Oprah’s audience has been known to be responsive to prescriptive segments.

2. Black Blogger Outreach
When rumors got out earlier this week that urban magazine Vibe magazine was folding, fingers were quick to point at black blogs who have practically supplanted print magazines and snatched their readers with their immediacy and up-to-the-minute updating. Cater and aggressively pitch to them all: Mediatakeout.com, NecoleBitchie, Bossip, TheYBf, SoulBounce, Sandra Rose, ConcreteLoop, Crunk and Disorderly, Nah Right.

3. A Speaking Tour.
One of the challenges of dealing with a movie that’s so niche, is that one doesn’t have to reach too far to tap the core audience. Gabourey Sidibe who plays the main character ought to be sent to a presentation tour to speak to young girls across the nation as well as universities. Research has uncovered that sexually abused young girls start to act out unresolved sexual abuse during their teenage years and that it hits a crescendo towards the college-age years. Organizations like SANDF (Survivors and Friends) and regional nonprofits across the nation who have an anti-sexual assault motto as their mission can be approached as well for cross-promotional opportunities.

4. Me and Mariah
Mariah Carey’s last movie Glitter may not have garnered her too many fans among film critics, but today is another day. Push, is the first movie in years besides Tennessee, in which Carey is really showing what she can do, other than just use her pipes. Ms. Carey does not have an album out currently, making her readily available for promotional interviews. She should begin by giving interviews about her participation in the film, which can segue in promoting her next album.

5. Cultivate the Novel’s Fans
At times when we’re trying to grow an audience, we easily forget about the one that we already have. When Push was initially anonymously published by Ramona Lofton via Random House/Vintage Contemporaries, the book became an underground sensation and was propelled to the New York Times bestseller list, a feat not small for an unknown author, and one that was ducking the spotlight at that. The original fans of the book need to be unearthed and marketed to. This can be done through the publisher’s email list, the author’s fan contact information database. Regardless of the method, it must be done.

In vigorously applying these five primary strategies, the movie’s potential success at the box office can be as triumphant as that of its belaguered, but ultimately triumphant protagonist.