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 (more…)