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September 17, 2008
Band of Red
Josh Levin does a decent job rounding up the return of the red-band trailer, except that he misses the main event that has led the way...
The states have given the studios access to the nation's driver's license records, allowing for the studio to "responsibily' (in the MPAA's eyes) release red-band trailers onto the web. Instead of dancing through an oddball set of hurdles or the studio imposing the limitation of after-10p showings on the web (calibrated for every time zone), they now have all of us in America on a list. You give your real name and your birthday and you are in. It's when that system came into play that the rush to red-bands really took off.
That said, the choice of Regal to start allowing red-bands is a pleasant surprise. I guess that money really does change everything.
The other interesting angle is the release of trailers worldwide and how careful studios have become in the era of every internet release being found and bounced around every market. All that freedom, as so often happened, continues to lead to tighter restraints.
Posted by dpoland at September 17, 2008 02:24 PM
Comments
"they now have all of us in America on a list."
Who the f*&( said they could do that?
I blame Sarah Palin.
Posted by: jeffmcm ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 17, 2008 02:55 PM
Can't believe you can do this!!! Shouldn't it be against the law to disclose personal info to the private sector? Gosh. So much for the Land of the Free.
Posted by: ployp at September 17, 2008 07:34 PM
Well-known people often have well-known birthdates.
I think that's all that needs to be said there.
Posted by: CloudsWithoutWater at September 17, 2008 09:37 PM
Drivers License information has been public information as long as I can remember, at least in most states.
In most states, license plate information is also public, as are property tax records, birth and death records, marriage and divorce records, and so on.
Posted by: RDP at September 18, 2008 08:31 AM
I expect property, birth, death, marriage and divorce records to be public. I don't, however, want large corporations knowing where I live and whether or not I need corrective lenses.
Posted by: jeffmcm at September 18, 2008 11:26 AM
This isn't exactly new. Regal OK'd red-band trailers 5 months ago -- at ShoWest -- and cited the move to digital projection as the reason.
Posted by: Chucky in Jersey at September 18, 2008 03:19 PM
What are the rules for red-band trailers?
I saw my first and only one in a theater (Tropic Thunder) in front of the Dark Knight at the Carmike Summit in Birmingham.
Honestly, when I saw the red band pop-up--especially in front of a pg-13 movie--I was shocked. And I was a little uncomfortable as it played in front of my parents and a room full of "kids."
Which, I guess is odd, seeing as though nothing about that trailer would have caused me pause had I seen it in the movie.
Posted by: ScreenSouth at September 19, 2008 01:22 PM
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