Count on Hollywood to make a distinction between playability and marketability.  Last Friday’s LA Times Online included a good piece about how word of mouth has evolved in the age of instant communications, and how this evolution has affected the entertainment industry. The article’s case study is Little Miss Sunshine, which opened in seven theaters on July 26 and as of last week was showing in almost 700.

John Lesher, head of Paramount’s specialty division, eloquently sums up Hollywood’s de facto business philosophy: "With most movies, you try to steal as much gross as you can until word of mouth catches up with you."

This has worked in the past, when studios could confidently expect at least a couple of weekends of strong ticket sales before toxic buzz closed the window. Now the cycle takes only a few hours. And it reaches farther:

"Instant communications technology has completely changed the role of word of mouth," says Nancy Utley, chief operating officer for "Little Miss Sunshine" distributor Fox Searchlight.

"Word of mouth used to be confined to cities. Now, thanks to e-mail, it crosses continents. It’s revolutionized what word of mouth means."

This can also influence the studios’ approach to advertising. Studios craft the marketing for a typical blockbuster to forestall or temporarily drown out public opinion, whereas the advertising for a film like Little Miss Sunshine is more effective when it supports word of mouth.

And since word of mouth generally helps good movies, and punishes bad ones, this whole trend might herald a return to quality cinematic storytelling.

Shawn Smith