In a few days, it seems that Universal has decided that there will be no further development of Christopher Nolan The Odyssey influenced them. But on Monday, promoters sit alongside traditional critics and journalists at special screenings The Odyssey especially the related media junket. Despite what it looked like, Universal wasn’t going back on its word. The studio was simply embracing the undeniable reality of modern entertainment.
As painful as it may be for some to admit, influencers and content creators have become an integral part of our media ecosystem – giving film studios a useful way to reach large, diverse, and small audiences. Whether it’s a YouTuber’s video essay, a TikTok reaction video, or a glowing Instagram update, influencer content can go viral if it resonates with (or angers) rabid followers. And the way some influencers build huge followings of their most devoted fans makes them useful for studios hoping to engineer the next Barbenheimer moment.
People’s reactions to the idea of Universal snubbing creators before that The OdysseyThe theatrical premiere highlights another important aspect of our media landscape. Promoters have become a big part of how studios market their films. Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, digital marketing strategist Gigi Robinson explained that influencer testing is “one of the smartest moves in entertainment marketing right now” because of how they “create a complete arc of content.”
“It’s not just about showing up and watching a movie,” Robinson said. “Every creator makes it their own. These pictures make people feel like they’re part of something special. And that longing? That’s what makes people go to the theaters.”
But some people are tired of the energy (often overly enthusiastic or cartoonishly negative) they bring to the table. It’s clear that the studios know this to some extent, otherwise commercials wouldn’t be stories about who gets invited to screenings.
What Universal said when the news that was not approved by the promoters appeared was that there would be no screening The Odyssey which are installed only for content creators. Those kinds of screenings aren’t unheard of, but it’s very common for studios to screen their unreleased projects for a small audience that includes critics, journalists, regular theatergoers (who often win some kind of competition), and a handful of people with a strong social media presence. Having that mix of people from different walks of life made the viewing experience feel very similar to what it would be like to see a movie on opening night. And that feeling can – but doesn’t always – inform the thoughts of the reviewer/writer/videographer as they work through the pieces with what they’ve just seen.
One of the most frustrating things about these tests is the way they are structured that often leaves members of the media with very little to complete their work before the moratoriums (agreements that prevent journalists from publishing for a certain period of time) expire. It can be difficult to put together a piece of intelligent film criticism just a few hours before you post it and hope that Google Zero doesn’t make your work almost impossible to find (it will.) This is especially challenging for writers trying to beat a deadline to increase their chances of catching readers if they’re intentionally looking for stories about a movie. And while some studios perhaps see reviewers as having less time to dwell on their thoughts about a film – some of which may be negative – that’s a good thing, and it creates an environment that prevents people from producing quality criticism.
These barriers are not always a problem for influencers who give a speech it can be as simple as a hyperbolic X post telling their followers that [insert movie] it’s the best or worst thing they’ve ever seen. The limited speed with which creators can transmit their ideas to their audience is part of what makes them so valuable to studios. And because there are a few movie promoters who have built brands by spoofing movies rather than discussing them thoughtfully, studios rely on them to generate positive buzz.
While there are many creators whose work goes beyond that, the algorithm-driven social networks we use every day tend to reward content that is eye-catching and short enough to be consumed quickly. That’s why you still see a sea of soy icons whenever you search YouTube for anything, and that’s why so many internet movie promoters seem to be able to talk to extremes. These tactics have helped influencers build a dedicated following of people they see as entertaining and more credible news sources than mainstream media.
Activists have given people an easy way to access content about the arts at a time when newsrooms across the board are shrinking. Social media people may not be well-equipped to go deep with a director about their process or influences, but that doesn’t mean much to a subscriber who sees them as a friend who lives easily on their phones. Parasocial relationships are also an important part of the creative economy that studios are now trying to leverage with things like influencer testing. It takes more energy and concentrated focus to get through a written movie review than it does to watch a half-responsive TikTok from a curated page. But making the effort to engage in subtle, educated criticism is the only way we can encourage studios to help encourage it.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should just unfollow every creator that appears in their feed or that studios should only work with a legacy media machine. But it does mean we have to be willing to work harder to find and share strong criticism that isn’t just a little advertising meant to get us into theaters.
