The top distribution and marketing executive at Paramount Pictures said the studio’s rollout of Darren Aronofsky’s “mother! ” achieved its desired effect: to position the art film as a sensory attack and get the country talking.
“[‘mother!’] is still the punk rock movie it was when we put it out, and the conversation reflects that,” Paramount Worldwide Distribution and Marketing President Megan Colligan said at the TheGrill 2017 on Tuesday.
“We wanted it to go off like a bomb and let everyone see it, and feel it and debate it — to kind of have at it,” she said.
After playing at several fall film festivals, “mother!” opened in mid-September on nearly 2,400 screens. Some criticized the decision, as TheWrap reported, saying a smaller release would have helped word of mouth and box office performance.
“Typically speaking with art movies, it’s the big city sophisticates that get it. As markets get quote-unquote ‘less sophisticated,’ the movies become more of a challenge,” Colligan told TheWrap Managing Editor Thom Geier. “That’s not the case with ‘mother!’ There are people all over the country who love it, and there are people in the sophisticated markets who love it less.”
There was a real danger, she said, that a platform release would have allowed vehement critics to isolate controversial scenes and redefine the movie negatively for potential moviegoers. “You can reduce the movie to its most provocative elements and define it by that, but we didn’t want that to happen,” Colligan said.
The panel that also featured Thai Randolph, SVP of marketing and monetization for Kevin Heart’s content engine and OTT service Laugh Out Loud, who addressed the encroaching presence of Netflix as both a distribution platform and a competitor in content creation.
“You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Randolph said of the complicated relationship. “You’re often competing with your enablers in many ways. Whether it’s an algorithm that’s changed so your content can’t get through, ad dollars get a bit harder … you have to settle in and say, ‘This is going to be a ride’ and maintain your partnerships.”
Colligan agreed. “In nearly every business when a disrupter or competitor comes into the business, the worst thing you can do is look at that and become envious or … bend to them,” she said. “It’s really imperative we look at ourselves and say, ‘Are we the best version of what we can be?'”
The Scene at TheGrill 2017: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference
Co-Chairmen and CEO's of Fox Television Group Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and John Singleton.
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TheWrap's annual TheGrill media conference took place at the Montage Beverly Hills on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.
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TheWrap's CEO and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman greets attendees at the 8th annual TheGrill conference.
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Audience members listen to panels on the first day of TheGrill.
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Sky Moore, partner at Greenberg Glusker, Cindy Lin, CEO of Infotainment China, and President of DMG Entertainment, Chris Fenton at TheWrap's annual TheGrill conference.
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David Grinberg, partner at Sidley Austin LLP, speaks onstage at TheWrap's 8th Annual TheGrill.
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Stanley Rosen, professor of political science at USC, speaks with Sharon Waxman on stage.
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Catherine Zhang of Youku Tudou and Colin Brady of CAA discuss streaming in China with TheWrap's Matt Pressberg.
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Vicki Beck and Jan Pinkava speak with Sharon Waxman on stage.
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The Montage in Beverly Hills.
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Attendees gather around the lunch buffet at TheGrill on Monday.
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Stanley Rosen, Matt Pressberg and Cindy Lin at TheGrill.
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Ted Schilowitz of Paramount Pictures speaks at TheGrill.
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Attendees gather at The Montage for TheWrap's annual TheGrill conference.
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Sharon Waxman with Albie Hecht.
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Sharon Waxman with speakers at TheGrill.
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Kathleen Grace and Robert Goldberg speak on a panel during TheGrill.
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Audience members of TheGrill conference converse during a break.
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Virtual Reality panel at TheGrill.
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Managing director and media and technology analyst at BTIG Rich Greenfield discusses the future of media with Sharon Waxman.
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Gary Newman and Dana Walden speak with Sharon Waxman on stage.
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Michael Bloom, Robert Goldberg, Kathleen Grace, Alec Shankman and Chris M. Williams speak about multimedia platforms at TheGrill.
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ILMxLAB's Vicki Beck and Google Spotlight Stories' Jan Pinkava talk about VR at TheGrill.
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Director John Singleton before his panel at the end of TheGrill's first day.
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Audience members talk during a break at TheGrill.
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Director of International Content Cooperation of Youku Tudou Inc., Catherine Zhang, attends TheGrill.
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Founding Partner of MacInnes Scott, John MacInnes, attends TheWrap's media conference on Monday.
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UCLA's Elizabeth Joye Buda and Kate Pierce attend TheWrap's TheGrill.
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The audience watches a panel at TheWrap's media and technology conference, TheGrill.
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TheWrap's film reporter Matt Pressberg on a panel with Co-Founder and EVP of WEVR, Anthony Batt, Founding Partner of MacInnes Scott, John MacInnes and Paramount Pictures' Ted Schilowitz.
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TheWrap's Tim Molloy speaks with "Boyz N The Hood" director John Singleton
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Cocktail party on the terrace of The Montage in Beverly Hills
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Sharon Waxman and TheWrap team
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Invar CEO Elizabeth Koshi, John Singleton, and ICM's Crystal Mais at TheGrill
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Raymond Reed and Sabrina Taylor
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Attendees at TheGrill cocktail party.
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Weather Channel's Dave Shull discusses climate change with Sharon Waxman.
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Producers Nina Jacobson and Darren Throop with Sharon Waxman
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Adi Sideman at TheGrill
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Tobias Quesser at TheGrill
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Franklin Leonard discusses diversity at TheGrill
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M and A panel at TheGrill
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Paramount distribution head Megan Colligan and Lionsgate Marketing SVP Thai Randolph
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TheGrill's Innovators Panel
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TheGrill's Innovators Panel
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DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sharon Waxman
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mitu President Beatriz Acevado
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Entertainment, media and technology converge at TheWrap’s 8th Annual Grill Conference at the Montage Beverly Hills
Co-Chairmen and CEO's of Fox Television Group Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and John Singleton.