Monday Night Doc Night
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Michael Moore’s announcement last month of his plan to help documentaries at the box office has sparked a lot of discussion. His plan is to meet with the heads of major theater chains to convince them to play documentaries every Monday night on one screen per theater. But because Moore withheld the details of the plan, some are skeptical.
As IndieWire reported today, people are asking questions like:
- Who will choose the docs being shown?
- Will the filmmakers have to pay and/or will they receive a portion of the ticket sales?
Also, just because a film is in a theater, doesn’t mean that people will show up. Distributors pointed out that big bucks would be needed for a marketing campaign.
Some doc bloggers are critical of the plan as well. On the blog, doc it out, author Agnes Varnum says that the plan “ghetto-izes certain films as unable to make a profit so they can only get into the theater on a night when almost no one goes anyways.”
And Spout blog has little faith in the plan:
But wait a minute, you can’t hate the guy for trying. It’s not as if Moore is doing this to help his own films get exposure; Sicko alone made $4.5 million on it’s opening weekend. This plan has the potential to help films that would never be seen in theaters (or ever) get a chance at some exposure.
As much as there has been skepticism, there has also been praise. Blogger AJ Schnack says in his blog, All These Wonderful Things:
Until the details of Moore’s proposed doc night are released, it’s hard to judge whether or not it will be a success. Overall, though, I think it’s a positive thing. It is one method that can be implemented, among many, to help the declining state of docs in theaters. At least he’s taking advantage of his influence and trying something new.
—Posted by Brittany Mayne
