The Honest Truth

A NOLAN PFEFFINGER FILM

MARKETING PLAN BY: TINA KAZANMARKETING PLAN BY TINA KAZAN

Table of Contents

Phase One: Overview 2

Executive Summary 3Positioning StatementSynopsis Target Audiences 4Marketing ObstaclesMarketing Oppertunities Cast and Crew

Phase Two: Film Festival Strategy 7

Film Festival Marketing Film Festival Packaging Key Photography

Phase Three: Business to Business 11

Securing DistributionParmount Press Release

Phase Four: Consumer Strategy 14

Release DateEngagementsMarket ResearchMedia StrategyPublicity ActivitiesInternet MarketingPromotions Strategy

Phase OneOVERVIEW

2

SynopsisThe summer before freshman year, Angela kisses one of her best friends Carl, leaving their other best friend Lucas in the dark. Un-sure how to react, Carl treats the incident as though it never hap-pened and travels across the coun-try to attend school at New York University, where he gets involved with another girl, Rose.

The Honest Truth tells the story of second chance love, as Carl returns to his hometown suburb outside of San Francisco to win back Angela’s heart after finding out Angela and Lucas have begun dating while he was away.

positioning statementThe Honest Truth tells a story

about childhood love, friendship and betrayal. It’s about three

friends that realize, the summer before college, that there might be

something more.

What will happen over summer when Carl finds out about his best friend Lucas? Who will Angela pick? What will happen when an unex-pected guest comes to town? It’s one summer…no one will forget.

executive summaryThe Honest Truth is a romantic com-edy about childhood love, friendship and betrayal. It’s a story about a girl

who falls for her childhood friend, Carl, only to be separated from him after he goes away to college. Alone

and unsure, she finds comfort in his best friend. But what will hap-

pen when Carl returns for summer? Who will Angela pick? And what will happen when an unexpected guest comes to town? The film is market-able for its relatability to its target audience because it captures the angst of uncertainty prevalent at

that moment in time, yet the unex-pected plot twists makes it hilariously

unforgettable.

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A SUMMER NO ONE WILL FORGET..

primaryThe primary audience is both male and female 14-17 year old high school students because the film captures the angst of going off to college because it’s a huge transition from childhood to adulthood.

secondaryThe secondary audience is both male and female 18-24

year old college students, be-cause they have gone through the transition of going off to college and can relate to the film because of their own ex-

periences.

The tertiary audience is people who have fallen in love in high school or have ended up with their child-hood sweetheart. It is also anyone who can relate to having betrayed by your

best friend, or have had a friendship end because of a

relationship.

tertiary

Target AudiencesRating: PG-13

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Marketing Oppertunities:• The Honest Truth is relatable to its target audience because it captures the anxiety of going off to college, parting ways with your childhood friends, and saying goodbye to your high school sweetheart.

•The prevalent themes in this film love, friendship and betrayal, are iden-tifiable to a large audience because at one time or another we have all dealt with such situations.

•The films suburban town setting adds another relatable element because it makes the audience draw on their own experience of high school.

•The music is another marketable as-pect of the film because it moves the plot along and adds a sympathetic element to the overall film.

•Also, Ryan Reynolds and Anna Farris are notable romantic comedy actors that have great following from their previous blockbuster films.

Marketing Obstacles Other than Ryan Reynolds and

Anna Farris, the film has no other well-known actors.

The director is fairly unknown and up-and-coming within the

industry. 4

Cast and Crew

Born in 1976, in Vancouver, Canada to a food wholesaler father and a retail store saleswoman. Reynolds made his television debut on the Nickelodeon show “Fifteen”. He soon after, turned up in numerous television series such as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and made-for-TV movies.

Prominent roles in more high-profile films followed, in-cluding Blade Trinity, The Amityville Horror, Waiting and Just Friends. With his career on a meteoric path upward, he continued to branch, snagging starring roles in films like the supernatural thriller The Nines, and the romantic comedy, Definately maybe, and super hero movie Green Lantern. Ryan Renolds

Faris was raised in Seattle and studied English Lit-erature at the University of Washington after high

school, later moving to London to begin working and writing. Longing to return to her childhood love of acting, Faris took a role in the run-of-the-mill teen slasher pic Lover’s Lane in 1999. Making the move

to Los Angeles in order to pursue an acting career full time, Faris’ previous improvisational experiences would soon come in handy as she landed her break-through role in the popular Scream-slanted spoof of

teen slasher pics, the Scary Movie series. Faris has also held supporting roles in films such as Lost and

Translation and The Hot Chick. Anna Faris

Sam is originally from St. Louis, Missouri. He is cur-rently a Sophomore and a BFA Theatre Performance major at Chapman University. Sam has performed in Chapman’s Department of Theatre’s production of Urinetown The Musical and Zanna, Don’t. Sam has previously been in two Intermediate Production films at Chapman University at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Sam Forrest5

Alexa was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She begandancing when she was three and has always loved be-

ing on stage. Kindergarten was the first time she actu-ally participated in any “acting” when her class did “The

Lady with the Alligator Purse” on their graduation day. From then she continued dancing and soon began per-

forming in theatrical performances and competitive plays throughout middle school and high school. She

moved to California and attended Chapman University to persue her acting career where she received a Bach-

elor of Fine Arts in Theater Performance.

Alexa Giuffre

Pfeffinger is a senior film production major with a Direct-ing emphasis. He was born and raised in Orinda, Califor-nia, a suburb in the eastern part of the San Francisco and as far back as he can remember has loved watching movies and behind-the-scenes documentaries. In middle school he got a camcorder, and started making short comedies, adventure, and horror films with his friends. Pfeffinger’s recent projects include ‘The Dark Woods’ and ‘Old Friends’.

Maines is originally from McLean, Virginia, and has studied Media, Culture, and Communication at New

York University. Maines recently decided to transfer to a school in California to be closer to the TV and Film indus-

try. She became interested in producing with the hopes to persue a career as an executive at a studio or television

network in the near future.

Producer: Sarah Maines

Screenwriter/Director: Nolan Pfeffinger

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Phase TwoFILM

FESTIVAL STRATEGY

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Objectives

Film Festival MARKETING STRATEGY

Tactics

Increase press attendance to generate post-press coverage

and reviews.

Maximizing movie-going experi-ence for audience.

Win award for “Best Short Film”

Pass out handbills, hats, and t-shirts at high traffic areas.

The handbills will offer infor-mation regarding the film and help spark some curiosity within the festival.

The free merchandise will add value to help individuals pro-mote and spread awareness of the film. Target Festivals

By targeting Tribeca Film Fes-tival, Toronto International Fim Festival, and SXSW Film Festival, we hope to win the award for

“Best Short Fim”

These film festivals were chosen because of their notable reputa-

tion within the film industry.

SXSW festival is young and hip, thus its audience can relate to

our films story elements.

Tribeca and Toronoto are both sophisticated festivals, located in upscale cities, thus helping

us cater to our intended target audience.

If our film were to win an award at any of these festivals it would gain publicity, interest, and sup-

port, thus making it easier to market the film. 8

The Honest Truth

The

Honest

Truth

The Honest Truth

Film Festival PaCkaging

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KEY PHOTOGRAPHY

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Phase ThreeBUSINESS

TO BUSINESS

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securing distributionMARKETING STRATEGY

Distribution StrategyTo secure a distributor for The Honest

Truth, we are going to invite the studios to a private screening and hold a post-

pitch meeting.

The pitch meeting will help communi-cate the marketable and relatable as-pects of the film that appeal to a large

audience. These themes are: love, friend-ship and betrayal.

In addition, the meeting will provide the opportunity to distribute press kits containing property information, me-

dia coverage and awards won for “Best Short Feature” at SXSW Film Festival and

Toronto International Film Festival.

The above studios were cho-sen as target distributors

because of their previous suc-cess with romantic comedies.

New Line had great success launching Just Friends, Univer-sal with Forgeting Sarah Mar-shall and Paramount with No

Strings Attached. 12

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

HOLLYWOOD, CA, October 14, 2011-- Cupid’s arrow strikes again, and just in time for Valentine’s Day. Paramount Pictures will release “The Honest Truth,” a romantic comedy about love, friendship, and betrayal. The film, which stars Ryan Reynolds (Just Friends, The Proposal) and Anna Faris (Just Friends, Scary Movie), will open in wide release nationwide on Feb. 10, 2012.

The film written and directed by Nolan Pfeffinger, is a story about three childhood friends—who discover that there might be something more. When Angela and Carl exchange a kiss the night before he goes off to college it sparks a flame they never knew existed.

While away at college, Carl casually hooks-up with a psychotic and clingy girl named Rose; Meanwhile back home, Angela finds herself finding comfort in Lucas. What will happen when Carl comes home for summer? And how will the plot unfold when Rose unexpectedly comes to town? It’s one summer, no one will forget.

“The film captures the comedic drama of young love and its effects on friendship,” said mar-keting director of Paramount Pictures, Tina Kazan, “The audience can really connect with the characters because we have all experienced a situation like it at one time or another.”

The Honest Truth, which was produced by Sarah Maines, won “Best Short Feature Film” hon-ors at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival.

Recent Paramount Pictures releases include: Like Crazy, Footloose and No Strings Attached.

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertain-ment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands.

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FOR IMMEDIATE REASE

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Phase FourCONSUMERSTRATEGY

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Release DateOur decision to release The Honest

Truth on February 10th, 2011 stems from the lack of competition for romantic comedies opening on that weekend,

thus our genre specific film isn’t com-peting with other films that are going

after the same target audience.

In addition, there is an abundance of action/adventure movies opening with their target being predominantly male. This is good for our film because we are not competing for their intended audi-

ence.

The only film to open that weekend that could posses some competition is The Vow, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, but it’s a drama, so

again we aren’t competing for the same audiences.

This release day also works perfectly be-cause our studio has no other films that are to be released in February, thus we can devote all our efforts to promote

The Honest Truth.

Big MiracleAction/Adventure

ChronicleAction/Adventure

The InnkeepersHorror

The Women in BlackHorror

Feb. 3rd

Feb. 10th

Feb. 17th

Journey 2: The Mysterious IslandAction/Adventure

Safe HouseAction/Thriller

The VowDrama

Act of ValorAction/Adventure

The Secrect World of ArriettyAction/Adventure

This Means WarSpy Comedy

Ghost Rider 2Action/Adventure

EngagementsThe Honest Truth will be released wide on 2,500 locations nation-

wide. This parallels other roman-tic comedies releases such as No Strings Attached and Just

Friends. 15

Market ResearchTo better understand what aspects of the film work or don’t work, our market research will consist of focus groups with high school and college students to test the overall success of the films

concept.

After screening the film, there will be a questionnaire and group discussion to

discuss whether or not the events of the film are relatable to the particiapants.

By gaging a sense of the films relability to its target audience, we can then bet-ter access our marketing tatics to fully

grab their attention through promotions and publicity.

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Media Strategy

media planOur core target audience is high school and college age students, thus the best means in which to grab their attention is by satu-rating all forms of media.

The Honest Truth is a wide re-lease PG-13 film, so 90% of our media efforts will be spent prior to opening day.

To reach our audience, we will utlize television, web, magazines, press, and talk show apearances.

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KODAK THEATER

6801 HOLLYWOOD BLVD.

HOLLYWOOD, CA90028

Monday, Feburary 6, 2012

7:00 p.m. screening

WORLD PREMIERE

The Honest Truth

The world premiere of The Honest Truth will be held on Monday, Feb. 6

at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

The premiere’s red carpet will pro-vide the media with an opportunity to take photos and interact with the

stars and director of the film.

Some key media that will be invited includes: E! Entertainment, Holly-wood Reporter, Variety, LA Times,

and Entertainment Weekly

In addition to gaining media cover-age, the premiere, which is to screen

prior to opening night, will help generate buzz and word-of-mouth essential to help increase opening

night attendance.

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Publicity Activities

Prior to opening night, their will be publicity events to help build aware-ness and hype for The Honest Truth.

There will be a private screening of the film to members of the media with a post-screening Q&A session with screenwriter and director No-

lan Pfeffinger and actors Ryan Reyn-olds and Anna Faris.

In addition to the private screening, there will also be a press junket for prominent media for exclusive video segments, interviews, and photo op-

portunities.

The media will be informed of the private screening, Q&A session and press junket through press releases.

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INTERNET MARKETING

Our twitter account @the_honest_truth will be utilized as a forum for people to communicate and share advice on topics such as dating, best friends, and school. By discuss-ing your worst date, teriable break-ups and friend prob-lems, we will be about t0 engage our core audience.

Our Facebook page will include movie information, photos, character bios, and a platform for people to interact with one another regarding the film. It will also be linked to our twitter feed and tumblr to help join all aspects of online communication in regards to our film.

Tumblr will be used as a digital press clipbook and blog up-dating people on any press coverage, clippings, articles, and videos in association to The Honest Truth.

21 @The_Honest_Truth

With The Honest Truth releasing the weekend before Valentine’s Day, its

a perfect opportunity to tie the films theme of love into various promotions.

In cooperation with Sweethearts can-dy, The Honest Truth will pay for

on-pack advertisement and collabo-rate with Sweethearts on a national

sweepstakes.

There will be a national sweep-stakes tied into the on-pack ad-vertisement to help generate buzz. The sweepstakes will be to win a date with either Ryan

Reynolds or Anna Faris.

To win, you must find the hid-den Sweetheart with “The Honest

Truth” printed on it.

The sweepstakes will be promot-ed in-stores and on-pack in ad-dition to online via our website

and twitter.

The Honest Truth

National Sweepstakes

Package Advertisment

promotions strategy

22@The_Honest_Truth

The Honest Truth

Media Strategy

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tv appearancesThrough pitch letters, we will try to get Anna Faris to appear on George Lopez Tonight, Chelsea Lately, and Ellen Degeneres one

week prior to opening night.

Her funny personality will help spread awareness of the film

to its target audience and help communicate the films comedic

elements.

newspapersNewspaper coverage including reviews, features and advertis-

ments will begin 3 or 4 days prior to opening night. Targeted news-

papers will include: New York Times, LA Times, Washington

Post, and Variety.

magazinesWe will pitch cover ideas for

Ryan and Anna on key publica-tions such as Cosmo, EW, GQ, and Teen Vogue a month prior to the publications deadline.

These magazines were selected because its what our target

audience reads.

radioWe will target the key radio sta-tions that our primary and sec-ondary listen to such as KISS FM. AMP radio, Ryan Seacrest. In ad-

dition to Sirus radio and Pandora.

OutdoorOutdoor promotion will begin two months prior to opening

night in all major cities including Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, and

New York.

networkTo target our primary and sec-ondary audiences, we will run

TV spots a month prior to open-ing night on notable network programming such as ABC’s

Revenge, CW’s Gossip Girl, and CBS’s How I Met Your Mother.

tabloidsTabloids will begin running men-tions, advertisements, and ar-ticles a week prior to opening night. Some tabloids which will be targeted include: US Weekly, InTouch, People, and New York

Magazine. 24

CREATIVE ADVERTISING

It started with just one kiss..

..but its one

summer they won’t fo

rget

The Honest Truth

The initial creative strategy for The Honest Truth campaign is to capture the romance between the two main characters that was sparked by a kiss the summer before college.

Additional creative material will communicate the different thematical elements of the story such as love, friendship and betrayal in a comedic manner to help illustrate that the film is a romantic comedy.

The creative material will include: advertisements, billboards, posters, in-theater promotions, and TV spots and trailers. 25

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Thank you.