Quick Takes: 8/7/09

Yet another list with someone’s opinions on what they think are the best “viral” movie campaigns of all time. I am very tired of such lists.

Peter Martin wants parents to stop relying so heavily on the MPAA’s ratings to decide what’s appropriate for their children to see in the way of movies and start taking some responsibility for researching what they can and can’t see themselves.

Anne Thompson points out how Comic-Con is especially helpful for independent films looking to stoke some buzz, even if they currently lack a distributor as many of these films do when they appear there.

Shel Holtz flagged an article on Twitter about how some filmmakers are using social media tools to connect with fans and promote their films. Note that most of these are the filmmakers themselves and these folks generally run the best efforts outside of any studio control.

Did Star Wars – the original – open without an official poster in support? The investigation begins…

Anne Thompson turns the keys over to filmmaker Mike Kaplan, who makes a strong case for how some wrong-headed marketing by the major studios over the years has, in his opinion, largely killed the market for serious-minded adult drams.