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Film Promotion Encounters a Very Short Trailer
· New York time
TikTok has banned the social media account for Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk ahead of the film's wider release. The platform did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, cited by The Verge, distributor Bleecker Street was told Friday afternoon that a permanent suspension was imminent. A documentary can spend years examining its subject and then meet a promotional obstacle with the explanatory depth of a locked door. The result is a distinctly modern distribution puzzle: first make the film, then make the trailer, then find out whether the place for the trailer will permit the account that holds it. The reason for the ban remains unexplained. Film marketing nevertheless depends heavily on access controlled by another business. A campaign can own its footage, artwork and calendar while renting the practical ability to appear in front of viewers. A distribution plan now needs both a release date and a working key to somebody else's premises. The old movie poster had limitations, including rain and the occasional badly placed lamppost. It generally did not require a continuing relationship with an account status screen. Digital promotion offers vastly greater reach, provided the entrance remains an entrance rather than an especially well-designed wall.
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