HYPESTERS FEEL RUSH Strike fears get junket junkies jumping  
CHARLES LYONS and JONATHAN BING  
4/16/2001  
Variety  
 
Copyright 2001 Variety, Inc.  
    
Mal Vincent, film critic for the Virginian-Pilot, has one of the busiest
social calendars in showbiz. 
Over the next few weeks, he will spend each weekend flying from Norfolk,
Va., to places like L.A. and Honolulu for one-on-one chats with A-list
stars, sumptuous catered dinners, overflowing goodie bags ... and
screenings. Lots and lots of screenings. 
 
  
Why are regional journos like Vincent suddenly in such demand? One reason
is the start of the normally busy summer movie hype season. But another,
larger factor is the increasing threat of labor armageddon. 
As the June 30 deadline approaches for the Screen Actors Guild contract,
the union still has not decided whether actors would be able to promote
pics during a strike. That uncertainty leaves talent publicists in a
frenzied state, their bookings changing almost daily. 

And that threat is not only changing plans for the studios, but for
magazines and talkshows. And it's pushing the already idiosyncratic system
of junkets toward the breaking point. 

"There are limits to human endurance," Vincent says. "If I was a producer
I would not let a critic see my movie on the same night they are seeing
two other movies." 

Producers may not have a choice. Actors, squeezed by a surge in
production, have shrinking windows of availability. And, given the May 1
Writers Guild strike deadline, publicity-friendly late-night personalities
like Jay Leno could resort to constant reruns instead of new programming. 

If the actors can't publicize their pics, showbiz-news programs, such as
"Entertainment Tonight" and "E! News Daily" will be hard hit. Both shows
depend on visits to the set, live interviews with top stars and, of
course, junkets. 

Like some of his colleagues, Vincent pays his own way --- in fact, he
disdains the word "junket," preferring the phrase "working press
trip." But no matter who pays, the pace figures to be exhausting. 

June promises to be the cruelest month, with the last weekend the
equivalent of a 60-car pile up on the Pacific Coast Highway. "I keep
hearing about a mega-junket weekend, with 15-25 films," says Betsy Pickle
of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

One insider predicts that some weekends will have as many as eight press
junkets happening concurrently in different parts of the country, with the
most hectic weekends coming late in the month, just before SAG's deadline. 

Mega-titles squeezed into that stretch include Fox's "Planet of the
Apes," Disney's "Atlantis," Warner Bros.' "A.I.," Sony's "Final
Fantasy" and possibly Universal's "Jurassic Park 3." Disney has skedded
the "Princess Diaries" junket in June, two months before the pic's
release. 

The junket that will live in infamy, however, is the unorthodox
double-header set for early May in Honolulu. Revolution-Sony's
"Animal" will piggyback onto Disney's long-planned "Pearl Harbor" event. 

Film press junkets normally occur two to three weeks before a film is
released. While open to all media, they allow studios to stage an orgy of
saturation coverage in a single weekend, gathering small-market print
outlets, regional broadcast media and glossy magazines under one roof. 

The potential strikes have moved up the ritual as much as four
months. Studios are banking interviews and preparing electronic press kits
for films that haven't yet been completed and aren't due for release until
the fall. 

"We're having a game of conversations," says a booker for top television
talkshows. "Everyone is calling each other assessing what's happening. But
nobody really knows. The magazine covers and junkets are all over the
place, I can tell you that much." 

Even if it can all be squeezed in, journos fear becoming victims of
overkill. 

"We could do a million days of interviews, but when are we going to put
all the stories together?" says Fox TV's Steve Oldfield, who is based in
Florida but spoke to Variety from the Atlanta junket for "Crocodile Dundee
in Los Angeles." "I anticipate a lot of seven-day work weeks coming up." 

The publicity pandemonium is having noticeable effects on studios. If SAG
bans actor promos during a strike, they could end up spending more money
on advertising to order to guarantee that their films get the needed
visibility. 

Studios also may be forced to put pressure on filmmakers to accelerate
post-production schedules so that press prints will be available before
the deadline. 

Of all the studios, Fox appears to be planning farthest in advance. The
studio has decided to tag on junkets for movies due out in the fall to
already scheduled junkets for summer movies. 

For example, the studio's "Dr. Doolittle" sequel, which opens June 22,
will have a junket the weekend before, as will Fox's "Kiss of the
Dragon," a July 6 release. 

On top of those two pics, the studio may tag on either "From Hell" or
"Behind Enemy Lines," both fall releases. 

Fox is also planning a major junket for its July release "Planet of the
Apes," which likely will take place during the last two weeks of
June. Also to be scheduled is a press junket for "All that Glitters," an
August release. 

"We are anchoring the regularly scheduled movies with movies that make
sense to junket," says Jeffrey Godsick, executive veep of publicity and
promotions for Fox. "But if a film is not ready to be shown, we are
certainly not going to sacrifice the presentation of it just to accomplish
the junket." 

Dimension Films has tentatively moved up its junket for Aug. 10 release
"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" to June 30. "We are taking every
precaution," explains Elizabeth Clark, the studio's senior veep of
publicity. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen because SAG has not
revealed its hand." 

Similarly, Miramax Films' "Serendipity," due for release Aug. 17, is
slated for a June junket. 

Paramount and DreamWorks say their junket skeds have not been much
affected by the possibility of a strike. 

"We got lucky with the timing of the movies," said a Paramount source. At
the moment, Par's tentpole pic "Tomb Raider" is skedded for a June 15
U.S. release. "Rat Race" unspools June 29 and "The Score" on July 13, with
junkets for each slated roughly two weeks in advance of their releases. 

"We don't have a pile-up of junkets," claims Blaise Noto of Sony. "They
are only a small part of what we do anyway." 

But it appears the studio's release schedule has made a traffic jam of
junkets unlikely. Currently, the Revolution-Sony pic "America's
Sweethearts," which stars Julia Roberts, will be junketed June 22 (for a
July 13 release), while the press junketeers will see "Final Fantasy" on
June 30, with the pic to reach theatres July 11. 

In the magazine world, where some publications like Vanity Fair lock in
covers as much as eight months in advance, it's harder to discern what's
happening. 

"If the strike goes on for longer than six months," says Bob Wallace,
executive editor of Talk. "We're all going to have a different set of
problems. But at the moment, we're really OK through October." Wallace
added that since Talk covers subjects outside of entertainment, at least
they have their options open. 

So instead of Gwyneth, Matt and Ben, Talk could end up featuring
celebrities who actually need to use both names, like Madelyn
(Albright) and Rudy (Giuliani). 
 

(c) 2001 Variety