Sound of Freedom || Discussion of The Movie And Its Producers Should be HERE and HERE ONLY || The Report Button Is Your Friend || Keep It Civil

[DAJK]

1 hour ago, The Panda said:

One additional thought: astroturfing campaigns is terrible for theaters.

 

If most of the audience are no shows, they’re losing concession money and end up keeping a movie they otherwise might not have a lot longer.

 

SoF’s “put it forward” marketing strategy is terrible for theaters and if you are a supporter of theaters you shouldn’t be cheering this shit on.

I've actually watched this guy's box office analysis ever since theaters re-opened a few years ago, and I really, really like him. He does a pretty good job of breaking down the "pay it forward" system. 

 

As a former theater manager, yes, it would be AWFUL for theaters if entire auditoriums were bought out for no-shows. It lowers their "concessions per patron" sales which looks terrible on their quarterly reports. However, this happens actually pretty often, and it's annoying. Take a look at The Belko Experiment's weekend grosses from a few years ago; there was one particular weekend when its gross and PTA shot up a crazy amount. My theater was actually one of those selected to play the movie for a week, and someone (the studio? Not sure who, since I was just a concessionist back then) bought out big groups of tickets throughout the week and nobody showed up. Hurt out concessions per patron for that whole month lol.

 

But that's not quite how the pay it forward thing works. I'm not sure how it would affect theatres, but I wonder if other studios will look at this and start to adopt unconventional marketing practices like this in the future.

[Mojoguy]

Me walking into a Sound of Freedom showing 

[baumer]

@Mojoguy Why?

[The GOAT]

8 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

Me walking into a Sound of Freedom showing 

Was the movie interesting and engaging or tedious and dumb?

Was your theater packed or were there a lot of empty seats?

Did It smell like OLD people? 

[Mojoguy]

15 minutes ago, The GOAT said:

Was the movie interesting and engaging or tedious and dumb?

Was your theater packed or were there a lot of empty seats?

Did It smell like OLD people? 

I ended up not see it. There was barely anyone there, I had a sick feeling in my stomach before the movie started, so got a refund and ended up seeing Elemental instead. 

[The GOAT]

Just now, Mojoguy said:

I ended up not see it. There was barely anyone there, I had a sick feeling in my stomach before the movie started, so got a refund and ended up seeing Elemental instead. 

Wait so bunch of no-shows or just regular empty? 

[Mojoguy]

4 minutes ago, The GOAT said:

Wait so bunch of no-shows or just regular empty? 

Small screen with about 120 seats, maybe 6 people there but when selecting the reserve seating it was about 20 occupied.

[rebelscum86]

3 hours ago, The Panda said:

My thoughts I sent Cap last week. Sharing them here:

 

”It’s a push to make mainstream-like media content that gateways people to dangerous conspiratorial thinking.

 

Where the BO gross is coming from is also inflated by the core base buying a bunch of unused tickets in order to get “#1 at the BO, toppling Indiana Jones!” As headlines to drive more mainstream interest

It’s using the summer tentpole / action movie as a push for a louder cultural footprint.”

 

Some broad thoughts I’d like to add onto that:

- This movie fits alongside an evangelical trend to push out more “mainstream appearing” content in order to gain a larger cultural microphone. It’s in line with The Chosen, the Museum of the Bible (on the National Mall), and the “He Gets Us” advertising campaigns. None of these things are as blatantly ideological as some past evangelical content like “Unplanned” or “God’s Not Dead” or “The Creation Museum”, but they’re funded by the same people. That’s important. This material is meant to ease audiences, who wouldn’t be receptive to the more ideological extreme positions of past content, into potentially accepting a more toned down version with a much higher production value than some past pop cultural pushes.

 

- Is the movie itself extreme in ideology? Probably not, from what I know (I refuse to support it financially so will only see it if it’s available for free). But the director is, and the director opens the door by breaking the third wall at the end of the credits. He uses the movie as pathos to make the audience sympathetic to what he has to say, and then encourages them to listen to him outside of the theater (which will be more ideologically extreme and conspiratorial) and/or support his movie’s Astroturfing campaign

 

- This type of content is dangerous because it presents itself as moderate and high quality content. However, the makers and supporters behind it are often extremists looking to regain and reclaim a stronger cultural relevance for the evangelical ideology that they perceive as waning in power.

Buying up theaters worth of unused tickets to gain positive box office press gives power to and presents Angel Studios and their filmmakers as alternative mainstream content worth taking seriously. I personally find it worrisome that the astroturfing campaign is working and giving the extremist director a platform he wouldn’t otherwise have.

 

the right is doing what the left did, but now it's bad bc they are right! opposing good efforts is how you get bad ones.

Edited July 15, 2023 by rebelscum86

[von Kenni]

I did some research on donating to fight against child trafficking (...and the editor doesn't work without bolding everything). @rebelscum86 @Mr Terrific if you guys work in the field, any thoughts? Other recommendations?

 

Helping to Fight Against Child Trafficking

 

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), forced labour alone (one component of human trafficking) generates an estimated $150 billion in profits per annum as of 2014… The following is the breakdown of profits by sector: $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation; [Wikipedia]

 

DHS.gov Blue Campaign

US Government’s take on human trafficking and how you can help.

 

What Anti-Trafficking Experts Think of the Hit Movie ‘Sound of Freedom’

A sober look at the movie and how it raises awareness for child trafficking but also how it misrepresents what everyday child and human trafficking look like due to dramatic purposes.

 

DONATING

 

9 Best Charities That Fight to End Human Trafficking

10 Best Charities Fighting to Combat Human Trafficking

A couple of lists for you to choose from. Some are the same on both lists and some are not.

 

My Current Picks

(I’m looking to pick ultimately 2-4 charities to donate to monthly)

 

Global Impact - End Human Trafficking Fund

Your donation is shared with four partners working in the US and internationally. I recommend digging deeper into the partners and the fund costs if planning to choose this. Might be a good way to cover from prevention to restoration and wider areas geographically.

 

Project Polaris

Operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline in the US. They have a special matching that doubles your donation until August 31. Some stats.

 

DeliverFund: Intelligence to Counter Human Trafficking

Founded by former intelligence professionals to identify and catch traffickers online by using cutting-edge technology and training them to law enforcement professionals. Has developed one of the largest human trafficking databases in the US. Operates internationally but the emphasis is in the US. Some stats.

 

Logos Wilderness Therapy

Colorado-based wilderness therapy taking victims of trafficking and sexual abuse on a week-long intensive therapy outdoor backpacking trip. Small but interesting to see if it becomes a proof of concept for something bigger. Personally, I believe that through the nature connection and what they present, done in the right way, you could make lasting change for traumas.

 

International Justice Mission

They work from prevention to rescue and restoration and to change the local justice systems. Seems like the most comprehensive and scaled-up operation out of my picks. They worked in 17 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia in 2022. They have a special matching that doubles your donation until December 31. Some stats.

 

[Ozymandias]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLCEUpIg8rE

 

[titanic2187]

You gonna need tons of evidence to convince me the right-wing buying ticket for SoF and no one show up at the theater have inflated SoF's BO by more than 15%-20%. The manipulation in that scale would garner widespread complaint from theaters , especially in a crowded-summer marketplace. The fact is we heard little criticism from theaters means the manipulation is still at the "reasonable" scale. 

 

This is like right-wing media claim that Disney bought tickets for Captain Marvel back in 2019 but in fact no one went. I never buy those shit for CM and will do the same for SoF.

 

If people still "surprised" or "doubt' SoF, remember that 46%-47% of the country voted Trump in 2020. If they have that scale of support at a nationwide election, why make you think they can't organize this kind of support in cinema? 

 

[von Kenni]

Does anyone know about the viewer demos for SoF?

 

The film is basically written, directed, produced, and acted my Mexicans/Latinos/Hispanics. Also the most of the production crew is Latinos too. It was shot mainly in Colombia.

 

I saw one latino reviewer tell that 40% of the demo is Latinos but he didn't tell the source. Anecdotally, my Salvadoran mother-in-law and her Mexican husband are going to see it in theaters. They are completely apolitical and down to Earth people that don't follow any noise. When I asked the husband how he got the idea, he told that he saw someone on YouTube telling good things about the movie and then he read about the story of the film.

[PlatnumRoyce]

5 hours ago, von Kenni said:

I saw one latino reviewer tell that 40% of the demo is Latinos but he didn't tell the source

It's the preliminary opening weekend posttrak demographic data that's excerpted on deadline. Since 2018 they've regularly published posttrak demographic data. 

[ChipDerby]

7 hours ago, titanic2187 said:

You gonna need tons of evidence to convince me the right-wing buying ticket for SoF and no one show up at the theater have inflated SoF's BO by more than 15%-20%. The manipulation in that scale would garner widespread complaint from theaters , especially in a crowded-summer marketplace. The fact is we heard little criticism from theaters means the manipulation is still at the "reasonable" scale. 

 

This is like right-wing media claim that Disney bought tickets for Captain Marvel back in 2019 but in fact no one went. I never buy those shit for CM and will do the same for SoF.

 

If people still "surprised" or "doubt' SoF, remember that 46%-47% of the country voted Trump in 2020. If they have that scale of support at a nationwide election, why make you think they can't organize this kind of support in cinema? 

 

 

22% of the country voted for that fascist

[titanic2187]

12 minutes ago, ChipDerby said:

 

22% of the country voted for that fascist

Yet, just 24% of country voted against fascist. 22% vs 24%, no side can call this a clean sweep or advantage against another.   

[ChipDerby]

4 minutes ago, titanic2187 said:

Yet, just 24% of country voted against fascist. 22% vs 24%, no side can call this a clean sweep or advantage against another.   

Oh I'm aware of how depressing it is. I just like to remind people that when they say they're "half" the country, they're not.

[von Kenni]

1 hour ago, PlatnumRoyce said:

It's the preliminary opening weekend posttrak demographic data that's excerpted on deadline. Since 2018 they've regularly published posttrak demographic data. 

 

That's what is should be but I didn't find those on Deadline before asking here. Did I just miss them when trying to Google from Deadline and could someone share a link to all that data? 

[titanic2187]

1 minute ago, ChipDerby said:

Oh I'm aware of how depressing it is. I just like to remind people that when they say they're "half" the country, they're not.

Yeah but if 22% isn't half, neither 24% is half of the country. When I was referring them as half, it wasn't really for mathematical representation. It is to reflect the influence sphere they own. Like it or not, they basically own half of the pie.

[PlatnumRoyce]

14 minutes ago, von Kenni said:

 

That's what is should be but I didn't find those on Deadline before asking here. Did I just miss them when trying to Google from Deadline and could someone share a link to all that data? 

Yeah, you just missed it.

https://deadline.com/2023/07/box-office-insidious-the-red-door-indiana-jones-1235431682/

 

Quote

Sound of Freedom –the film everyone is talking about– will peg third place with $16.9M and a running six-day total of $38.9M by EOD Sunday. Those are industry estimates. Angel Studios is calling the weekend at $18.2M, $40M for six-days. Don’t know where that extra magic money is coming from; like the right-wing crowdfunding. Aside from right-wing groups funding ticket sales here, and Angel Studios energizing its faith-based followers, the Jim Caviezel action thriller is pulling in a huge Latino and Hispanic crowd at 30%, along with 57% Caucasian, 5% Black, and 9% Asian/other. Women are dominant here at 58%, with older people showing up big at 57% over 45 and 37% over 55. This is exactly how a faith-based movie plays. Strongest markets are South, South Central, and the middle of the country. Highest-grossing theater in the nation? Regal Thoroughbred in Nashville with $53K. How often do we see that? Hardly. This is all very reminiscent of American Sniper, but on an indie scale and level. I don’t mean in terms of gross, but in stoking red state moviegoers, which Hollywood doesn’t do often enough, leaving money on the table with what is perhaps the missing link in the post-pandemic box office.

 

[The Panda]

8 hours ago, titanic2187 said:

You gonna need tons of evidence to convince me the right-wing buying ticket for SoF and no one show up at the theater have inflated SoF's BO by more than 15%-20%. The manipulation in that scale would garner widespread complaint from theaters , especially in a crowded-summer marketplace. The fact is we heard little criticism from theaters means the manipulation is still at the "reasonable" scale. 

 

This is like right-wing media claim that Disney bought tickets for Captain Marvel back in 2019 but in fact no one went. I never buy those shit for CM and will do the same for SoF.

 

If people still "surprised" or "doubt' SoF, remember that 46%-47% of the country voted Trump in 2020. If they have that scale of support at a nationwide election, why make you think they can't organize this kind of support in cinema? 

 

the suspicion comes from the fact that:

1. Right wing pacs and politicians have a history of astroturfing in attempts to inflate numbers on NYT’s best seller lists. 
 

2. Film creators state the astroturfing as a goal in their message at the end of the movie by encouraging audience members to buy up pay it forward tickets. If it doesn’t end up inflating ticket sales down the line, it’s at best a grift taking advantage of a manipulated audience.

 

3. CM is a terrible comparison to make if you’re trying to do a “What aboutism”. SoF is a political film with ideological aims from the filmmakers made by a new movie studio that has a goal of producing ideological content which pierces into the mainstream. CM is a Disney superhero movie that’s biggest “political statement” was to have a woman in the leading role.

 

It’s obtuse to act like people’s suspicions of astroturfing are fringe thinking.