Corporate Sponsorship and the Movie Industry

A Match Made in Heaven or Not?

Commercialism is everywhere. We see it in the streets we walk on, the malls we shop in, the music we listen to, and even the movies we watch. Companies have taken every opportunity and chance to stick their name everywhere for people to notice.

Sponsorship is no stranger when it comes to sticking brands and company names for the right kind of exposure. As a tool for marketing, this has been most profitable and cost-effective, leading other businesses to follow suit.

It’s only normal for sponsorship to reach the arts industry, particularly the movie industry. With all the hype of technological advancements in movie production such as CGI effects and animation, its no wonder corporations have taken a slice to expose their name.

Over the last decade, movie patrons have been seeing corporate brand names in the films they watch. One very good example is Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson’s futuristic take on ‘The Island’. This movie, although not garnered as a box-office wonder, had numerous corporate logos in every scene – with Microsoft as the leading sponsor.

With all that, the question then raised is whether corporate sponsorship is a blessing or curse for the movie industry.

Positive and negative aspects

Corporate sponsorship helps the funding of big-budgeted movies, and the financial constraints are lessened when producing the film. This gives more time for the production team to focus on the quality of the movie, and in turn decrease the ‘headache’ of budgeting the expenses the production has.

With better focus on developing the movie – its story line, scenery, and character profiles – the outcome of the film has a bigger chance of getting positive critique. It will allow movie goers to evaluate the movie as something the production team really took time to do, and did not compromise in making.

With corporate sponsorship and the amount of funding it gives as support, film productions have a bigger opportunity to create the exact type of ‘feel’ they want their movies to be without having to worry on the amount of money that needs to be considered. Sponsorship takes the mind off on ‘getting money’ and presents realism in the movie by allowing the production to uses brands that people have seen and also used.

More money means better funding and better choices. With sponsorship, production crews can get the best of what money can afford them – from equipment to actors to sets. All these result into a feature that is marketable and the gains are most often profitable.

The downside of all this, however, is the detachment a movie may present to its viewers. A movie’s aim is to present a film that can let others relate to it or understand whatever issues are presented. With corporate sponsorship, viewers may feel that they are just watching a very long commercial. The brand exposure that may be pasted in every scene can be distracting and lose whatever essence the film wants to convey.

The type of movie that uses corporate sponsorship is those with graphic animations. A large amount of money is required to develop such productions. The outcome of the film may turn out to be just a display of animation and graphics, leaving out the real plot of the story, making the film less appealing and fake. It would then feel that instead of supporting a film, sponsorship actually demeans it.