MUMBAI: On Friday 20 October 2006 Sony Pictures Releasing of India will release Sony Pictures Releasing‘s first animated film Open Season.
The film is about Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods three days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
Sony is doing innovations to push this film. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on this Sony Pictures Releasing of India manager advertising and promotions Harshvardhan Gangurde says that a campaign on television has been running on kids channels for the past couple of weeks.
The idea of using the likes of Pogo, Animax, Nickelodeon is that the main audience for this film is kids. So spots pushing the film have been airing together with soundbytes from the voice cast. This includes Martin Lawrence who provides the voice for Boog and Ashton Kutcher who voices Elliot talking about their experiences making the film.
30 prints of the film will be released. Interestingly the film will not be dubbed. Open Season is also being released in Imax. So Sony Pictures and Imax are doing a special push. From tomorrow on ground activity will start where the two characters from the film will be present in person.
They will start their activity by visiting malls in Mumbai as well as Imax Adlabs at Wadala. They will then go to Hyderabad. A bus has been arranged for and the two characters will visit different locations with the aim of meeting kids and families. Imax is also looking at having a mini jungle set up in their theatres where kids can play.
Sony Pictures also kicked off a school contact programme which is drawing to a close. This was done in conjunction with Sanctuary Magazine. Since the film is about nature conservation the partnership was a natural fit.
Activity was done in 200 schools across the country. An activity sheet was given where kids did mazes, colouring, essays. Talks were also given on the importance of preserving the natural environment. Screenings will now be held for school kids. In addition Sony Pictures is also looking to help Sanctuary Magazine with its Save A Tiger petition. So at cinema halls people who buy a ticket for the film will be urged to sign the petition. This will then be sent to the President of India.
Booproo chewing gum is the brand that has tied up with the film. They have cut a TVC which seeks to push the brand by leveraging the equity of the film‘s characters. On the mobile front Sony Pictuers through its partner Hungama Mobile will be distributing content. This includss games, voice tones, video ringtones. One can send an SMS to 4646 to get these products.
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