Madman have released two insightful documentaries recently, Pom Wonderful: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Page One: Inside The New York Times. These documentaries may be quite different in their approaches and subject matter, but they both hold the common thread of examining the linked worlds of media and advertising.
From Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me), comes Pom Wonderful: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Pom Wonderful is a feature length documentary that has been fully financed through product placement, marketing and advertising.
Inviting us into the world of movie marketing, Spurlock takes the audience on a journey through pitch meetings and product placement presentations that inform our everyday entertainment decisions. He offers each brand the chance to have a movie made about their brand, the catch is he has to juggle quite a few different brands at the same time and dodge the legal issues at the same time.
On the other hand Page One: Inside the New York Times, a story about the struggle of trying to keep newspaper journalism relevant. In the world of online publishing (ironic that you are reading this digitally), newspapers have to try and make sure that the printed word is still seen as important.
The audience is allowed to see the inner workings of the media desk as they struggle with challenges such as Wikileaks, new platforms in Twitter and tablet computers, and readers’ expectations that online news sources should be free.
Pom Wonderful: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Page One: Inside the New York Times are available on DVD NOW. Pom Wonderful is available for $34.95 HERE, Page One is available for $29.95 HERE
