Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A New Social Media Experiement

Award winning Pixar director Lee Unkrich tweeted yesterday that he has started work on a new feature. This time, we are invited to follow his progress through a blog he created to document the process.

@leeunkrich

Today is day one on my next project. Every day I'll post a new photo chronicling the journey. #UnkADay

Mr. Unkrich received blessings from the powers-that-be to create a Tumblr blog where he'll share a single photograph daily for the next few years on the creation of a Pixar feature. This will not be the interactive powerhouse the likes this blog offers the animation community. Rather, this is a unique and interesting way to offer the audience a view into the process of building an animated movie that will, by any account, be another winner for Pixar.

Read between the lines, however, and witness an interesting social media experiment. Does offering the public a glimpse over the shoulder of the director translate into feeling more a part of the movie and therefore .. more ticket sales?

A wise man once said to me:

"It don't mean a thing .. if it don't go KA-CHING."

The decision to green-light the creation of this blog had to be given with the understanding that this could be a new way to ingratiate and involve the viewing public. With an "intimate knowledge" of the evolution the film took, the public could very well feel personally involved and more likely to see the movie once it hits our nearest theater complex.

Be a part of the experiment and ask yourself if you went to see the film because you'll see anything Pixar, or because you watched it be created. Bookmark and visit Mr. Unkrich's blog at this address:

http://leeunkrich.tumblr.com/.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

He was very active on Twitter during TS3 and it was fun. I don't know if it helped with the ticket sales, but I don't think it hurt either.

Anonymous said...

Today he posted a photo of his lunch.

They really have jumped the shark.

Steven Kaplan said...

HAHA! Nice. Until we find out the title of the film - Lunch Story.

Anonymous said...

Every time I hear about pixar these days, they are sounding more and more like that larger cartoon factory they swore never to become.

Floyd Norman said...

This sounds pretty exciting. I had the pleasure of working with Lee at Pixar. He's a really cool dude and I look forward to postings on his new feature.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks this is anything other than a marketing experiment written by marketers and vetted by hoards of Disney lawyers is fooling themselves.

Anonymous said...

Well, I suppose it's better than another tour of John's closet.

Anonymous said...

I hope tomorrow's picture has that "hipstomatic" filter on it too. That gives the picture that awesome "fake history" look.

Anonymous said...

How unique is it if Bill Plympton already has been doing it for his Features?

Anonymous said...

It would make much more sense to post photos of him and his team while working on the project.

Just posting photos of his keyboard, his lunch etc is ridiculous, not to mention completely boring.

el diablo said...

Pixar definetly knows how to market their films. This is a smart way to build awareness.

d

Anonymous said...

"...Well, I suppose it's better than another tour of John's closet...."


Howsabout his winery, then?:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110926/LIFESTYLE/110929716/1309/

Anonymous said...

^
|
|

I want to be all resentful and bitter, but damnit, he built his winery from the ground up, just like Pixar. Good for him.

And I've had the wine. It's great.

Anonymous said...

Although floyd apparently worked at Pixar for an extremely brief period of time, freelancing fixes, I'm sure he might have at one time been in the same building at Lee Unkrich.

Anonymous said...

"I want to be all resentful and bitter, but damnit, he built his winery from the ground up, just like Pixar. Good for him.

And I've had the wine. It's great."



Well replied, Mr. Lasseter, well replied....

Anonymous said...

It's fun to look at how utterly pointless the photos are, and then read the cult-like enthusiasm of the comments and 'notes.' Further proof that, to the Pixies, Unkrich could use the phone book as the script for his new movie and they'd be impressed. Fail.

Anonymous said...

It seems to be an ego exercise. Making films is beyond hard. I hope he never forgets it and is humbled by the opportunities he has been given.

Anonymous said...

It may be a marketing exercise but it's preferable to Joe Barbera posting a Polaroid of his daily bowel movement, which would have happened if today's technology existed in 1980.

Anonymous said...

" It's fun to look at how utterly pointless the photos are..."

That is actually funny, because it is true, good one

Anonymous said...

Jeez people, how bitter can you get?

Seeing all the sarcastic, mean, and bitter comments people post here saddens me.

"Haha I just made a joke about John L's Hawaiian shirt collection for the five hundredth time, tee hee I'm so witty because John's successful and I'm not"

Kind of makes me want to get out of the industry if this is what I'm going to be like in 20 years.

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