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Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#2
TL;DR Two filmakers paid $25,488 to buy all seats for 5 screenings of their $0 production budget movie at a local movie theater on June 10th.

Which turned out to be more money 'earned' than any other movie in the US that day, allowing them to top the charts as the highest grossing movie.

Edit: whoops, looks like I may have misunderstood and they probably didn't pay that much, as replies to this comment are pointing out

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#4
This is the same strategy as getting on the NY Times best seller list by literally buying lots of copies of your own book[1].

The key innovation is realizing how cheap it would be to make it to the top with nearly every theater in the USA closed.

[1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-...

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#5
post #4

This is the same strategy as getting on the NY Times best seller list by literally buying lots of copies of your own book[1]. The key innovation is realizing how cheap it would be to make it to the top with nearly every theater in the USA closed. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-...

I "participated" in a less nefarious strategy. In 2010, when the collection of short stories "Machine of Death" was about to be released, the editor Ryan North asked us not to pre-order. Instead, he suggested that we all wait and purchase the book on the same day from Amazon.

The strategy worked -- the book was #1 in its category that day, which certainly led to increased sales over time. Probably didn't hurt that it's a superb book.

(Ryan North is also the author of the popular webcomic "Dinosaur Comic".)

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#6
post #2

TL;DR Two filmakers paid $25,488 to buy all seats for 5 screenings of their $0 production budget movie at a local movie theater on June 10th. Which turned out to be more money 'earned' than any other movie in the US that day, allowing them to top the charts as the highest grossing movie. Edit: whoops, looks like I may have misunderstood and they probably didn't pay that much, as replies to this comment are pointing o…

Looks like they lost the long-tail opportunity to sell their "One Weird Trick That Movie Critics Hate and Will Make You Rich"

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#7
post #5
post #4

This is the same strategy as getting on the NY Times best seller list by literally buying lots of copies of your own book[1]. The key innovation is realizing how cheap it would be to make it to the top with nearly every theater in the USA closed. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-...

I "participated" in a less nefarious strategy. In 2010, when the collection of short stories "Machine of Death" was about to be released, the editor Ryan North asked us not to pre-order. Instead, he suggested that we all wait and purchase the book on the same day from Amazon. The strategy worked -- the book was #1 in its category that day, which certainly led to increased sales over time. Probably didn't hurt that it…

It beat a book by right-wing pundit Glenn Beck, who accused it of being an intentional attack on him and emblematic of the “liberal culture of death”

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#8
post #5
post #4

This is the same strategy as getting on the NY Times best seller list by literally buying lots of copies of your own book[1]. The key innovation is realizing how cheap it would be to make it to the top with nearly every theater in the USA closed. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-...

I "participated" in a less nefarious strategy. In 2010, when the collection of short stories "Machine of Death" was about to be released, the editor Ryan North asked us not to pre-order. Instead, he suggested that we all wait and purchase the book on the same day from Amazon. The strategy worked -- the book was #1 in its category that day, which certainly led to increased sales over time. Probably didn't hurt that it…

> Ryan North is also the author of the popular webcomic "Dinosaur Comic".

And of "To Be or Not to Be: That Is the Adventure" and "Romeo And/Or Juliet", CYA retellings of Hamlet and R&J; and of "How To Invent Everything", a handy-dandy guide to bootstrapping modern technology if your time machine malfunctions.

AND he is the human of Noam Chompsky, a Very Good Boy.

Re: Unsubscribe: The $0-budget movie that ‘topped the US box office’

#10
post #9

I find it amusing that Zoom’s user experience allowed it to capture the market to such degree that is now making waves in pop culture. How did Google, Microsoft, Cisco, etc get it so wrong all of these years?

I doubt it's anything more than the cyclical nature of trends, and chance. There was already a movement away from Zoom to platforms that were less closed, but then the pandemic happened.
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