A Peek Behind the Hollywood Curtain

I'm not a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan's work (or, as I call him, M. Night Shamalamadingdong), but I found this article in today's New York Times about his recent career woes interesting. Basically, since the surprise success of The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan's box office dividends have been slowly dwindling. The strategy to market him as a director hasn't panned out:

His career illustrates one of the stubborn paradoxes of Hollywood: the film industry loves the myth of the auteur, the rugged individual filmmaker who plays by his own rules, until faced with the reality. Around the time that 'The Sixth Sense' was released, this was a particularly potent idea, as studios tried to build brands around star directors like Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers (who made The Matrix'), hoping their names would sell movies the way Hitchcock’s once did.

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'It never really worked,' argues David Weitzner, the former head of worldwide marketing for Universal and an adjunct professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. 'It’s pomposity on the part of studios to think that the public is going to respond to an advertising message that says to see the film because it’s from the director of another film. It’s stupid and to some degree, it’s fueled by ego.'

I disagree that it's "stupid," although perhaps it only appeals to a limited audience. Personally, there are several directors who are on my must see list, but I'll admit I'm a bit strange that way. Still, it makes sense to me that folks who enjoy Film A might want to know when the same creative talent makes a new flick.