Striving for Gender Equality. Screenvision Partners with Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

In a time of hesitancy among media companies to take action in support of women’s rights, Screenvision is taking a more active role, as Christine Martino, EVP Ad Sales, explained. Her company has entered into a partnership with Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to raise awareness of gender bias in Hollywood. “Screenvision Media has always been an advocate for gender equality in the work place and in society, and with our connection to Hollywood and the movie industry, the partnership seemed like an ideal extension of the work we were already doing,” she stated. 

Films will be evaluated to determine if they earn the GDIQ-Check, a metric that analyzes films based on the screen time, speaking time, diversity and whether or not there are stereotypical representations of its female characters in accordance with our 19-point scoring system. 

Charlene Weisler: Are there set goals and if so what are they?

Christine Martino: We are bringing in a studio launch partner and highlight their upcoming films that meet an extensive, proprietary set of criteria for fair, diverse gender portrayal standards set by Screenvision and the Geena Davis Institute. Once we secure this partner, we will spotlight their upcoming films that have received this GDIQ-Check by integrating them into our new fixed content pod.  In this new feature in our Front + Center preshow, Geena will discuss her Institute’s mission and encourage moviegoers to go to theaters to see the films that are in support of this cause.  

Weisler: What type of impact do you hope to achieve?

Martino: We hope to encourage millions of moviegoers to support the featured GDIQ-Check films by seeing them in the theatre.  Screenvision sits at an important juncture of the media ecosystem: we are poised to bring together brands and movie-goers with content creators and distributors and we want to use this position to support the important cause of gender equality in media. 

Weisler: What are the biggest obstacles?

 

Martino: Our greatest challenges are bringing awareness to the gender inequality that still exists in Hollywood and encouraging more studios to support the Institute’s work.  We are looking forward to overcoming them to effect real and much-needed change.

Weisler: Where do you see this effort going three years from now?

Martino: We expect that multiple studios will want to be included and featured in our awareness campaign and that they will begin to change the way they evaluate the gender balance in their films before they are even in production. We believe supportive brands will surround this content feature and, in addition to attaching their advertisements to these GDIQ-Check films, look to accurately portray women in the advertisements themselves in support of all forms of media breaking the gender bias.

This article first appeared in Cynopsis

Getting Emotional with Movies at the Screenvision Upfront

“The true magic of cinema,” stated John Partilla, CEO Screenvision Media, “engages audiences through emotions” and creates “moments of wonder.” Screenvision’s 2019 upfront, held at the Ziegfeld Theater, highlighted not only the unique experience of attending a movie in a theater but also the unique quality of that type of content. “The essential point is that movie theaters, whether neighborhood or epic, are the cathedrals of storytelling,” Partilla explained, saying they have the ability to, “mesmerize audiences and reach, engage, powerfully impact and move consumers.”

Part of what makes movies different is that it is a shared experience with people you don’t know. Today’s cinemas are also adding accoutrements such as bar service and recliner chairs that make the experience more of an event. “2018 was the biggest year for movies,” noted Katy Loria, Screenvision’s Chief Revenue Officer, “with the highest box office ever with The Avengers.” She added that theaters attract audiences that are young, affluent, educated and socially active decision-makers.

Screenvision’s point of differentiation is that these audiences are essentially unreachable with TV because consumers have become streamers of glass content and avoid ads by either subscribing to SVOD or multitasking by using a digital device while watching TV. Dubbed the “unreachables” by Christine Martino, EVP, National Ad Sales, she posited that they are, “not distracted at the movies. They are craving to pay attention.” She advised advertisers that reallocating GRPs from TV to cinema will, “get those eyeballs back. Cinema is a solution to audience replacement. It is incremental reach.”

The company has been collecting data on moviegoers for last four years and now has a deep understanding of viewer needs, actions, habits and media consumption at the screen level. Among the new technological innovations are pixels built into the screen and a smart network which are access points to advanced targeting. This will extend beyond the screen to social retargeting and measuring attribution. They have also recently constructed new metric – an engagement rating.

In addition to data initiatives that highlight the value of cinema audiences, Screenvision also announced a partnership with the Geena Davis institute to support films that break through stereotypes to identify those scripts and films that show balanced portrayals of women and girls. This pro-social partnership will be featured in segment in Screenvision’s preshow.

In a world where viewers have the option to view content anywhere at any time, the ability to lean back in the dark comfort of a cushy chair and share an emotional experience with a group of strangers may just break through the haze of device distractions.

This article first appeared in Cynopsis