Reece Feldman, 23, is living out his dreams at the 94th Academy Awards.
After the lowest ratings in the show’s history last year, the Oscars are embracing TikTok and social media content creators to create buzz on Hollywood’s biggest night and reach a demographic that spends hours consuming short videos online.
The Academy reached out to Feldman for a partnership on the behind-the-scenes of Oscars events. Until he got that call, Feldman had no idea his TikTok account, which focuses on the film industry and has over 23 million likes, had drawn the attention of the heavy hitters.
As a production assistant, he posted behind-the-scenes on set under the TikTok handle @guywithamoviecamera to his over 600,000 followers. One of his most popular posts shows him organizing a table read on the set of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
“There’s nothing I enjoy than talking about movies. I just love storytelling,” said Feldman, who has over 600,000 followers.
The Academy Awards did not respond to requests for more information on its partnership with content creators this year.
He’s provided behind-the-scenes on TikTok
Feldman has provided behind-the-scenes on surprise encounters with celebrities, site preparations in the days leading up to the Oscars, nominees’ lunch — even the length of the red carpet that the stars walk on. He’ll be at various Oscars backstage events Sunday to give a glimpse of what happens at Hollywood’s biggest night.
“They are just letting me have creative freedom and make content that’s specific to TikTok,” he said. “I really love the behind the scenes … there are thousands of people who make it happen, from making sure the lighting is perfect … the sound is good. These people who are amazing at their jobs and pour their sweat to do this,” he said.
Feldman share his videos on TikTok, a platform social media experts say draws a much younger audience.
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And after a series of scandals that have rocked Hollywood in recent years, the Academy can use social media to reach a demographic that’s more averse to issues that plague traditional institutions.
“To leverage TikTok stars for reputation management and social responsibility campaigns, the Academy could use different TikTok stars channels as platforms to explore visual rhetoric and the disparities in mediated representations of race, ethnicity and color to address crises like #OscarsSoWhite,” said Christina Ferraz, founder of Houston-based marketing agency Thirty6five.
TikTok is a more suitable platform to elevate the movie industry compared to other social media platforms because it promotes interpersonal connection through physical entertainment. Other platforms promote interpersonal connection through narrative experiences, Ferraz said.
“Both the movie industry and TikTok heavily rely on and promote youth and beauty. It’s a natural marriage for brand alignment,” Ferraz added.
Feldman said TikTok differs from other social media platforms because it’s organic and has an algorithm that allows good content from people without many followers to reach a wide audience. That allows people without many followers to go viral, providing an incentive that draws more content creators to the platform.
TikTok is also designed to allow creative edits in-platform, making it especially popular with budding filmmakers, Feldman said. “It allows you to edit everything — the way that it’s designed, a lot of it is meritocracy,” he said.
Some movies have already won the popularity contest
With the Oscars happening this weekend, some movies have already won the popularity contest on TikTok. And a film industry trying to rebound after the pandemic is paying attention.
This week, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who composed several songs for Disney’s “Encanto” soundtrack, thanked TikTok users for helping propel the film’s album to the top of the charts.
Miranda cited “truly surreal and incredible “We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ dances” involving the movie’s hits song that have gone viral on the platform.
“I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for all of your outstanding videos featuring songs from ‘Encanto’ that have helped make it one of the top soundtracks on TikTok and all over the world,” Miranda said in a video shared by TikTok’s media team.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.
Ferraz said t’s crucial for companies to embrace social media marketing for their own survival and longevity. But for a brand to have a robust TikTok presence, it requires a shift in its marketing approach and a dedicated social media manager. Most organizations are not willing to invest in creating those positions, she said.
“Theres a way for all companies to find a niche on TikTok,” Feldman said. “Sometimes it means taking a break from traditional marketing, and having some trust in creators and being willing to change your mind.”
Another Oscar-nominated movie, Dune, which has 10 nominations, has also blown up on TikTok, where its hashtag has been viewed 1.3 billion times.
More publicity means more curiosity about the movie and that translates to more money, he said.
Source by abc7chicago.com
