News for Jul. 12, 2007

Celebs going online with viewers

7/12/07, 9:08 pm EST - Xoanon

When Leonardo DiCaprio's "The 11th Hour" trailer went up on his MySpace page, the site got overloaded with so many trailer views that the stat counter started going backwards. When Bruce Willis jumped into an Aint it Cool News chat to defend "Live Free or Die Hard," the fanboys flamed him until he turned on his iChat camera and proved his identity. Then they warmed up to him. The guy who turned him on to Aint it Cool News in the first place was another star with a comeback sequel: Sylvester Stallone. When Steven Spielberg started filming "Indiana Jones 4," he posted a video of himself popping champagne on IndianaJones.com. His photo of Harrison Ford slouching in his Indy costume spread through Cyberspace like wildfire. The dynamic between celebrities and their audience is shifting. The critics and the media no longer have the last word. Thanks to evolving technology, moviemakers and stars have new weapons to not only promote their projects directly to moviegoers, but to fight back against what they perceive as misinformation. They are taking advantage of their Internet fanbases to promote their projects, skipping the marketing middlemen and interacting directly with the people who buy tickets. Fan sites offer them valuable feedback about what their audiences like and dislike. But they also offer an opportunity to set the record straight. And sometimes, change the world. [More]