Hal O'Brien 🇺🇸🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴‍☠️

So many neurons, so little time.

How to not make money in the movies

Posted on 2023-02-16 by Hal

The title says it all: “How Zyzzyx Road only grossed $30.00.”
TL;DR —

Zyzzyx ran for seven days at Dallas’ Highland Park Village Theater, with a single screening each day at noon. When it closed, exactly six people had gone to see it, for a total gross of, yes, $30.

I was talking to a friend who works intricately in entertainment, and they say this wouldn’t be regarded as “released” today (unlike its 2006 run) as one now needs a minimum of 10 theaters. Possibly because of this film. So it’s unlikely ever to be… well, “surpassed” seems the wrong word. “Displaced”? — from this curious record.

How not to do a re-brand

Posted on 2023-02-09 by Hal

It’s been two years now since Angie’s List renamed itself Angi. This was done because, allegedly, “(W)e’re not just a list anymore. Customers were confined and constrained by the literal nature of the name.”

But both their TV ads and their website all but scream, “We used to be Angie’s List!” If you’re still encountering so much resistance from your customers after two years, perhaps it’s time to concede they’re comfortable with being confined and constrained.