In a unique experiment and trial, Warner Independent Pictures (TWX) marketed their film "The Painted Veil" to specific theaters in specific markets, something that hasn't been done before with theatrical movies.
As we all know, a message from TV advertising of a movie will end with "Now playing everywhere" or "Now playing in selected theaters."
In the original release in 18 markets, they used the local cable channels to run their commercials on. In the commercial they identify exact "art house" theaters. For example, TV viewers will be directed in Dallas to the Angelika Film Center & 
Café. In Atlanta, they will be told to go to the Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema.
The executive vice president of marketing for Warner Independent Pictures, Laurie Kim, said that she feels that this is a superior way to offer commercials to consumers. She added that she thinks it will add more immediacy to the message.
"It's painstaking process to create a specific tag at the end of a commercial for each theater," says Kim. She also said that the cost wasn't much more to do 18 different commercials either.
This will probably work better for smaller runs of independent movies and when opening up in limited markets. Once they increase the films exposure, they plan on implementing the more standard way of marketing that we're used to.
Still, this is a good experiment to attempt. If they can get some increase exposure and viewership, it can help smaller films especially get a stronger base to work from.
The theater-specific ads ran in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Denver, Detroit, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, Portland, Miami, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Austin, Cambridge/Boston and Washington, D.C.
The movie starts Naomi Watts and Ed Norton.
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