| Are Teen Girls the New Go-To Demographic? |
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| Friday, 15 February 2008 | |
 Ellen Page in Juno
Sadly, this happens about once a decade with oft-neglected markets. Here's how it will play out. Execs, hungry for a hit, will notice that their studios or production companies have nothing in the pipeline for teen girls. So they'll start demanding it. Writers who are hungry to sell material and producers who are hungry to make a name for themselves in the company will scrounge for any project or idea they can find. Then they'll run headlong into the question: what do teen girls like?
Well, they like boys. And? And they like clothes. And? And they like music. And? And what? They like clothes, boys and music. The more dedicated to the idea will have a different revelation: focus groups. Yes, nothing like a good focus group to find out what the kids are into these days. What will the focus group tell us? Ummm…that teenage girls like music, clothes and boys? Okay. Great. Can we fit that into a movie? Sure. But that doesn't mean that "if you build it, they will come." In fact, the real problem isn't that you don't know how to sell a movie to teen girls. It is that everyone is going to try all at once. Few of the films will actually be good, as most of Hollywood operates under the assumption that movies for kids don't actually need, in any way, to be good.
Most will fail or under perform and everyone will think that the well has dried up again. Watching you guys do this is kind of like watching your cat try to open a door. As cute as it is, it is kind of sad that they don't realize the whole lack of thumbs problem.
Look. Juno is this year's Napoleon Dynamite, this year's My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It is the perfect storm of a package released at just the right time. Napoleon Dynamite succeeded because it was the only rated G movie out at the time and kids went to see it over and over again. My Big Fat Greek Wedding succeeded because it was the only rated PG film marketed to 35+ women that was out at the time, so the women took their friends to see it over and over again. Juno is the only rated PG-13 movie aimed at smart teenage girls out there. So, guess what? They're taking their friends. And they're seeing it over and over again.
The lesson to be learned from these hits is this: Teen girls aren't a new market. No one was marketing to them this season. So don't rush out and find yourself a teen girl movie. That's what everyone will be doing. Find that small, inexpensive film that is targeted at a market no one else is chasing. That's the movie that will make you a mint.     
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