Aaron got his own publicity, with stories about how he had been working as a bodyguard in New York and shed 100 of his 475 pounds to work in the film.įor families there was also a substantial subplot, based on the relationship between Mr. Kosove, about 23,000 churches downloaded the sermons, laying an exceptionally strong base for the film.īlack viewers, they speculate, were drawn by the story’s emphasis on the durability and fundamental goodness of Michael Oher, the real-life football player portrayed by the newcomer Quinton Aaron. In this case Grace Hill took the unusual step of offering online sermon outlines based on “The Blind Side,” with clips that could be used in churches equipped with video screens. Bullock who had just posted a personal box office record with her comedy “The Proposal” and by a story that was far more about a woman adopting a son than about football. Just like an old-fashioned publicity stunt, their presence helped “The Blind Side” connect with a male, sports-oriented audience that was roped in through blog reports and by screenings for college sports fans, some of them organized by the coaches themselves. Johnson said, were rounded up by Molly Smith, an executive producer of the film, who is also Frederick Smith’s daughter. With “The Blind Side,” one such step was the recruiting of half a dozen well-known college football coaches, including Lou Holtz, who has coached for Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina, and Nick Saban, of the University of Alabama, to portray themselves. The arrangement allows it not only to control the selling of a film, but sometimes also to insist that marketing considerations have a place in a movie’s creation. Rice did not work on “The Blind Side,” but in 2000 used similar techniques to help make “Remember the Titans,” another inspirational film about sports, a surprise hit for Walt Disney Pictures. “This is almost a throwback to the regional marketing approach of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, when you didn’t have national advertising beyond the three television networks,” said Dennis Rice, a Hollywood marketing consultant. Johnson, because the filmmakers had taken extraordinary steps to create a story that would appeal to disparate constituencies that were only in some ways connected to one another. Yet “The Blind Side” was ultimately buoyed by its fans something that was possible, according to Mr. Like, I shouldn’t have done this.” She felt that her performance didn’t click. Bullock added: “I regretted having taken the film. Her first week of shooting, she recalled, was “the worst I ever had.”īy week two, Ms. Bullock referred to audience support for “The Blind Side” as “a godsend.”

Blind side