But the film makers upstart in Nickelodeon and his channel of cable joins MTV, they think that they have found a way of conquering the probabilities. Since the property of Viacom channels formed a unit called MTV Movies to produce movies for Paramount, study of Viacom, MTV and Nick they have done 18 movies, and each one has obtained a benefit.
The types of cable have constructed his victories gust for keeping low the costs, the commercialization of his channels of cable, and leafing through his nostril in the establishment of Hollywood. "We have gone out of nothing", says Albie Hecht, 49 years, who is in charge of the Nickelodeon movies. "We are not of Hollywood, and do not have a preconceived idea of what a movie must be." Ask 43-year-old Van Toffler, who directs the unit of movie of MTV: why have they been right in it, like foreigners, and he jokes, "The ignorance and the stupidity." Having grown in MTV, Toffler and his people resist that they say to him what to do: "We have adopted an approach completely nonformulaic to the creation of videos and the commercialization."
While the movie of Hollywood cost average for 47,7 million dollars to produce and $ 31 millions to the market in 2001, MTV and Nick have never spent any more than 30 million dollars of production and $ 15 millions in marketing. 5 millions have done several movies for less than $. "It is more than one model of independent movie", says Hecht. In certain way, the strategy of MTV Nick is a new draft in an old idea - movies of genre as the movies of terror or movies of midnight that became cheap for young spectators.
Some of the liberations of MTV and Nick are big versions of screen of the programs of cable, including The Rugrats Movie, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, and Hey, Arnold. They all trust in the contemporary animation that is less costly than the classic Disney styles and favored by DreamWorks.
Others there are in alive the movies of action that they do not need from big stars, because there go the children, adolescents and veinteañeros that seem to prefer the new faces. This way, for example, MTV, Orange County, a movie on a top secondary school driven to despair to enter Stanford, the stars Colin Hanks (Tom's son) and Schuyler Fisk (daughter of Sissy Spacek), who were directed by Jake Kasdan (son of the director Lawrence Kasdan). The genealogical trees, and a beyond the common script, it has Ben Stiller, John Lithgow, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin, Chevy Chase and in the movie in small roles, with the salaries of being equal. Entire cost: $ 16 millions. Thrown in January, the movie has collected $ 40 millions.
Quoting the absence of power of the stars, other studies approved in a movie led by the actors black Steve Harvey, DL Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac. Pero Toffler saw to act as together and convinced Spike Lee to direct a movie on his show. Filmed in three days, the Original Kings of Comedy costs scarcely US $ 3 millions and $ collected 38 millions in rooms of movies of MTV promoted by cable and radio and with "teams of street", that given urban quarters with cartels.
The last movie of Nickelodeon, Clockstoppers, it was produced by Gale Anne Hurd, who has done big successes of big budget like The Terminator and Armageddon. It diminished to producing Clockstoppers, which cost less than $ 30 millions, because he wanted to do a movie to his 10 years of age, daughter could enjoy. "I do not believe that a moderate budget is an obstacle to do a good movie", says Hurd.
Clockstoppers brought a disappointing $ 10,1 millions in his first weekend, behind Fox Ice Age and The Disney's Rookie. But that is not going to change the child is beautiful in the approach of MTV and Nick. MTV is doing a movie based on his show gross Jackass to the reality that is going to cost almost nothing, and Toffler wants to do movies that are less costly and more adventurous. "I have felt sleepy that would create a slice of MTV Movies and Imdb film, which it does that the movies of the midnight, perhaps for only 300.000 dollars", he says. His unit recently acquired Better Luck Tomorrow, of Asia and American adolescents who are students of day honor and of members of bands in the night. 1 million costs less than $.
