A Studio’s Other Catalog
In its latest stint of troubled times, MGM is banking on another kind of star currency to pump up its image, add a little green to its parched coffers and exploit its still-renowned logo: The catalog business.
And it’s not the catalog the studio already exploited--its entire back library of classic films that Ted Turner bought in the mid-’80s.
This time the struggling studio has jumped into the mail order business, in alliance with the pricey Neiman Marcus catalog. It offers everything from clothes for adults and children to linens and electronic goodies--with plenty of MGM-logo items to go around.
The joint venture, called MGM Star, has been mailed to about 500,000 Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog recipients over the past two weeks. Its mission: Bring a little glamour to Middle America, the look and feel of being a Hollywood player and, in at least one case, even the chance to become a real Hollywood player--if only for a walk-on role in a film.
Catalog readers are invited on Page 42 to bid for a role in director John McTiernan’s planned remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair,” with co-stars Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Bidding price starts at $10,000, and there’s no guarantee the nonspeaking cameo will ever see the light of screen. Proceeds will go to a charity of producer/star Brosnan’s picking. Linda Berman, general manager of MGM’s consumer products division, said the company could not comment this early on how many responses it has received. (McTiernan, who is scheduled to begin filming in late September, was not available for comment.)
“We’re experimenting,” Berman said. “I think what we’ve done is something no other studio has done. There is an insatiable appetite around the world for Hollywood. We already have a logo, the lion, that is recognized worldwide.
“We really believe Hollywood is more than a place. Its myth looms large in the lives of consumers,” she continued. “Just think. You’re sitting in your house in Iowa, and this comes in the mail. You look at it and say, ‘Hey, I can buy a piece of Hollywood.’ ”
Berman calls “The Thomas Crown Affair” role the catalog’s “wow!” gift. “People want the experience of Hollywood, of that fantasy.” And if that fantasy is ultimately left on the cutting-room floor? “The winner of the bid and a guest will be invited to the premiere.”
It May Play in Peoria, but How About L.A.?
Maybe the catalog will play in the heartland. But L.A. and New York could prove to be tougher sells.
“This catalog attempts to appeal to Middle America’s perceptions of Hollywood glamour,” said a Warner Bros.-based marketing executive. He continued dryly, “There is not a single person in Los Angeles, especially Hollywood, that is going to buy one thing from that catalog. So I’m sure it will do extremely well.”
In fact, one MGM source took a swipe at the publication: “It’s a nonevent, a step above Home Shopping Network. It lacks clarity, pizazz, point of view. It’s really sort of tacky . . . looks like something you’d find in a midrange New York Helmsley Hotel.”
Countered Berman: “The only critic we’re really interested in is our customers. Early indications are great. The catalog has been out a week, and at Neiman’s they’re already talking reorders. At MGM we’re talking sequels.”
Neiman spokeswoman Jo Marie Lilly said, “I have celebrity clients that have already expressed interest and will probably order from this. But I can’t build a business just around celebrities.”
It was MGM that approached Neiman’s about doing a catalog, Lilly said. “We didn’t want it to be an MGM T-shirt shop or have it clone other Neiman catalogs. We decided to have an ‘It Girl’ named Mette Jensen, a former Ford model who just wrapped a short independent film for Congo Productions called ‘Close Your Eyes.’ ” She appears in several shots: musing over a script, being prepped in makeup and wardrobe for a screen test, watching a movie and going to a Hollywood bash--all in attire peddled in the catalog.
“The critics can say what they want,” Lilly said, “but we’ve had calls from several studios interested in this.”
Several more such catalogs are planned. The second, what Berman calls the “poolside” book, will be shipped in January. Both companies are still mulling over the next “wow!” gift, which might be a Hollywood-style make-over with the stylists of a major star. Another catalog may be inspired by film noir, and others may delve more specifically into the MGM library for inspiration.
Berman said MGM is also considering prospects with other retailers, including the J. Peterman catalog, which is already carrying some products based on the Paramount/20th Century Fox blockbuster “Titanic.”
“I’m a great believer in taking chances, and I think this catalog has real value,” she said. And the Warner source says, “Look, if it does half as well as the Princess Di merchandise, MGM will look like geniuses.”
