We have commercials. Then came product placement, in which commercials enter the storyline. Now we have advertisers working with writers to make the product an intrinsic part of the plot. From Harold Meyerson, <a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040602662.html”>Moviemaking becomes commercial art</a>:
<blockquote>As the cost of filmmaking continues to rise, “product placement” has become a serious source of production funding. The more a product is shown or used in a movie, the Times reports, “the more a brand pays for the appearance, offering fees ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million a film.”
But Yospe's niche — “brand integration,” as his law firm’s Web site nicely terms it — takes the concept further by starting the process earlier. Rather than have studio executives arbitrarily edit in a scene set, say, in an Exxon gas station as production is wrapping up, Yospe meets with filmmakers and writers while their pictures are still on the drawing boards to help the product placement become more integral to the narrative and thematic flow. And clinching deals for certain brands can affect the casting and other major aspects of a film.
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