The producers of "World Trade Center" are donating $1.3 million to the Sept. 11 memorial, keeping a promise to give 5 percent of the film's opening weekend box office receipts to help build it. Another $1.3 million from the weekend's proceeds will be split equally among three Sept. 11-related charities, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation said.

Despite our fear that Paramount would disappear enough of World Trade Center's money into suspect budget lines like "Dedicated Nicolas Cage Mustache Groomer," "Rubble Verisimilitude Consulting," and the especially suspicious "Tom Cruise Relocation Expenses" to back out of a substantial donation, the studio nobly honored its commitment, making the entire project seem slightly less cynically conceived to exploit a recent tragedy for middling box office returns, and for that they should be applauded.

• WTC movie donates $1.3M to 9-11 memorial [AP]
• Previously: Great Moments In Movie Marketing: Paramount Discovers That Teens Might Totally Heart 9-11! [Defamer]

"World Trade Center" will have its red-carpet premiere tonight at the Ziegfeld Theater, but celebration will be kept to a minimum.

In one striking departure, there will be no gala reception afterward.

That's because the audience will include not just the film's stars and handlers, but also survivors of the terror attacks and others shattered by the loss of loved ones.

"It seemed inappropriate to do something festive," said Michael Shamberg, one of the film's producers.

"While the film celebrates the best in people, the night will be low-key," he added.

So low-key in fact, that Paramount has taken explicit steps to make their audience feel as if there was nothing celebratory about the evening at all: For example, all attendees, including the victim's families, will be approached and asked to contribute the $11.75 it would have cost them to see the movie in a theater, 50% of which the studio will selflessly donate to an 9/11-appropriate charity.

• 'WTC' debut a no-glitz zone [NY Daily News]

And The Oscar For Best Motion Picture Of The Year Goes To...World Trade Center! And The Oscar For Best Director Goes To...Oliver Stone! And The Oscar For Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role Goes To...Nicolas Cage! And The Oscar For Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role Goes To...Michael Pena! And The Oscar For Best Original Score Goes To...Craig Armstrong! And The Oscar For Best Original Screenplay Goes To...Andrea Berloff, John McLoughlin, Donna McLoughlin, William Jimeno & Allison Jimeno! I WISH: And The Oscar For Best Cast Ensemble Goes To...The Cast Of World Trade Center! Good Luck With The Movie And Good Luck At The Oscars

If WTC keeps increasing its MySpace popularity at this rate, soon every available teen discretionary dollar previously earmarked for wasteful rainbow party cover charges will wind up in Paramount's pocket, and parents can rest easy knowing that their children are spending their unsurpervised free time being traumatized by a dramatic recreation of a recent tragedy instead of by a peer-pressure-fueled night of serial oral sex acts.

• 'Our Nation's Greatest Tragedy' Would Like To Be Your Friend! [Defamer]

This is a story of an actor's unshakeable faith rewarded.

After suffering through the meager, combined $36 million grosses of The Weather Man and Lord of War, Nic Cage called out to his Creator to deliver unto him a role that would both challenge his skills and allow him to heal the recent wounds to his career. Mere moments later, his prayers were answered by a vessel of His infinite mercy, in the semi-human form of an agent relaying an offer to star in World Trade Center, an unparalleled opportunity to show off his chops while waiting for the Lord to get on the ball and push National Treasure 2 into production.

• Previously: 'Our Nation's Greatest Tragedy' Would Like To Be Your Friend! [Defamer]

The marketing braintrust at Paramount really weren't fucking around when they decided to leave no teen behind in their promotional campaign for World Trade Center, as they've erected a tasteful monument to their upcoming blockbuster hopeful on MySpace, the online home of all sophisticated discourse on recent national tragedies. The movie's collected just 40 friends so far (some of whom appear to be Paramount employees), but we're sure once WTC learns the ropes of social networking, it will soon collect an enthusiastic gang of Tila Tequila clones and middle-aged men who lie about their age to lure the naive Twin Towers into some hott cybersex while its parents are still at work.

• WTC [MySpace]
• Great Moments In Movie Marketing: Paramount Discovers That Teens Might Totally Heart 9-11! [Defamer]

"I remember back in 2001 when it happened on the news," said one 14-year-old girl. "I kept thinking, 'This isn't real; it's just one of those disaster movies.' This movie made me feel Sept. 11 was real for the first time." [...]

But for all the challenges Paramount Worldwide Marketing President Gerry Rich has faced on this project — chief among them, he says, is avoiding looking like "Hollywood trying to cash in" on a tragedy — he also caught an unexpected break. So favorable has been teenagers response to the film, Rich says, that Paramount completely reworked its $35-million marketing campaign to also court the most faithful and frequent moviegoing demographic: young people.

"Every generation has a defining moment," says the voice-over of a 30-second TV spot aimed at the under-25 crowd that began airing this week. The melodic "Fix You" by rock group Coldplay plays as the screen goes black and three words appear in stark white letters: "This Was Ours."

Indeed, we can think of no better way to avoid the appearance of untoward cashing in than by reworking an entire marketing campaign to target a demographic you've suddenly discovered has been tragically underdexploited by advertising for "serious" films, and for whom the appearance of Nic Cage trapped under rubble finally brings home the reality of a recent tragedy. We can only hope the tantalizing smell of teenager's discretionary income doesn't lead Paramount any further down the slippery slope of marketing exploitation, from the realm of Coldplay-scored TV trailers to WTC-themed ringtones of star Maggie Gyllenhaal weeping.

• 9/11 Film Resonates With an Unlikely Group: Teens [LAT]
• Previously: Great Moments In Movie Marketing: Zoolander's World Trade Center [Defamer]

• Paramount Sues Over Hijacked WTC Film [TSG]

• The world saw evil that day. Two men saw something else. [Recidivism.org via BoingBoing]

From:WorkLife Programs 05/12/2006 08:26 AM To: NotesMail_MelroseLot_MP cc: Subject: ReelFit Fair TODAY

Continuing our efforts to promote optimal health, Human Resources presents Paramount Pictures' ReelFit Fair
TODAY 11:30am - 2:30pm

32 HEALTH & FITNESS VENDORS along the Paseo at the Studio Store will provide food, beverage & nutrition bar samples; free blood pressure, blood sugar & posture screenings, therapy consultations, chair massages, fitness equipment demos; information on health benefits, local marathons, bike to work day, fitness discount offers, giveaways and special prize raffles! Don't miss it!

We've been assured by a recipient of one of the massages that they were performed by actual masseuses, not indentured servants in vaguely naval gear trying to convince knotty-muscled staffers that Dianetics is "like a vigorous rubdown for your brain," thereby not producing any further Tom Cruise-related tension.

• Paramount Takes Its Mind Off M:i:III [Defamer]

From: [redacted] To: NotesMail_MelroseLot_MP

The new trailer for our movie, "World Trade Center", will debut in theaters next weekend, and we are proud to give you the opportunity to get a special early look.

Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone tells the true story of the heroic survival and rescue of two Port Authority policemen - John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno - who were trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, after they went in to help people escape. The film also follows their families as they try to find out what happened to them, as well as the rescuers who found them in the debris field and pulled them out. Their story shows how the best in people rose above the tragic events of that day.

Only 20 people were rescued alive from the World Trade Center after the collapse of the buildings. Officer Jimeno and Sgt. McLoughlin were the 18th and 19th.

The film will be released August 9th.

The trailer will be shown every 15 minutes in the Paramount Theatre on Friday, May 12th, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The last showing of this 2 minute and 30 second piece will be at 2:00 p.m.

It's really an inspired idea; by the time the last showing ends tomorrow afternoon, hardly anyone will care about how bad the second weekend projections for Impossible look. If studio chief Brad Grey has taught us anything this week, it's how important perspective is in the face of apparent tragedy.

• Report: Paranoia Returns To The 'Mount [Defamer]