Movie theater owners call for shorter trailers

Cinema owners have long complained about the length of movie trailers.

Now they’re clamping down.

New guidelines issued Monday by the National Assn. of Theatre Owners call for limiting the length of movie trailers to two minutes.

The guidelines, which the trade group said were designed to “maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the industry’s marketing efforts,” also call for restricting marketing time for trailers to 150 days prior to the release date of the film, and 120 days for all other in-theater marketing materials. Two exemptions per distributor per year would be allowed for both trailer length and marketing lead time.

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“These guidelines will evolve in response to technological innovations, marketing and advertising trends, competition in the marketplace, and consumer demands,” the theater owners association said. “The guidelines are completely voluntary and will be implemented through individual exhibition company policies, which may vary.”

In April 2013, the association’s executive board voted to create industrywide guidelines to encompass marketing lead-time for in-theater marketing materials, and trailer length and placement.

After discussions with executives of the seven largest distributors, the guidelines were revised to take into account their concerns, the association said. The voluntary guidelines will go into effect for any film released domestically on or after Oct. 1.