"Here's another one," Steven said, pointing toward a framed poster of a mid-budget drama film that had once been positioned as Oscar bait.
"Studios play with release dates like chess. Award-season films? December. Blockbusters? Summer. Family flicks? Winter holidays. It isn't about the audience; it's about controlling momentum. You release the same movie in September, it flops. In December, suddenly it's an 'Oscar contender.' Exact same film."
One of the girls frowned. "So… success is timing?"
Steven snapped his fingers. "Exactly. Timing and marketing. We spend more on promotion than on the actual movie. A fifty-million film might get a hundred-million-dollar marketing campaign. Why? Because perception sells better than product. People don't go because they want to, they go because they've been told everyone else is going. Hype is the most valuable currency we trade."
