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‘A Touch of Spice:’ Success by word of mouth

Tassos Boulmetis is the director behind this year’s «social phenomenon,» the film «A Touch of Spice.» The director argues that one of the factors in his film’s success was its excellent marketing, as well as a very well planned distribution schedule. However, its success can mainly be attributed to word of mouth. If the film was not good in the first place, its marketing schemes would have succeeded in keeping it in theaters for no more than a week before audiences started to peter out. «I believe that there is an audience for Greek films,» says the director, «an audience that invalidates statistics that show that every Greek film draws far fewer viewers than do their foreign competitors. «Now, as to why a film works or not is a question nobody has been able to answer in the history of cinema. We can only make assumptions. Because Greek productions, such as Demos Avdeliotis’s film, undoubtedly deserve to cut more tickets. In this case, we could probably attribute it to the film’s support mechanisms and distribution,» says Boulmetis. Some critics in the film world argue that one of the reasons Greek cinema did badly in general this past year was that the success of «A Touch of Spice» overshadowed other film’s chances. «That’s ridiculous,» argues Boulmetis. «Have you ever heard, anywhere in the world, of one film’s success canceling out others? I must admit, quite frankly, that it would be in my best interest for another three or four Greek films to cut as many tickets as mine. That way we could create something of a group.»

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