As the release date of the film draws closer, movie marketers try to get early favourable press coverage in newspapers, magazines and on entertainment TV shows. The main movie publicity tactic is something called a press junket. At a press junket, journalists, entertainment reporters and movie critics are converged to some swanky hotel for a day of interviews with the stars and creators of the film. The actors, directors and screenwriters sit in separate rooms and the reporters are brought in one by one to ask their questions.
Press junkets are highly controlled environments where interviews are often attended by a publicist, in order to make sure the interview stays on topic (promotion of the movie or TV Show). If you’ve ever seen a TV interview with an actor sitting in front of a poster of their movie, that’s from a press junket.
