An Interview with Trish Long, Marketing and Publicity Manager, Buena Vista International (Ireland)
Intending to stay for only one year, Trish Long is about to celebrate five years as Marketing and Publicity Manager with Buena Vista International. Coming from a career background which includes working on pirate radio, with a rape crisis centre, the arts sector and the first marketing manager of the Irish Film Centre she finds it ironic that she has become so comfortably a part of such a large company. The key to her remaining has been both the local and international support she has received from the company itself. “It was not until I had worked with what is seen as a major international conglomerate like Disney that I have actually felt that sense of encouragement and support to make a mistake or take the risks necessary to do the job.” she explained. These risks include some of her best memories, such as, dying the Liffey green for St. Patrick’s day and having the Bells of Christchurch ring out at midnight to launch the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Despite being offered countless other positions at home and abroad she has chosen to remain working from Dublin. She stays because she loves it. "I love the mix of what I do. I love the fact that it’s anything from a huge promotion with Nestle on Tarzan to really seeing the difference you can make when you get behind a small film. I also love the fact that we can be so active on Irish films” she said.
Her support for Irish film is strong. With big names such as I Went Down and A Love Divided achieving great success at home and abroad she is equally passionate about supporting emerging filmmakers here through the distribution of new shorts. The short Underworld was recently picked up by Buena Vista and is showing with the new Antonio Banderas release, The 13th Warrior. Since there is no financial incentive for either the filmmaker, distributor or exhibitor in showing a short before a main feature it is often difficult to achieve. Consequently, when Buena Vista take on this additional job they have to believe in it. Trish Long explained, "Brendan Mc Caul (General Manager and Vice President Buena Vista) and I often take risks with Irish films. There is no safety net there. It is simply us saying to head office that we believe in this film. We’re spending the company’s money on it plus resources and time. There is always the fear that it might not work but the company have been very supportive of this”
They are about to release A Love Divided in Northern Ireland which she admits will only add to an already nightmare schedule. The week before sees the release of the Richard Gere and Julia Roberts film, Runaway Bride, while the following week launches Disney’s biggest movie this year, Tarzan. But the extra work fails to deter her. "I’m as excited about what the experience will be like to release this very special film, (A Love Divided), with this great subject matter in Northern Ireland, as I am about the amazing things we are doing on Tarzan. And we are doing really amazing things with that film"” She said.
Trish Long is concerned that many producers sometimes don’t understand the way the distribution of films operates. "We have created a role for ourselves supported by the company to once or twice a year release an Irish movie and give it a release that it wouldn’t ordinarily receive. Very often people see that release and offer their own film for distribution and I have to explain that that is not the way it works. We need to be involved from the very beginning and it has to be a film we can personally say that yes this has something worth saying"” she said.
Although she always has her eye on the domestic market her work also brings her much further afield. One week out of every month is spent working abroad. As one member of a small international PR team her role abroad is as diverse as it is at home. She could be helping to organise and run the press office at Cannes or Venice or deciding how to market the next big film worldwide. Often she is brought in to organise a huge event or press junket. 99% of her time abroad now is spent as a Talent Handler. This American title sees Trish Long working one on one with the biggest names in the industry. Last year she spent 12 days touring European film festivals with Harrison Ford. She is scheduled to work with Roy Disney in October on a major European tour publicising the first ever feature release on IMAX, Fantasia 2000, while her biography details her work with some of the biggest names in the industry.
She admits though that sometimes she doubts herself but, she says, "Its good to feel that doubt. I often feel enormous terror. If you mess up you are messing up very publicly and you are doing it with the Chairman of the Walt Disney Group. The idea of that can be scary. But that doubt always comes before the event. Once it gets started everything is fine"”
The travel and long hours can be tiring and she has sometimes worked six weeks without a day off but still she maintains that it is worth it. "You get to work on projects which have budgets that you could never dream of in a territory this size because it is a budget for the whole world or the whole of Europe. I get to handle situations on a very high level that I wouldn’t otherwise in Ireland but importantly it has meant that I haven’t needed to move abroad for my career. Even though I work here I have a great sense of being connected to Europe and to head office and I have great relationships with people in these territories"” she explained.
According to Trish Long the distribution, marketing and exhibition of film in Ireland has never been healthier. The Irish market is now the highest consumer of cinema in the whole of the European Union and growing yet she is critical of some aspects of the development of the industry here.
"I think that what is happening within the Irish film industry is a natural part of the journey now. The euphoria of just getting to make the films has worn off. What now needs to happen is that an informed and professional structure needs to be put in place to assist all aspects of the film business. Up to now 99% of all resources has gone into helping make those films. Films must have an audience and to create and develop those audiences the industry has to start working with the people in this country who are the experts at that"”
Trish Long believes that the film industry sees distribution and marketing as irrelevant but argues that without distribution, exhibition and marketing, people cannot get to see the films made. "For example, distributors weren’t consulted or involved in any way with the Think Tank Report nor was a representative of any of the distributors or exhibitors invited to the launch of the report. That implies that it is felt or seen by that group that distributors are irrelevant to the film making process"”
She understands that quite naturally people have concentrated on the large gap of years when films simply weren’t being made here and that this had to be addressed. She maintains that the industry here now needs to realise that if we are going to be global players in this business then we have to plan for that and engage with it. "If we see ourselves as players in this in the long term we need to start putting resources and thoughts into the future of the Irish film industry and acknowledging that the future will be a poorer one if you don’t educate yourself about those areas which are important to the film"”
Despite her success within the company Trish Long still rates her Masters Degree in Cultural and Communication studies as one of her highest achievements. She studied part-time while she was working and graduated with a first class honours degree. She claims it almost killed her towards the end but was worth it. It seems Trish Long relishes a challenge and the last one accomplished just makes her hungry for the next. As she says herself "I’m ambitious to feel fulfilment in my work, to be acknowledged for that. I need to feel excited by what I do"”
-GQ 9/9/99
