Audience-ology: How Moviegoers Shape the Films We Love
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- Create Date：2021-12-27 06:51:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Kevin Goetz
- ISBN：1982186674
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Summary
Discover the fascinating and secretive process of audience testing of Hollywood movies through these first-hand stories from famous filmmakers， studio heads， and stars。
Audience-ology takes you to one of the most unknown places in Hollywood—a place where famous directors are reduced to tears and multi-millionaire actors to fits of rage。 A place where dreams are made and fortunes are lost。 This book is the chronicle of how real people have written and rewritten America’s cinematic masterpieces by showing up， watching a rough cut of a new film， and giving their unfettered opinions so that directors and studios can salvage their blunders， or better yet， turn their movies into all-time classics。
Each chapter informs an aspect or two of the test-screening process and then， through behind-the-scenes stories， illustrates how that particular aspect was carried out。 Nicknamed “the doctor of audience-ology，” Kevin Goetz shares how he helped filmmakers and movie execs confront the misses and how he recommended ways to fix the blockbusters， as well as first-hand accounts from Ron Howard， Cameron Crowe， Ed Zwick， Renny Harlin， Jason Blum， and other Hollywood luminaries who brought you such films as La La Land， Chicago， Titanic， Wedding Crashers， Jaws， and Forrest Gump。
Audience-ology explores one of the most important （and most underrated） steps in the filmmaking process with enough humor， drama， and surprise to entertain those with only a spectator’s interest in film， offering us a new look at movie history。
Audience-ology takes you to one of the most unknown places in Hollywood—a place where famous directors are reduced to tears and multi-millionaire actors to fits of rage。 A place where dreams are made and fortunes are lost。 This book is the chronicle of how real people have written and rewritten America’s cinematic masterpieces by showing up， watching a rough cut of a new film， and giving their unfettered opinions so that directors and studios can salvage their blunders， or better yet， turn their movies into all-time classics。
Each chapter informs an aspect or two of the test-screening process and then， through behind-the-scenes stories， illustrates how that particular aspect was carried out。 Nicknamed “the doctor of audience-ology，” Kevin Goetz shares how he helped filmmakers and movie execs confront the misses and how he recommended ways to fix the blockbusters， as well as first-hand accounts from Ron Howard， Cameron Crowe， Ed Zwick， Renny Harlin， Jason Blum， and other Hollywood luminaries who brought you such films as La La Land， Chicago， Titanic， Wedding Crashers， Jaws， and Forrest Gump。
Audience-ology explores one of the most important （and most underrated） steps in the filmmaking process with enough humor， drama， and surprise to entertain those with only a spectator’s interest in film， offering us a new look at movie history。
Reviews
Addison Rizer
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A glimpse into parts of the film world I hadn't thought about before。 I loved the discussion of the screening process and the anecdotes about well-known movies。 Absolutely fascinating！ A glimpse into parts of the film world I hadn't thought about before。 I loved the discussion of the screening process and the anecdotes about well-known movies。 Absolutely fascinating！ 。。。more
Jay Gabler
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“I’d rather be beat in the face with a donkey penis than watch this film。”Since long before Letterboxd， ordinary moviegoers have had occasional opportunities to share their thoughts on new movies — and the filmmakers， often to their chagrin， have been listening。 As Kevin Goetz details in Audience-ology， studios have long relied on preview screenings to gauge potential audiences’ impressions of their products。 With comments like the one above， quoted by Goetz in the book （though he tactfully decl “I’d rather be beat in the face with a donkey penis than watch this film。”Since long before Letterboxd， ordinary moviegoers have had occasional opportunities to share their thoughts on new movies — and the filmmakers， often to their chagrin， have been listening。 As Kevin Goetz details in Audience-ology， studios have long relied on preview screenings to gauge potential audiences’ impressions of their products。 With comments like the one above， quoted by Goetz in the book （though he tactfully declines to mention which movie it was regarding）， the studios get what they pay for。I reviewed Audience-ology for The Tangential。 。。。more
Dan
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My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tiller Press for an advanced copy on this book about the business of making movies。 Libraries of books have been written about cinema， biographies on actors， directors， movie heads， soundtracks， movie genres， and the business of film。 Not as much has been written about the importance of test screening a movie， from big budget tent pole flicks， to art films and even streaming content。 A test screening gives the creators， the backers and executives a chance My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Tiller Press for an advanced copy on this book about the business of making movies。 Libraries of books have been written about cinema， biographies on actors， directors， movie heads， soundtracks， movie genres， and the business of film。 Not as much has been written about the importance of test screening a movie， from big budget tent pole flicks， to art films and even streaming content。 A test screening gives the creators， the backers and executives a chance to see their movie in the wild， with a crowd of strangers who want to be entertained， and not afraid of annoying their high priced director of the month， or their bosses by speaking the truth。 This audience， selected by demographics and watched as they watch， recorded as they laugh or cry at the right and wrong moments， can make a movie， or save a movie。 Or sometimes meddle in a movie。 Entire films have been reedited， rewritten， scores tossed out， jokes added， characters reshot， or deleted， or knowing how the Weinsteins worked， entire movies shelved because of good or bad test screenings。Kevin Goetz， a twenty year- plus veteran of helping movies studios polish their movies， details the science， at least what he can tell due to nondisclosure agreements， in his book Audience- ology: How Moviegoers Shape the Films We Love。 Mr。 Goetz describes a typical screening， the way an audience is selected， how a focus group can help a director make his artistic vision clearer， or make an enfant terrible lose their cool。Mr。 Goetz interviews directors， producers， and others giving specific examples of film screenings from Moonstruck， Jaws and Cocktail， and broader unsourced examples from his long career that he can't or should not mention。 The information is informative more that gossipy， and told plainly not in a I can't believe they thought that was a good idea kind of sense。 Cinephiles might know all these stories， but a few were new to me。 The sections I found most interesting was when Mr。 Goetz would describe a scene， film ending or entire movie not working from just one wrong joke or sound cue。 That a classic movie could have been forgotten just because of the choice of music is astonishing to me。 Again， Mr。 Goetz has quite a few examples of this in the book。One of the better books on the film industry I have read in awhile。 Deciding what people like is harder than it looks。 Not just a book for interested in film or the film industry， but a very good book for anyone who is creative， be it writing， art or whatever they create。 Sometimes advice isn't a bad thing， that a creator might be too close， and someone removed from the situation might have a helpful idea。 Maybe instead of scoffing， a good listen might make the work better。 。。。more
Manda
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Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book。 Opinions are my own。What a fascinating book。 Have you ever wondered why there are clips for movie previews that aren’t actually in the movie？ Do you wonder about movie endings and what the movie would have been like with a different ending。 This book helps answer some of those questions。I knew there were early screenings of movies。 I just didn’t o ow what all went in to having them done。 This book explores the process。 It also has me wond Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book。 Opinions are my own。What a fascinating book。 Have you ever wondered why there are clips for movie previews that aren’t actually in the movie？ Do you wonder about movie endings and what the movie would have been like with a different ending。 This book helps answer some of those questions。I knew there were early screenings of movies。 I just didn’t o ow what all went in to having them done。 This book explores the process。 It also has me wondering about certain movies that made it to theaters。 。。。more
Jeff
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Intriguing Look At A Facet Of Hollywood Most Are Unaware Of。 This is a memoir from someone committed to client confidentiality but who happens to be one of Hollywood's foremost experts in gauging how audiences will react to a given film - and someone who manages to find a creative solution to be able to tell his story without violating his principles。 It *also* has wide ranging applications， applications that don't seem to be obvious to Mr。 Goetz。 Specifically， in describing how movie executives Intriguing Look At A Facet Of Hollywood Most Are Unaware Of。 This is a memoir from someone committed to client confidentiality but who happens to be one of Hollywood's foremost experts in gauging how audiences will react to a given film - and someone who manages to find a creative solution to be able to tell his story without violating his principles。 It *also* has wide ranging applications， applications that don't seem to be obvious to Mr。 Goetz。 Specifically， in describing how movie executives see anything less than "very good" （on what is essentially a 5 * rating system where "very good" is equivalent to 4*， with "excellent" being 5*） as "mediocre at best"， Goetz may as well be talking to so many people reviewing books， no matter the platform。 This is because book executives （and algorithms） tend to have the same general opinion on the matter， as do many fellow consumers of the medium。 But even beyond the rather obvious applications to book reception， Goetz's explanations， pontifications， and examples show how utterly critical end-user/ consumer feedback is to making *any* product as strong as it can be。 And yes， there are all kinds of Hollywood case stories sprinkled throughout， from the very beginnings of Hollywood through at least 2018， and yes， several of the bigger names throughout that period pop up。 Including little films no one has ever heard of like Jaws， Star Wars， Forrest Gump， Titanic， The Blair Witch Project， Paranormal Activity， and Charlie's Angels - among many， many others。 Truly an outstanding book that project leaders of all stripes would do well to read professionally， and most everyone else would do well to read both for personal growth and entertainment。 Very much recommended。 。。。more
Eule Luftschloss
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trigger warning（view spoiler）[ mention of sexual assault （hide spoiler）]Slight disclaimer: Headacyh-Mc Headache Face but in a mood to write a review。 If this sounds confused， I can tell you exactly why。This book is about the process of test-screening a movie to see how the moviegoers react to it。 How the praxis was started， how the author got into it。 Different angles you can investigate， noteworthy events in his professional life。The author of this book started out by acting， then directing， a trigger warning（view spoiler）[ mention of sexual assault （hide spoiler）]Slight disclaimer: Headacyh-Mc Headache Face but in a mood to write a review。 If this sounds confused， I can tell you exactly why。This book is about the process of test-screening a movie to see how the moviegoers react to it。 How the praxis was started， how the author got into it。 Different angles you can investigate， noteworthy events in his professional life。The author of this book started out by acting， then directing， and got into test screening later on so he knows both sides of the coin which makes this especially interesting。 He goes into having to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements， you can kinda see where this applies。 In some cases， names of movies or the people who were in any way involved in making them are clearly stated。 In others， he describes the movie he's talking about as vaguely as possible and tells you only what you need to get the point， like genre and target audience， to not violate any policy。The topic of this book in itself means that in the beginning， most of the people mentioned are white and male。 We're talking about the history of Hollywood， there is no changing that。I liked how the author handled this， especially in the case of Harvey Weinstein。 It was clear to me that Harvey Weinstein would make an appearance， and it took till halfway through until the author of this book prefaces Weinstein's first appearance with how he was thinking about how to handle this， because of what Weinstein did。 Kevin Goetz says he ultimately went with giving this short prelude and then telling what happened。 Another book I read about recently， by Steve Alpert， was the extreme opposite of not acknowledging Weinstein's deeds at all， so I was pleasantly surprised about how this was handled here。It would make a long list if I were to tell you all the movies included in this， so I didn't even try。 While the first half of the book had tons of titles and people unfamiliar to me， I got my bearings in the second half to a point at which I might not have watched a certain movie， but at least heard about it。This book did what it set out to do。 I hope in future I can think back on this when I hear about the shedule of a movie changing， and now that I've read this book， I crave a whodoneit set at a test screening。I would recommend it if you're either into the history of hollywood， a passionate movie-goer or are into statistik analysis and marketing。The arc was provided by the publisher。 。。。more
J Earl
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