Hollywood Struggles to Respond to “Dark Knight” Shooting: Crisis Communications Takeaways for the Rest of Us
POSTED ON JUL 22, 2012
By Susan Vernon-Devlin, Director of Public Relations Services, Massey Communications
After the shooting in an Aurora cinema during a “Dark Knight Rises” showing on early Friday morning, Warner Brothers canceled the Paris red carpet premiere of its $250 million dollar blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises.” They also immediately issued a statement saying the studio was “deeply saddened’’ by the incident and expressed sympathies to the families of the victims. The stars and producers did not make appearances over the weekend, and director Christopher Nolan issued a statement declaring tragedy “appalling.”
And as reported by The Los Angeles Times, industry sources estimated on Sunday that the film still grossed close to $160 million on its debut. However, “official weekend estimates were not made available Sunday because Warner Bros. and other major Hollywood studios did not release box office revenue figures out of respect for those involved in the tragic movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.”
These steps move in the right direction. But is this enough? In the wake of this tragedy, should the Hollywood movie-making machine devise a crisis communications strategy to manage incidents like these? My answer is yes.
This is a crisis that will have long term repercussions. It has long been stated by those in the psychology and psychiatric field that we have becoming an increasingly violent society. Video games now have more fire power than ever before. And every movie appealing to the male demographic 18-24, (the shooter in the Colorado incident is 24-years-old), is filled with car chases, gun battles and fist fights. Some may say this is an isolated incident, but humans are impressionable and if violence and crime are viewed as a thrill, and are inspired by the movies, this will happen again.
Studios large, small and independent need to have crisis communications plans at the ready. We advise all our clients to do so. Here are some additional crisis tips and general rules of thumb:
- Be Prepared. Yes, this is the entertainment business, but look at how quickly entertainment turned into sorrow and mourning less than 20 minutes into a film. “The Dark Knight Rises” is an action-packed thriller, but a movie about a jilted lover, or a misfit in a rom-com, could just as easily incite a violent, over-the-top reaction from someone. The studios should create a plan of action to respond. Send a representative to the site; don’t respond from afar. In this age of social media, establish a platform for people to express their opinions and their sympathies. Be prepared for positive and negative impacts. It will come from all sides.
- Tell the truth about the incident. If the studio feels the level of violence in the film may have caused the incident, say so, but be sure to have a remedy or suggestions for future films that may carry this level of angst with them. Look at the situation from all sides. The studio may be afraid this may have a negative impact, or ticket sales may also go through the roof because viewers may want to see the exact moment in the movie when the violence was incited. What are the victims feeling? How is the town feeling? What are movie theaters thinking? Will they have to beef up security, perhaps install metal detectors? Have a response and make it sincere.
- Remain calm. If you respond to a crisis with calm and reassurances, the feeling is contagious. Consider former New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani after 9-11. The city could have deteriorated into a bastion of chaos, but his messages quelled the fears of many, and brought together a City and a nation.
The shooting in Aurora, Colorado at “The Dark Knight Rises” is a wake-up call for those who think a crisis will not happen to them and are unprepared to respond. More condolences, statements of comfort and after-action remedies need to be presented by Hollywood studios to show that they acknowledge the crisis, feel the depth of the tragedy and know that the dollars spent to see their films should be paying for more than high-priced actors, producers and big-budget films. Money should also be spent on plans to deal with crisis.
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Director of Public Relations, Susan Vernon-Devlin, authored this article as a crisis communications expert. She recently served as crisis consultant to the City of Sanford surrounding the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case, and is certified by FEMA, NIMS and ICS in crisis communication plans.
Massey Communications is an Orlando-based full-service advertising, public relations, design and strategic marketing agency established in 1985. With over 100 collective years of experience, Massey Communications bubbles over with ideas that help local, regional and national businesses pop. The agency is a subsidiary of Massey Services. For more information about Massey Communications and its unique boutique approach to branding, please visitwww.masseycommunications.com.
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After Aurora: Five Crisis Learnings from the Tragic Theater Shootings
By Evan Bloom, Senior Consultant, Eric Mower + Associates
While America is still reeling from the shock of the tragic theater shootings in Aurora, Col., other event, exhibition and entertainment venues should be doing the responsible thing and reviewing their crisis communication and management response plans as elements of this terrible story continue to emerge, as in the latest finding that the gunman acted alone (The Los Angeles Times).
As the law enforcement authorities continue their investigations into this horrific event, there are some key factors that entertainment and event locations, as well as all other types of organizations, should realize:
1. Having a crisis plan is no longer enough.
Many will think that they have taken the necessary precautions just because they already have their crisis plan. While these crisis plans do hold value, they are more often “generalized” This means that they are standard plans that contain generalized processes to cover many types of incidents— and in principle there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this.
However, when a special event is held, there is most certainly a case to be argued for having a separate and specific crisis plan for that particular occasion. This is particularly important if your event is going to attract a lot of attention, include members of the public, involve senior members of your organization and employees, and include some form of publicity stunt. As part of your event specific plan you should also have a social media crisis plan that is integrated into the overall event crisis plan.
Human life is at stake, and saving human life takes precedence over everything; there can be no arguing about this. You cannot compromise on your crisis plan. It has to be thorough and must manage the risks that people attending your event may be exposed to. If you do not do this, you may be held legally liable and accountable. You do not want to face the scrutiny of the court of public opinion and you do not want to deal with prolonged media and social media interest.
2. Know your risks before you plan.
It is common for companies to use a template-based approach to create their crisis plan. While this may offer some form of protection, I am of the belief that all crisis plans should be based on and written for known and identified risks and their impacts on the organization, should they occur.
Entertainment and event locations should be doing a threat and risk analysis for each event that they are holding. They need to be able to identify the technological, natural and human threats to their event. By doing this, these organizations are able to identify both the risks that pose a threat to them and where they are vulnerable. This will assist them in knowing what to plan for and what resources and assets they will need access to and to have on site to manage all eventualities.
Once the plan has been completed, the identified risks need to be monitored prior to the event. For example, if the event is to be held outdoors and weather has been identified as a risk, then weather patterns must be followed. If the risks change then the crisis plan must be updated accordingly.
3. Exercise and test the plan.
All plans, including those for specific events, need to be tested and exercised; it’s the responsible thing to do. As soon as the plan has been completed, a tabletop exercise should be set up to test the workings of the plan, as well as the capability of employees to meet their responsibilities. Once the tabletop exercise is completed, it must be followed by a debrief in which all the errors are identified and the plan is fine-tuned.
Depending on the event being planned for, a full-scale exercise may be required. The scenario should be chosen, and the exercise should be held. It is crucial to include external agencies such as the police, fire department, paramedics, security company, etc. You may also want to consider involving them in your tabletop exercise. After the full-scale exercise has been held you should also hold a debrief and then amend your crisis plan accordingly.
4. Advanced training with the experts.
Entertainment and event locations should not spare any expense in advanced training for their employees – this is an investment in the viability of the company. All employees must know what their role is in an emergency evacuation and how to assist members of the public into getting to the nearest and safest emergency exit. This is very important. In many mass trauma events, including shootings, the media often report that people “were scared, did not know what to do, were panicking.” In a critical event, these emotions are totally understandable. However, people in these traumatic circumstances look for instructions and leadership.
Bringing experts in event and site evacuation, firefighting, and first aid to train employees is crucial and will assist employees in becoming confident when dealing with an emergency situation. Ultimately, you want employees to assist in the safe and risk free evacuation of an event until the law enforcement and emergency services are on scene to take command.
5. Integrate the plans.
It takes more than just a crisis communications or management plan to get ready for a critical event. Other plans are needed such as emergency management and a business continuity plan. These plans cannot and should not exist in isolation. They need to be integrated so there is coordination, no confusion and a holistic approach to managing a worst-case scenario.
Taking the time and effort to create a crisis plan that is event specific and has been tested and exercised is not only a great insurance policy, but also a smart way for entertainment and event locations to protect their brands and reputations.
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About the author: Evan Bloom is a senior consultant at Eric Mower + Associates. He is a member of the firm’s Reputation Management Services group, and his area of specialty and interest is crisis planning, vulnerability auditing and crisis training.
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Warner Bros. regroups on PR for 'Dark Knight'
Studio in crisis-management mode in wake of deadly shootings
Forced by tragedy to re-evaluate its marketing and PR plans for "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros. was poised to cancel the remainder of the pic's international press tour.
The studio also lost a significant amount of marketing exposure for the pic on Friday as TV spots for the pic were dropped by numerous networks out of viewer-sensitivity concerns. There were reports that Warner Bros. had taken steps to limit some of its TV marketing for the pic but that was strongly denied by sources close to the situation in Burbank.
The scramble on Friday came hours after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded more than 50 others at a midnight screening of "Dark Knight" in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo.
With media coverage of the shooting blanketing the airwaves on Friday, Warner Bros. execs went into crisis-management mode as they reviewed promo and marketing plans for the pic in light of the massacre. The studio moved quickly to cancel Friday's scheduled premiere of the pic in Paris, and by day's end a source with knowledge of the situation said it was leaning toward tabling the rest of its international press tour.
The studio had not made an official announcement of its international plans as of late Friday afternoon. However, WB is expected to cancel next week's premieres and press junkets that have been scheduled for Mexico City and Tokyo. The events would have featured red-carpet premieres with stars such as Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway along with screenings of the film.
In the frenzy of news coverage of the shooting rampage on Friday morning, some nets proactively decided to pull the spots that had been set to run for the pic. There were conflicting reports as to whether Warner Bros. eventually asked for all blurbs to be pulled for the weekend or whether some nets took the initiative on their own.
Sources at two of the Big Four broadcast nets said the studio made a request to pull "Dark Knight" spots that had been set to run this weekend. However, this was disputed to sources close to the studio, who insisted that all marketing efforts that were already in place before the shootings would proceed as planned. In most cases, spots that were pulled by the nets will be reskedded to run at a later date.
The loss of millions of dollars worth of commercials during the pic's opening weekend is a vivid illustration of how significant an impact the mass shooting will have on the tentpole that had been the cornerstone of Warner Bros.' summer movie sked. One marketing expert estimated the value of the film's TV spots on its opening weekend at $3 million-$5 million.
Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com
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