Costello '90 Promotes Dreamworks' New Movies
by Howard W. Hewitt
Michael Costello ’90 markets some of Hollywood’s biggest movies for Dreamworks SKG, better known as Steven Spielberg’s company. Costello, a Wabash College French major, fell in love with the movie business when he spent a year in France during his Wabash College years. He would go to all of the movies his schedule permitted to listen to the dubbed French over the American-made films. It helped him with his second language, and at the same time instilled a love for the movie business.  The former Little Giant golfer visited campus during Big Bash ’05, his first return visit to campus in nearly 10 years.
Costello explained, and showed video clips, of the different types of trailers used to promote films before their release. He talked about the different types of marketing including the press and marketing with other businesses like fast food companies. When a major movie is released, it doesn’t take the production companies long to measure its success. "We know if a movie is going to be a successful venture or a big flop in the first three days," he said. "It’s all about the opening weekend." He explained that despite the biggest of marketing campaigns, that after a movie is released word of mouth takes over on most films. "All our advertising after the opening is just a reminder to let people know the movie is still out there." Costello left Wabash thinking he would pursue a job in business. He got a job in securities processing at a Chicago bank "and hated it." He decided he wanted to give marketing a try and went to the American Graduate School of International Marketing in Arizona. After graduate school he knew he didn’t want to sell soap or anything like that. "For me movies or beverages was where it was because that’s all image-based marketing," Costello said. "With movies I figured I could go to Los Angles where the entire studio system is and have 8 or 10 chances to get a job. If I wanted a beverage job, I could go to Atlanta and try to get in with Coke." He ended up with a job in L.A. at 20th Century Fox as a temporary assistant and learned "the legal side, marketing, creative development" and worked with famed television producer Steven Bochco. He got a full time position with an advertising agency in San Francisco that promoted movies in Northern California. A large part of his responsibilities was promoting Walt Disney films. When his contact at Disney joined Dreamworks during its formation in 1997, Costello followed. He credits, in part, his Wabash years for learning how to deal with different people in his job now. "It’s really about relationships with managers and publicists to get them on board for what we want to do," he said when discussing marketing campaigns for a new movie. "A lot of times the stars have no idea their managers are saying no or turning things down." "But being able to look at a problem from all different sorts of view has been really helpful. You don’t need a marketing degree or any specific degree to get into the movie business. But once you’re there, to have that well-based background to look at things from different perspectives and putting your feet in the other man’s shoes certainly helps you understand what their mindset is when you try to properly market a movie."
Hewitt is Wabash College's Director of New Media/Web Editor.
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