Lights! Camera! Action! - Statistical Data Included - Brief Article

The publishers of teen movieline hope to hook young film fans with a publication to call their own.

* Ever since Titanic deluged the box office, cinemas have been awash in youth-oriented films and Hollywood's young stars have been regularly gracing the covers of everything from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair. Small wonder, then, that the publishers of film-buff title Movieline are betting that the current teen explosion is more than just a passing fancy: The title's first spin-off, teen movieline, hit newsstands in February with a 96-page premier issue. The debut, featuring a cover story about actor Joshua Jackson of the television show "Dawson's Greek," was preceded in January by a 24-page preview distributed free in 1,500 Sam Goody music stores nationwide.

A quarterly with a projected circulation of 250,000 and a newsstand price of $1.99, teen movieline is the latest entry in the burgeoning category of titles hoping to tap the powerful American 12- to 17-year-old demographic, now estimated at 23 million and counting.

But unlike the traditional teen lifestyle books--with their preponderance of dating, health and fashion features--teen movieline seeks to reel in teens by focusing exclusively on the subject they've shown they care about most: hot young celebrities.

Says John Evans, COO of publisher Line Publications, "The success of the teen books is obviously what piqued our interest in this market, and we felt there was a unique niche we could fill by tackling the subjects of movies and celebrities. Those are part of the formula at a lot of the other titles, but none of them are completely devoted to it, as we are.

"In some ways," adds Evans, "what we're looking to do is somewhat similar to what a book like Tiger Beat does or has done, but we'd like to offer something a little more cutting edge than that--hipper, more intelligent and more geared to the sort of reader who is likely to be a big consumer of entertainment."

Far from crowded

It's a niche that is easily big enough to accommodate the competition, says Teen People's Denise Keegan. As public affairs director for the popular title, Keegan says she sees no reason why both Can't thrive.

"The teen market is just so huge that I don't think we're going to see a point of saturation any time soon," says Keegan.

Still, some wonder whether a teen magazine that focuses on movies is necessary, given the number of titles that already include entertainment as part of their mix. "Sure there are teen movies, but they can certainly be covered by mainstream media," says Mark Peterson, president of Primedia's Youth Entertainment Group, which publishes teen titles including Teen Beat and BOP. "It will be hard for them to break into the advertising genre of teens when you're dealing with other magazines that start from a much broader base."

But with teens spending nearly $100 billion in annual consumer purchases, advertisers are clamoring to make inroads with the same demographic, according to teen movieline's group publisher, Audrey Arnold. With 70 pages of ad space sold for the year's remaining three issues (at rates of $10,500 per full page and $6,220 per half page), including major commitments from Kodak, Neutrogena and American Eagle Outfitters, there is reason to be optimistic for the future, Arnold says.

"We've gotten great buzz from all of the advertisers. They get the concept and know that this will appeal to the people they're looking to sell to," says Arnold. She expects-positive response, both from advertisers and subscribers, to grow even more when the title switches next year from quarterly to bimonthly.

Lisa Kowitt, advertising director for Eastman-Kodak, says the company was sold on the overall look of the magazine, and adds that it fits in well with their plans to promote the Kodak Max brand of disposable cameras: "The youth market are the picture takers of the future, and a fairly large percentage of them are involved in photography now. We think this magazine is going to help expose these young people, some of whom maybe film-makers themselves some day, to the Kodak brand, and we hope they stay with us as they move from disposable cameras to movie cameras."

Talking to teen film buffs

Movieline executive editor Heidi Parker has taken on the additional title of teen movieline's editor in chief. Both she and Movieline's Los Angeles-based editorial staff, which provides the bulk of the spin-off title's content, are enthusiastic about the opportunity to launch this new venture, Parker says.

In addition to the feature on Jackson, the premier issue included the 20 best actors under 25, the 10 best summer filmmaking programs, and the first installment of what will be a regular feature on how teen celebrities got their first big break.

Assisting Parker and her staff in determining which celebrities and features are likely to be hot properties is an informal "teen council," a focus group of eight to 10 teenagers who regularly consult with the editorial staff.

"This group is going to be an invaluable resource to us," Parker says. "In this demographic, you really have to try to forecast what's going to be big far, far into the future, because by the time you try to cover what's hot now, it's already old news."

Start-Up Stats

TITLE

teen movieline

COMPANY

Line Publications

PUBLISHER

Steven Levitt

EDITOR

Heidi Parker

TARGET AUDIENCE

Film fans, ages 12-17

INITAL DISTRIBUTION/CIRCULATION

More than 200,000

CIRUCLATION FOR JUNE

250,000

FREQUENCY

Quarterly

LAUNCH

February 2000

SUBSCRIPTION

$6.97/four issues

COVER PRICE

$1.99

FULL-PAGE, FOUR-COLOUR AD

$10,500

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