Branded Entertainment - the involvement of brands in the early stages of both film and television content can be an expensive game - with results counted not only in ticket sales, but in brand buzz generated in the target demographic and in the press.
"First Descent" - the snowboarding documentary, produced with $4 million from Mountain Dew, was designed with reaching a specific demographic (snowboarders) and not with pulling profits.
The film grossed less than $1 million in ticket sales. That translates into only 125,000 viewers, but Mountain View as a brand gained tremendous buzz in the snowboarding community.
The trend appears to be catching on. The LA Times is reporting that Dove has just signed on with an early investment of $3 million for a new film called "The Women" from the maker of "Murphy Brown" and according to the Wall Street Journal, Medicis (NYSE: MRX), the manufacturer of wrinkle-filler Restylane, has funded the reality-show 'Hottest Mom In America', from independent studio Buzznation.
In the same arena as Mountain Dew, Gatorade, has put up $3 million in production funds for "Gracie," the Shue-family story about a girls soccer team that is coming out this weekend. It appears as though Gatorade appears in both the film and in the trailer seen below.