EXCLUSIVE: We understand that MarketCast has tapped Steve Buck as its SVP Theatrical. In his new role, Buck will drive commercial sales and new business efforts for MarketCast’s theatrical products and services, which counts every major Hollywood studio and many independent producers as clients.
Buck will partner with MarketCast’s creative testing and analytics team to help build upon their theatrical business that sets the standards for movie marketing and creative campaigns. He’ll be responsible for expanding MarketCast’s reach within the studio and theatrical community, providing the company’s research and analytics products and services across the production and distribution chain.
“As the entertainment and media landscape changes and business models evolve, studio leaders and research teams are requiring deeper analytics to identify, and reach and nurture the fans that matter most,” said Jeremy Radisich, President of MarketCast. “Steve will provide the firepower to meet our aggressive business expansion goals while leveraging his industry expertise and knowledge of data to grow our Theatrical portfolio.”
Comscore’s loss is MarketCast’s gain. When news broke about Buck and Jim Zak’s departure from Comscore during the first weekend of TIFF, it sent distribution and other theatrical circles into a tizzy. Buck was key in establishing Rentrak as the currency for theatrical measurement, providing studios and exhibitors with the critical box office data needed to determine the financial success of motion picture projects. At Rentrak, Buck was instrumental in absorbing box office data rival EDI, and ultimately saw Rentrak sold to Comscore. As the SVP of Business Relations at Comscore, Buck was involved in getting the B.O. data firm into the moviegoer exit polling business with the creation of PostTrak, a joint venture with Screen Engine. PostTrak became a hot competitor to Las Vegas-based CinemaScore, which is the Friday night exit pollster for major studios. PostTrak upped what CinemaScore did by polling throughout the weekend, and into films’ second weekends of play. Buck was also pivotal in launching PreAct at Comscore, a social media assessor of film titles’ online buzz which helps distribution and marketing execs in positioning their films. Buck is a former distribution exec having worked at Gramercy and Savoy Pictures.
MarketCast supports entertainment marketing campaigns with a unique mix of research and data-driven analytics. The company’s global ad testing solutions help studio marketing teams optimize their advertising campaigns, from messaging and positioning to refining and sharpening creative assets to create maximum impact among moviegoers. The data gleaned from MarketCast’s fan-focused research and analytics assist studio marketing execs better understand and pinpoint their target audiences and hone overall go-to-market strategies to win at the box office.