[Ads-l] tentpole (UNCLASSIFIED)

[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US)]

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

This is in reference to TV shows rather than movies, but seems relevant:
_Santa Cruz Sentinel_ 26 Aug 1985 p D-3 col 3
"A night that lacks both synergy and a hammock still might be saved by a "tentpole," what a successful show does when it holds up shows around it that might otherwise collapse."


> 
> The latest OED quarterly update includes a raft of new movie-related terms:
> 
> https://public.oed.com/blog/oed-3-the-revisioning-or-how-we-added-film-terms-in-the-september-2018-release/
> 
> ...including "tentpole," with early cites quoting Paramount chief Frank Mancuso, which I first shared here in 2005.
> 
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-July/051528.html
> 
> ----
>   tentpole adj. and n. Film  (a) adj. designating a big-budget film which is expected to generate sufficient revenue to support a range of other
> projects by the same studio; of or relating to such a film;  (b) n. a film of this kind.
> 
> 1987   N.Y. Times 4 June. c21/6   Mr. Mancuso describes ‘Beverly Hills Cop
> II’ as a ‘tent pole’ movie. Each year Paramount makes several high-budget films ‘that..are strong enough to support your entire schedule,’
> he said.
> 1987   N.Y. Times 5 Sept. c15/3   He [sc. Mancuso] rescued ‘Top Gun’ from
> the discard pile because he thought the combination of aerial photography, Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis..might make a tent pole.
> 1991   Premiere Nov. 31/2   Tartikoff..was so eager to make Patriot Games
> part of a new ‘tent pole’ series that he'd already upped its budget from
> $28 million to $35 million.
> 2006   Y. Tzioumakis Amer. Independent Cinema Introd. 11   Tent pole films
> with potential for stratospheric profits.
> 2012   Variety 27 Feb. 9/3   Studios [were] less likely to take risks on
> unproven projects, and instead turned their attention to big-budget tentpoles.
> ----
> 
> 
> 
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

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