NRG has controlled the bulk of movie research since 1978, when Joseph Farrell founded the company. For up to $200,000 a movie, NRG tells studio executives, among other things, which actors moviegoers like and which movies they want to see. For such intelligence, studios pay NRG $25 million a year. But last December NRG’s idyll ended. The Wall Street Journal questioned NRG’s methods, reporting in some cases that numbers were made up by NRG staffers posing as test audiences. Farrell denied that, but NRG’s rep was tarnished.
Enter Gallup. The survey firm promises that its 60 years of experience will give filmmakers better research. For Gallup, it’s a return to showbiz. Founder George Gallup did research in the 1930s for Disney, Selznick and Goldwyn. He said “Gone with the Wind” would be a hit, even as Irving Thalberg was telling Louis B. Mayer, “Louis, no Civil War picture ever made a nickel.” Gallup’s arrival is bad for NRG. Is it good for filmgoers? Better testing could mean more formulaic films. And you don’t need a focus group to know that’s a formula for movie mediocrity.
