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...After will not be broadcast until Nov. 20, but its political implications have already been discussed, denounced and championed by proponents and opponents of the nuclear freeze. ABC executives are united and adamant about the apolitical nature of their 2-hr. 5-min. presentation. "We never intended the film to be a political statement," claims Brandon Stoddard, president of ABC Motion Pictures and the initiator of the project. "The movie simply says that nuclear war is horrible. That is all it says. That is a very safe statement." Adds the film's director, Nicholas Meyer: "The Day After does...
...important television program ever because it's the most important issue ever. It's the most honest account of nuclear war that has been done." "It's an awesome film," adds Congressman Thomas J. Downey. For Janet Michaud, executive director of the Campaign Against Nuclear War, "ABC is performing an enormous public service. It's giving the American people the ability to become part of the debate over the most important issue of our times." For Roger Molander, founder of the nuclear-war-education group Ground Zero, The Day After is a conduit to confrontation...
Television networks, which like to hear numbers like that, nevertheless give a collective corporate shudder at the slightest hint of advocacy. "ABC's responsibility is to the film itself," says Stoddard. "How it is perceived or used by other people is beyond our control." That may be, but the freeze supporters have made a strong head start. Leaked copies of The Day After are being shown at antinuke fund raisers, while the opposition has been effectively shut out. "This film has been used to generate interest and support, including financial support, for our efforts," Michaud admits...
...After, almost paralyzed with reluctance. By some accounts, the network has lined up four or five sponsors; by others, it has sold only half the 25 available 30-sec. commercial spots. "I couldn't confirm half, but I know it's a good portion," comments Jeff Tolvin, ABC's director of business information, with gingerly care. The network is charging a hefty $135,000 a spot-a price that could dip as show time approaches and empty air time looms-but the problem, according to Madison Avenue, is not monetary. "It may be one of the most...
...drawn, articles written. No movie since CBS's 1980 Holocaust film Playing for Time has stirred such a dust devil of ideological p.r., but the stakes are even larger here. The Day After cost an opulent $7 million, and its promotion budget may ultimately equal that fig ure. ABC, gambling that it will make up in ratings what it misses in ad dollars, schedules the film for sweeps week, when the three networks all go for broke in the ratings. The timing is perfect: Nov. 20 is not only a Nielsen trifecta, it is less than two weeks before...