Catching Fire Producer Weighs in on the Makeup Merch

Nina Jacobson, producer of the Hunger Games movies, is fully aware of how tricky it is to have product tie-ins for a movie about a dystopian civilization.

In an interview with Melissa Silverstein at Women And Hollywood, Jacobson — who has a very impressive resume — was asked about the makeup merchandising and whether it contradicts the message of the movies.

We talked about this a lot from the beginning. Suzanne Collins and [Lionsgate’s Chief Marketing Officer] Tim Palen have a very, very open relationship — communicative and candid. Tim has always said, Above all, do no harm. I think that what we found was that there was a way to have this sort of meta campaign: a campaign for the Capitol.

The way that I look at it is, we as filmmakers always try in our storytelling [to] identify with the districts. Katniss represents the districts, the poorest of the poor. As a nation, we have plenty of Capitol in us. That gap that exists between the districts and The Capitol — between the 99 % and the 1% — is so much a part of the way that we live. The Capitol Couture Campaign and the campaigns that sort of play on all the excess of The Capitol are, in their own way, reminders not to let ourselves off the hook. These books are dystopic fiction but we’re talking about us. I feel that the campaign [propels discussion about] Capitol values into the mainstream conversation. It’s also very worthwhile for us all to be reminded that we’re incriminated in that side of things too.

Unfortunately, Jacobson doesn’t tackle the horrible Subway sandwich tie-in. But! she does talk about the irresistible allure of Jennifer Lawrence:

My daughter is thirteen and really looks up to Jen. I feel like that’s a girl whose worthy of you looking up to her. My daughter also loves all the little the clips. Like, here’s Jen spilling her mints at a press conference, and look, here’s Jen falling down the stairs. They appreciate how human she is, and how okay she is with just being a regular girl. No exaggeration and no airbrushing — she’s quite a regular girl. So unfull of herself.

And! We get a teeny tiny preview of what to expect in the first Mockingjay movie:

You’ll see that Julianne Moore’s role in Mockingjay [the third installment] is much bigger in the movie than it is in the book.

Lots more here.

Hunger Games Producer Nina Jacobson on Creating a Female-Centric Blockbuster [Women And Hollywood]