JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

Exhibitors’ Campaign Books have been around for as long as there have been movies, and feature an eclectic mix of elements helping to promote a film. Mainly supplied to cinema managers (but sometimes also the national and local press) these publications in their standardised format e.g. for films released by United Artists in the Sixties (like the Bond series) would usually contain 12 pages, although the page count and page size of other film distributors’ campaign books could differ. The James Bond campaign books were mostly laid out in a portrait format (approximately 9¾" X 15"); although this style was broken with Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), which were slightly larger (approximately 12" X 18") and issued in a landscape format, before returning to the portrait format again with Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

Exhibitors’ Campaign Books contain all the officially released facts pertaining to each James Bond film – from the synopsis, credits and contractual billing of the filmmakers and artistes, to promotional tie-ins and details of the records, toys, books and magazines issued to support the release of each film; these fascinating time capsules show everything available and officially sanctioned at a given point in time. During the Roger Moore era several new marketing tie-ins were initiated during the theatrical release, and these were advertised in additional supplements to the original Exhibitors’ Campaign Book available after the film had gone into wider distribution, or used during a later reissue. For some films in the series the National Screen Service also produced additional inserts with fewer pages reproducing the advertising block sections of the campaign book. These were generally supplied to regional newspapers to accompany cinema listings when the films were on general release.

All the James Bond films from Dr. No (1962) to Licence To Kill (1989) had Exhibitors’ Campaign Books produced to accompany the original release of each film. By the time Agent 007 returned to UK cinema screens after a six-year hiatus in 1995 with GoldenEye, the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book had been discontinued, replaced by Spirex-bound marketing manuals and electronic press kits on VHS videocassette, and eventually CD-ROM, and DVD, but were discontinued after The World Is Not Enough (1999). Surprisingly, nothing was produced for Die Another Day, the 40th anniversary film in the series, which had its Press Kit issued as a CD-ROM with printed production notes slotted behind the Miranda Frost section. The contents were housed in a fold-out glossy card case (5.5" X 7.5"). However, a 26-page glossy colour landscape format Marketing Guide (7" X 11.75") was produced for Casino Royale (2006).

Not surprisingly these publications have become highly sought-after and can be an expensive addition to a Bond enthusiast’s collection.

*For those UK double-bills which did not have an accompanying Exhibitors’ Campaign Book, the National Screen Service issued a single page or tri-folded (14" X 9") sheet advertising the various sizes of composite material available to newspapers and cinemas. These double-bills usually (but not always) had a new quad-crown poster (30" X 40") also available from the National Screen Service. Where no quad-crown poster was produced, the NSS suggested using individual double-crown posters in advertising displays.

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