Release dates: Phantom Thread

I believe they were screenings of the completed film. I don't know if tickets were sold, but some were offered in giveaways.

"We’re giving away 15 (fifteen) passes, each with plus one, to an exclusive advanced showing of Phantom Thread this Friday, November 24th, at Beverly Hills, California’s Fine Arts Theater (8556 Wilshire Boulevard). Even better, a Q&A with Anderson and stars Lesley Manville (Cyril Woodcock) and Vicky Krieps (Alma) will follow the sneak peak. ...

For more chances to win entrance to screenings around LA and New York, you can check out the official Phantom Thread YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages."

https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/1...

I see the attribute "preview screening" is in use to some extent. But it might be a good idea to mention it in the submission guide, otherwise it gives the impression that preview dates are not supported.

That does sound like the full film was shown and that it was more than a press screening.

Limited implies its larger than a single showing (though this isn't always strictly applied).

There are a few options we could list it as:

24 November 2017 (California’s Fine Arts Theater)
24 November 2017 (Beverly Hills, California)
24 November 2017 (California’s Fine Arts Theater) (Preview Screening)
24 November 2017 (California’s Fine Arts Theater) (Premiere)
24 November 2017 (California’s Fine Arts Theater) (limited)

Currently we have:

USA 24 November 2017 (limited)  < This is the preview
USA 26 November 2017 (New York City, New York) < I'm guessing another preview in NY
USA 11 December 2017 (New York City, New York) (premiere) < Main premiere event
USA 25 December 2017 (limited) < A short run in selected theatres
USA 5 January 2018 (Palm Springs International Film Festival) < Festival screening which can occur at any point during a films life cycle
USA 19 January 2018 < Main nation wide release

This looks a bit messy. I think we need a better way to define the first two release dates.

One think to consider, we do list screenings from events such as comic con.

https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/field/release_dates/attr?C

Here the line blurs more with festival screenings, but these would in many cases have Q & A session attached and screen in advance of the normal distribution road-map. 

I'm keen to hear your thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Marv

Perhaps it should be possible to list each screening in different cities, but in other cases it might make sense to only lists the first screening, in which case the plural attribute "previews" may also make sense.

The guidelines say, "we do not record release locations down to the specific cinema". But I guess this isn't always applied strictly.

I considered whether the screenings were premieres, but they weren't called that in the sources I looked at, and premieres usually have a red carpet, press coverage etc.

(Other contributors must have input on this, but are not necessarily reading here.)

I think when a film has a staggered release across the country we should record the individual cities, especially if there are several weeks between the releases. There are some good examples of Spanish films where this was recorded quite nicely.

You are right "we do not record release locations down to the specific cinema", which is why the (California’s Fine Arts Theater)  doesn't feel quite right as an attribute, I just wanted to throw it out there as an option.

We do want this release recorded as it was the first showing of the title, however did not consist of the same scale and style as that of a premiere.

With all this mind, I've updated the first two releases to read:

24 November 2017 (Beverly Hills, California) (Preview)
26 November 2017 (New York City, New York) (Preview)

I think this strikes the right balance, thank you for all your help with this its very much appreciated! Perhaps starting a discussion in the ideas section of GS might spark some other contributors to comment? It would be good to have a more general discussion around the way release dates are recorded, especially with the rise of steaming services.

Thanks,
Marv