Tim Palen

Palen was the middle of five children and the only boy in a practicing Catholic family. His mother worked as an administrative assistant for a commercial cheesemaker, and his father ran a local Texaco station. Growing up in Northglenn, Colorado, Palen says he knew at an early age that he was attracted to other boys.{{cite magazine |last1=Friend |first1=Tad |title=The Cobra |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/01/19/the-cobra |access-date=31 January 2021 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=12 January 2009 |language=en-us}}

Palen became interested in graphic art and design during high school, and studied advertising and journalism at the University of Colorado{{cite web |last1=Burr |first1=Paula |title=Guts: Author Tim Palen Spills 'Em All |url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/interview/394 |website=Bloody Disgusting |access-date=8 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021062344/http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/interview/394 |archive-date=21 October 2009}} before leaving school to move to Los Angeles, where he first met his partner, Abel Villareal. Palen also studied some photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, although he says he is largely self-taught.{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Brooks |title=With 'Hunger Games' Campaigns, Lionsgate Punches Above Its Weight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/media/hunger-games-studio-lionsgate-punches-above-its-hollywood-weight.html |access-date=8 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=23 November 2014}} Palen says his photography has been influenced by Mark Kessell, David LaChepelle, and Joel Peter Witkin.

Palen worked{{when|date=January 2021}} as a creative director at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia TriStar Home Video). There he worked on VHS cassette packaging, treating the sleeve "as if it were a merchandising tool in and of itself".{{cite news |last1=Farley |first1=Mary Ann |title=Columbia improves the art of sleeve design |work=Video Business |issue=40 |publisher=Reed Business Information, Inc. (US) |date=13 October 1995|volume=15 }} As executive director of creative advertising in 1998, Palen regularly updated the company's website with backgrounds from upcoming films to help drive VHS sales.{{cite magazine |last1=Traiman |first1=Steve |title=Studios Retool Web Sites For Video Sales |magazine=Billboard |issue=26 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media LLC |date=27 June 1998|volume=110 }}

In July 1999, Destination Films hired Palen as vice president of creative advertising.{{cite news |title=Destination ads Palen and Stardom |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=32 |date=13 July 1999|volume=358 }}{{cite magazine |title=Executive Turntable |magazine=Billboard |issue=31 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media LLC |date=31 July 1999|volume=111 }}{{cite news |last1=Marshall |first1=Jasmine |title=On the move |work=ADWEEK Western Edition |issue=29 |publisher=Adweek, LLC |date=9 July 1999|volume=49 }} His outdoor advertising campaign to sell Destination's horror movie Bats included 3-D paintings of bats in flight across Los Angeles buses. The bus ads print work earned Hollywood Reporter's Key Art best of show honors in 2000.{{cite news |last1=Finnigan |first1=David |title=DIS, WB unlock Key Art wins |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=28 |date=19 June 2000|volume=363 }}{{cite news |title=Lions gate Films has named Tim Palen vp theatrical marketing. |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=12 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC |date=7 December 2001|volume=37 }}

At the end of 2001, Palen left Destination Films to become vice president of theatrical marketing at independent studio Lionsgate Films, then called Lions Gate Films.{{cite news |title=New posts |work=Film Journal International |issue=1 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC |date=January 2002|volume=371 }} Palen oversaw promotional campaigns for films such as Monster's Ball, Fahrenheit 9/11 — Lionsgate's first property to gross more than a hundred million dollars{{cite news |last1=Dunkley |first1=Cathy |title=Lions Gate ups promos exec |work=Daily Variety |issue=30 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=11 November 2004|volume=285 }} — and Saw.{{cite news |last1=Fernandez |first1=Jay A. |title=Bleeding the fifth: what the horror industry can learn from the 'Saw' franchise |work=Hollywood reporter |issue=50 |publisher=Prometheus Global media, LLC |date=17 October 2008|volume=406 }} He was promoted to executive vice president of theatrical marketing in November 2004.

In 2005, Lions Gate rebranded as Lionsgate and Palen was promoted to co-president of film marketing alongside Sarah Greenberg.{{cite news |title=Lionsgate Ups Palen, Greenberg in Marketing Department |work=Promo |publisher=Access Intelligence, LLC |date=9 February 2006}}{{cite news |last1=Kilday |first1=Gregg |title=Lionsgate boosts film duo: Palen, Greenberg tapped co-chiefs |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=3 |publisher=Prometheus Global media, LLC |date=8 February 2006|volume=393 }} In December 2010, Lionsgate announced that Sarah Greenberg was leaving her post as co-president of marketing for personal reasons, leaving Palen as the sole president of film marketing.{{cite news |last1=McNary |first1=Dave |title=Exec exits Lionsgate |work=Daily Variety |issue=45 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=7 December 2010 |volume=309 |page=30}} In spring of 2014, Lionsgate announced it would merge the two separate marketing divisions it had operated since its 2012 merger with Summit Entertainment, with Palen in charge.{{cite news |title=Lionsgate, summit merge marketing |work=Variety |issue=12 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=22 April 2014|volume=323 }}{{cite news |last1=McClintock |first1=Pamela |title=Rob Friedman & Patrick Wachsberger: the Lionsgate veterans on whether Divergent's $250 million is enough, Cannes memories and Johnny Depp's future after three flops |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=17 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC |date=16 May 2014|volume=420 }}{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Brooks |title=How 'Hunger Games' Built Up Must-See Fever |work=The New York Times |date=18 March 2012}}

In June 2015, Lionsgate promoted Palen to chief brand officer and president of worldwide marketing.{{cite news |title=Lionsgate |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=22 |publisher=Prometheus Global Meia, LLC |date=3 July 2015|volume=421 }} Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said Palen had "played a lead role in building the Lionsgate Corporate Brand since the early days of the studio."{{cite web |last1=McNary |first1=Dave |title=Lionsgate Promotes Tim Palen to Shepherd Post-Hunger Games Franchises |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/lionsgate-promotes-tim-palen-hunger-games-1201525753/ |website=Variety.com |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109032020/https://variety.com/2015/film/news/lionsgate-promotes-tim-palen-hunger-games-1201525753/ |archive-date=9 January 2021 |date=23 June 2015}}

In June 2018, Palen announced he was stepping down from his role as chief brand officer at Lionsgate in favor of a production executive role as of January 2019. Palen also announced he was forming his own production company, Barnyard Projects.

Palen's first campaign at Lionsgate was for Monster's Ball.{{cite news |last1=Tapley |first1=Kristopher |title=Lionsgate way out front in Oscar Race: 'La La Land' and three more of the studio's films share more than two dozen nominations |work=Variety |issue=17 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=31 January 2017|volume=334 }} Focus was placed on controversial subjects, such as the interracial love story between two characters played by Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, with TV ads showing the couple in bed that even ran in the American South.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=David |title=Mini's marketing machine maximizes buzz (Lions Gate at 5) |work=Variety |issue=13 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=13 May 2002|volume=386 |page=S68}}

The first Lionsgate campaign poster Palen photographed himself was for the 2003 movie, Wonderland. He wanted the poster to look like a Rolling Stone cover, so he and a friend bought some props and took a picture as a starting concept. The director liked the image and used it as the promotional poster for the film.{{cite news |last1=McClintock |first1=Pamela |title=Chief Brand Officer and President of Worldwide Marketing, Lionsgate: Tim Palen: the Hunger Games' marketing guru on creating franchises, using real blood on posters, Jennifer Lawrence's pay and when to put ads on porn sites |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=37 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media LLC |date=13 November 2015|volume=421 }}

A long-running promotional campaign for the Saw franchise started with a suggestion by marketing vice president Erica Schimick, who jokingly suggested a blood drive to increase visibility of the film.{{cite news |last1=Klara |first1=Robert |title=Marketers of the next generation |work=Brandweek |issue=16 |publisher=Adweek, LLC |date=17 April 2006|volume=47 }} Palen and Sarah Greenberg (then the vice president of publicity) thought it was a good idea, and Palen photographed Schimick posing as a nurse with blood-smeared cleavage for the poster.{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Brooks|title=Movie's Ads protest Rules Restricting Gay Men From Donating Blood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/business/media/saw-blood-donations-gay.html |access-date=9 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=24 September 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Bing |first1=Jonathan |title=Cutting-edge tactics power 'Saw II' campaign |work=Daily Variety |issue=10 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=24 October 2005|volume=289 }} In preparation for the release of Saw II Palen expanded the blood drive to ten states. For Saw III Palen expanded the blood drive even further, and asked the film's star Tobin Bell to donate his own blood to mix with the ink for the poster.{{cite news |last1=Stanley |first1=T.L. |title=Lionsgate spills blood to push horror flick; TREND SPOTTING: Studio sways actor to put some of himself into 'SawIII' ads |work=Advertising Age |issue=42 |publisher=Crain Communications, LLC |date=16 October 2006|volume=77 }} Although Lionsgate had advertised the 2010 installment of the Saw franchise as the final chapter, the studio revived the series in 2017 with the October release of Jigsaw. Palen revisited the Saw blood drives as well, but this time challenging the American Red Cross over its long-standing and controversial restrictions requiring men who have sex with other men to abstain from sexual relations for at least a year before giving blood, rules arising from concerns about Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The campaign was called "All Types Welcome", and featured social media celebrities with large LGBTQ fanbases.

Palen was nearly censored by the Motion Picture Association (MPAA), the body responsible for regulating promotional materials for motion pictures in North America, for the promotional posters of Hostel: Part II. For this poster, Palen had taken photographs of boar meat, which when viewed zoomed in looked like human intestines; he would later have to send the MPAA receipts from the butcher shop to prove that the "intestines" were not human.{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Patrick |title=Those 'Hostel' ads test the squirm factor |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-05-et-goldstein5-story.html |access-date=31 January 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=5 June 2007}} Many of Palen's most provocative campaign materials were released online to avoid sanctions by the MPAA.{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |title=Lionsgate tres shriek; with its latest, 'Saw II,' the risk-taking studio is finding itself the object of envy, admiration |work=Los Angeles Times |date=31 October 2005|page=E.1}} One such image, Saw: Severed Hand won the Hollywood Reporter's 34th annual Key Art award in the international film poster category.{{cite news |last1=Kilday |first1=Gregg |title='Saw' Sees 2 Key Art nods: Incredibles also a double winner |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=46 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC |date=28 April 2005|volume=388 }}

Despite the successes and association with gore, Palen said he enjoyed working on a diverse range of films, as work at a big studio "can be a little redundant."{{cite news |last1=Wasserman |first1=Todd |title=Lions Gate juggles Oscar, Hostel, and Starbucks |work=Brandweek |issue=5 |publisher=Adweek, LLC |date=30 Jan 2006|volume=47 }}

To promote Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, Palen shot eight 35mm portraits of the film's ensemble: Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Whoopi Goldberg, Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, and Phylicia Rashad. Palen used the portraits in the poster campaign and trailer.{{cite news |last1=Vlessing |first1=Etan |title=A new kind of key art: Lionsgate markets Perry's 'Girls' with portraits |work=Hollywood Reporter |issue=48 |publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC |date=26 October 2010|volume=416 |page=4}}{{cite news |last1=Langston-Moore |first1=Michael |title=Janet Jackson talks 'For Colored Girls,' Austin Brown on 'Good Morning America |work=Entertainment Examiner (USA) |date=25 October 2010}} A gallery exhibition of the photos, Living Portraits, opened at the Lehman Maupin Gallery in New York City for a week in October 2010, with Janet Jackson hosting. Palen had previously directed Jackson's music video for her song "Nothing" from Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?.{{cite web |last1=Savage |first1=Sophie |title=For Colored Girls Living Gallery Portraits |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2010/10/for-colored-girls-living-portraits-gallery-238245/ |website=IndieWire |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |access-date=15 December 2020 |date=18 October 2010}}

In initial marketing for The Hunger Games, Palen focused on encouraging more people to read the books in order to increase turnout at the box office.{{cite news |last1=Klara |first1=Robert |title=Brand Genius Awards |work=Adweek |issue=(Vol. 53, Issue 38) |publisher=Adweek, L.L.C. |date=29 October 2012 |page=32}} Palen also proposed not including any scenes from the games in the marketing campaign, despite those scenes comprised more than half of the movie, to avoid potential perception issues. For the 2012 release of the sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the campaign created a mock online fashion magazine called Capitol Couture, alluding to the capital city of the fictional nation Panem, and featuring Palen's own photographs of the film's characters, modeling what Variety calls "elaborate" looks, alongside colorful, stylized advertisements for fictional products from Panem.{{cite news |last1=Graser |first1=Marc |title=Man on 'Fire': Lionsgate marketing chief Tim Palen has drawn fans into a complementary world alongside 'Hunger Games' universe |work=Variety |issue=17 |publisher=Penske Business Media LLC |date=29 October 2013|volume=321 }} The final two films were treated as one film in order to avoid a new campaign for each half of the story.{{cite news |last1=McNary |first1=David |title=For Lionsgate, a 'Hunger' that's growing stronger: the franchise's two 'Mockingjay' films aim to surpass the impressive returns of the first pair of pics |work=Variety |issue=14 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=22 January 2014 |volume=322 |page=22}} Palen and his team developed another portal to the fictional world with CapitolTV, a faux state media outlet for the government of Panem streamed on YouTube and other platforms, and featuring YouTube stars Justine Ezarik, Rob Czar, and Corinne Leigh among others. The team also launched "District Heroes", an outdoor and online promotion that featured an amputee underwear model and the reigning Mr. L.A. Leather.

In addition to his new company, Barnyard Projects, Palen and Tyler Perry announced in September 2019 they were entering a non-exclusive joint venture to form a new production company called Peachtree and Vine, a reference to famous streets in Perry's hometown of Atlanta and Palen's home in Los Angeles. {{cite news |title=Tyler Perry Teams With Tim Palen to Launch New Production Company |work=RTT News |publisher=SyndiGate Media, Inc. |date=5 September 2019}}

In 2007, Palen published Guts, a coffee table book compiling some of his photography associated with the marketing of four horror films: Bug, High Tension, Hostel, and Saw. Interspersed between the photos are letters from the MPAA and American Red Cross related to their respective disagreements with Palen.{{cite news |last1=Saperstein |first1=Pat |title=Juicy read |work=Variety |issue=11 |publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC |date=6 August 2007|volume=407 |page=6}}

In August 2011, Palen published The Men of Warrior featuring his photographs of Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and other cast members as they appeared in the film Warrior.{{cite web |last1=Buchanan |first1=Kyle |title=See Portraits of Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton in MMA Fighting Shape in The Men of Warrior |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/07/tom-hardy-joel-edgerton-warrior.html |website=Vulture.com |date=19 July 2011 |publisher=Vox Media LLC |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106101507/https://www.vulture.com/2011/07/tom-hardy-joel-edgerton-warrior.html |archive-date=6 January 2021}}

In June 2015, Palen published Tim Palen: Photography from The Hunger Games, featuring photographs of the series' casts.{{cite web |title=Exclusive Print: The Sisters Portrait, Featuring Katniss and Prim |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/05/hunger-games-katniss-prim-sister-portrait |website=Vanityfair.com |date=12 May 2015 |publisher=Conde Naste Entertainment |access-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106113034/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/05/hunger-games-katniss-prim-sister-portrait |archive-date=6 January 2021}} Later that year, the photographs were exhibited at the Leica Gallery in West Hollywood.

Palen has received multiple awards at the Clios for images and trailers related to Nurse 3D,{{cite web |title=Poster |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/print-print-technique/poster-8374 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=15 May 2012}} the Hunger Games franchise,{{cite web |title=Social Media |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/digital/social-media-8419 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=15 May 2012}}

• {{cite web |title=Capitol - The Official Government of Panem |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/digital-social/the-capitol-the-official-government-of-panem-4524 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=1 October 2014}}
• {{cite web |title=District 13 Propo: Stand With Us |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/theatrical-audio-visual/district-13-propo-stand-with-us-1791 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=30 September 2015}} Deepwater Horizon,{{cite web |title=Monster |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/theatrical-teaser/deepwater-horizon/monster-14033 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=28 September 2016}} and John Wick: Chapter 2.{{cite web |title=Symphony of Violence |url=https://clios.com/entertainment/winner/theatrical-social-media/john-wick-chapter-2/symphony-of-violence-26494 |website=Clio |publisher=Clio Awards, LLC |access-date=8 December 2020 |date=27 September 2017}}

Palen's has received multiple Key Art Awards for work on films such as Bats and the Saw franchise.

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• {{Official website|http://www.timpalen.com}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American photographers

Category:Film poster artists

Category:1962 births