premiere

Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film premiere to showman Sid Grauman, who founded Grauman's Chinese Theatre.{{Cite book

|last=Betts

|first=Raymond F.

|year=2004

|title=A History of Popular Culture: More of Everything, Faster, and Brighter

|location=New York & London

|publisher=Routledge

|isbn=0-415-22128-5

|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofpopular0000bett/page/12 12]

|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpopular0000bett/page/12

}} The first ever Hollywood premiere was for the 1922 film Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, in front of the Egyptian Theatre.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160222-where-does-the-red-carpet-come-from|title= Where does the red carpet come from?|website=BBC News|last=Baker|first=Lindsay|date= 22 February 2016|accessdate=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160308184047/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160222-where-does-the-red-carpet-come-from|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy}} By the late 1920s the red carpet had become synonymous with film premieres.

There are a number of different types:

A single work will often have many premieres. For example, in film, the 2019 United States movie Aladdin held its world premiere at the Grand Rex in Paris, France, on 8 May 2019,{{cite web |url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195769/see-will-smith-and-the-stars-of-disneys-live-action-aladdin-at-the-paris-premiere-plus-two-new-clips|title=See Will Smith and the stars of Disney's live-action Aladdin at the Paris premiere; plus: two new clips!|date=8 May 2019|author=Eric King|website=Broadway|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509002516/https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195769/see-will-smith-and-the-stars-of-disneys-live-action-aladdin-at-the-paris-premiere-plus-two-new-clips|access-date=9 May 2019|archive-date=9 May 2019|url-status=live|df=dmy}} its first regional premiere in Jordan on 13 May 2019, and its United States premiere on 24 May 2019.{{Cite news|title=Will Smith calls 'Aladdin' remake highlight of his career|first=|last=|date=13 May 2019|page=|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/will-smith-calls-aladdin-remake-highlight-of-his-career-20190513.html|language=en|access-date=27 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231127153814/https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/will-smith-calls-aladdin-remake-highlight-of-his-career-20190513.html|archive-date=27 November 2023|url-status=dead|df=dmy}}{{cite news|title=Will Smith calls 'Aladdin' remake highlight of his career|date=13 May 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/will-smith-calls-aladdin-remake-highlight-of-his-career/2019/05/13/7307d61a-75a7-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html?noredirect=on|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-date=17 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817040828/https://www.washingtonpost.com/|url-status=dead}} Likewise, in music, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 received its world premiere in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 7 May 1824,{{Cite news|title=The Behind-the-Scenes Assist That Made Beethoven's Ninth Happen|first=Patricia|last=Morrisroe|date=8 December 2020|page=|website=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/arts/music/beethoven-ninth-symphony-classical-music.html|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201209074210/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/arts/music/beethoven-ninth-symphony-classical-music.html|archive-date=9 December 2020|url-status=live|df=dmy}} and subsequently received a premiere in England at the Argyll Rooms in London on 21 March 1825.{{cite journal|title=Philharmonic Concerts: Third concert, Monday, March 21st|date=April 1825|journal=The Harmonicon|volume=3|issue=28|pages=69–70|via=RIPM}}

When a work originates in a country that speaks a different language from that in which it is receiving its premiere, it is possible to have two premieres for the same work, e.g., the French-language version of the play The Maids by Jean Genet received its British premiere (which was also its world premiere) in 1952,{{cite book|translator-first=Bernard|translator-last=Frechtman|date=1963|title=The Maids|author-link=Jean Genet|last=Genet|first=Jean|location=London|publisher=Faber|isbn=0-571-05461-7}} and subsequently its English-language premiere in Britain in 1956.{{cite news|newspaper=The Village Voice|last=Tallmer|first=Jerry|date=23 May 1956|title=Theatre: The Maids|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1299&dat=19560523&id=Gd4QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EIwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6256,1972453}}

The type of premiers that a work receives will impact on how the work is treated by festivals, including the categorization of the work in screening sessions, e.g. Fantastic Fest, and even as the basis of its submission requirements, e.g. Sundance Film Festival eligibility rules require that United States feature films, both narrative and documentary, have retained their world premier status, whilst international feature films, both narrative and documentary, have retained the international premiere status.{{Cite web|title=Submitting Your Project to the Sundance Film Festival|website=Sundance Film Festival|url=https://www.sundance.org/festivals/sundance-film-festival/submit|language=en|access-date=28 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107045605/https://www.sundance.org/festivals/sundance-film-festival/submit|archive-date=7 November 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}}

Premiering at a film festival has been used to gain publicity for a film, even without a distributor already in place, and can even allow last minuting editing. Director Alex Winter said, of film festival premiers, "It helps me get a sense of what my work is or isn't communicating. We've often made little tweaks and changes after we've premiered it at a few film festivals."

Concerns existed about online premieres, when in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, festivals had to become either partially online, e.g. SXSW and Tribeca, or fully online, e.g. CPH:DOX, Visions du Reel. Director Alex Winter even went so far as to pull his documentary Zappa out of both SXSW and CPH:DOX rather than let the film premiere there, saying "Our main concern was sales. Being online with these festivals would be the equivalent of a streaming distribution deal."{{Cite news|title=Should Filmmakers Accept Online Festival Premieres?|first=Kaleem|last=Aftab|date=9 April 2020|website=Variety (www.variety.com)|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/festivals/filmmakers-accept-online-festival-premieres-coronavirus-tribeca-cphdox-alex-winter-zappa-1234576233|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203193949/https://variety.com/2020/film/festivals/filmmakers-accept-online-festival-premieres-coronavirus-tribeca-cphdox-alex-winter-zappa-1234576233|archive-date=3 December 2022|url-status=live|df=dmy}}

On 29 May 2020,{{Cite news|title="We Are One" presents a free global film festival online|first=David|last=Morgan|date=28 May 2020|website=CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/we-are-one-presents-free-global-film-festival-online-2020-05-29|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030191727/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/we-are-one-presents-free-global-film-festival-online-2020-05-29|archive-date=30 October 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}} upon the cancellation of a number festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, an International film festival called We Are One was organised where films were globally streamed, via YouTube,{{Cite web|title=We Are One|via=YouTube (www.youtube.com)|url=https://www.youtube.com/WeAreOne|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030191732/https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreOne/featured|archive-date=30 October 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}} in an event containing 13 world premieres, 31 online premieres, and 5 international online premiers.{{Cite news|title=We Are One global film festival announces line-up|first=Jeremy|last=Kay|date=27 May 2020|page=|website=Screen Daily|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/we-are-one-global-film-festival-announces-line-up/5150082.article|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20231129094711/https://www.screendaily.com/news/we-are-one-global-film-festival-announces-line-up/5150082.article|archive-date=29 November 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}} Director Lina Soualem, who reluctantly kept her film {{Ill|Their Algeria|fr|Leur Algérie}} in for an online premier at We Are One said "At first, your automatic feeling is, 'No, I don't want to do that, ... I felt distressed because this would be the first time I would show an audience my film, so I was upset that it (would have to) be online." but said she relented as "I was observing (the Doha Film Institute's Qumra event) online, and it was a good experience. I spoke to many programmers and professionals, and little by little, I understood we are all in the same situation and times are so uncertain that if I decided to say 'no,' I wouldn't know what would happen next with the film."

Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily questioned the legitimacy of the festivals without physically screened premiers, saying "Is premiere status demanded by A-list festivals still valid, and if not world, then national or international, or online – how much do they matter in the time of Covid?"{{Cite news|title=Comment: Industry in a bind over festival premieres|first=Fionnuala|last=Halligan|date=23 April 2020|website=Screen Daily (www.screendaily.com)|url=https://www.screendaily.com/comment-industry-in-a-bind-over-festival-premieres/5149262.article|language=en|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018074355/https://www.screendaily.com/comment-industry-in-a-bind-over-festival-premieres/5149262.article|archive-date=18 October 2021|url-status=live|df=dmy}} On the complications of incorporating online premiers during the new online reformatting of festivals, Halligan said that another burning question was "Would a geo-locked online premiere at a smaller festival jeopardise a filmmaker's chances for showing their "international premiere" at another, perhaps larger, more covetable event (for which the selection hasn't yet been announced)?"

• Season premiere
• Film festival
• Film release
• Television pilot
• Press line

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|premiere}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Premieres}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Theatre

Category:Film and video terminology

Category:Television terminology

Category:Music events

Category:Beginnings