In listening to an audio commentary by Carl Macek the other day, I was struck by a quote he gave, attributed to one of the producers of Robotech. I’ll attempt to paraphrase it here:
“We want to create a work that inherently assures the audience that it will not be shortchanged.”
Now that’s a very interesting goal, and one that has significant implications for the rest of the production. If one truly follows that goal, then promotion of the work cannot reveal secrets or otherwise compromise the audience’s enjoyment of the work itself. The work becomes increasingly important, as those involved ensure that the audience’s experience of the work itself is as enjoyable and complete as possible.
I really admire this approach. It acknowledges the centrality of the work, the importance of ensuring that the audience will appreciate the work for what it is, rather than spoiling or trying to “rope in” an audience. This is a very classy way of handling things.