Catherine Paura on Revolutionizing Movie Marketing and Research

Don’t Kill the Messenger welcomes audience research pioneer, Catherine Paura

In this episode of Don’t Kill the Messenger, host Kevin Goetz sits down with his good friend, mentor, and colleagues, Catherine Paura, a pioneering force in entertainment research who co-founded National Research Group (NRG) in 1977. As an accomplished entrepreneur, Paura helped establish the foundation for modern movie research and marketing. From her humble beginnings to becoming one of Hollywood’s most influential research experts, Paura shares insights from her career. The episode is particularly special as it features a conversation between two longtime friends – Paura and Goetz have maintained a close personal and professional relationship spanning nearly 40 years. Their discussion reveals not just the evolution of an industry, but the deep personal connections that have defined their professional lives.

Kevin Goetz on Catherine Paura:

I just want to say thank you for teaching me so much. Thank you for enlightening and bringing so much to the industry that you love because you made a tremendous impact on the movie business and on my particular area, which is research and strategy.

Apocalypse Now and Early Movie Research

When Paura and her partner Joe Farrell founded NRG, Hollywood was still operating on a “distribution model.” The shift to a marketing-centric approach began with early projects like Apocalypse Now, where Paura conducted groundbreaking research:

In the case of Apocalypse Now, there were three round the clock screenings in Westwood, I think they were at the Bruin. And people just lined up and waited in line for hours. And we handed out questionnaires and Francis was trying to determine what to do about the ending. So, if memory serves, there were three different endings that we showed, so once one screening stopped, we let the other people in and the last reel would go on.

Evolution of Movie Marketing

Paura’s insights about messaging and tracking studies transformed how Hollywood understood its audiences. She explains the parallel between political polling and movie marketing:

Keep in mind that Joe and I worked at Harris, and Harris was a political pollster. And the similarities between political polling and polling for movies are apparent when you think about it from this point of view. If your candidate doesn’t win on a Tuesday, you can’t go back and rethink your campaign. If your movie doesn’t open on a Friday, you can’t go back and rethink your campaign. So everything leads to that opening weekend or that election.

The Power of Messaging

Paura emphasizes the continued importance of messaging in modern marketing: “Messaging, messaging, messaging… It’s not about throwing something against the wall and it will stick. It’s about really being very specific in a message that will work to persuade, persuade, persuade.”

The Future of the Movie Industry

Drawing from her decades of experience, Paura offers a clear assessment of cinema’s future:

I think there will continue to be a shrinking of the theatrical audience. It’s not going to be a disappearance, but I think it will be a shrinking of the theatrical audience… As the boomers get older, and they’re almost the last generation that are completely habituated to go into the movies because we didn’t have many other choices… Now, when I think about the opportunity that people have to watch entertainment, if you can save a lot of money and stay home and not pay a babysitter and not pay for parking and not go out to eat… habits have changed. And I think Covid ushered in even more rapidly the change in habits.

Life Lessons and Personal Growth

One of the most touching moments in the conversation comes when Paura shares advice she received from her friend Marti Morans, who was battling brain cancer:

I went out to lunch with her in July. She died in August… She said to me, and I have chills telling you this, she said, ‘Catherine, when you’re dying, you’ll never wish that you had worked one more day.’ And I have never gotten a greater gift than that. And I started to take vacations. It was… I was 40 years old and I started to take vacations.

The Art of Coaching

Today, Paura runs Sistina Coaching, explaining the meaningful connection to her heritage:

The reason why I did that, because I wanted to harken back to my Italian heritage and Sistina to me is, you know, it’s art and art. We’re all art, we all create our own lives. We all paint our own pictures, so to speak. We are all creative in our own way. Doesn’t have to be where, you know, Leonardo da Vincis, but we are all creative. We create our own lives.

Catherine Paura and Kevin Goetz’s 40-year friendship weaves throughout the episode, from their first meeting where Paura was counting questionnaires on theater steps to sharing pivotal life moments, including the loss of loved ones. Their evolving relationship demonstrates how professional relationships in Hollywood can transcend business. Their candid conversation reveals not just the evolution of movie research, but the importance of mentorship, mutual respect, and showing up for each other when it matters most.

For the full conversation, check out the podcast episode here. And let us know your thoughts on the episode in the comments!

Don’t Kill the Messenger, hosted by movie and entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz, brings his book Audienceology to life. This bi-monthly podcast takes a peek behind the filmmaking curtain as Kevin talks with famous filmmakers, studio executives, stars, and other creatives about movies, filmmaking, audience test screenings, and much more.