Variety has a write-up on a new initiative at Samsung to support indie film. The electronics manufacturer is partnering with Landmark Theaters to essentially pay for marketing campaigns on behalf of specific pictures, in an effort to “bolster the company’s brand image among American consumers, especially the affluent auds that indies attract.” I guess ideally, the partnership will go both ways–ie: the chosen indie films will theoretically have the chance to bolster their images among the mainstream consumers that Samsung attracts.

The deal will include a Samsung sponsorship of Landmark’s Truly Indie program, through which filmmakers pay a fee to distribute their films in Landmark theaters and gain access Landmark’s marketing apparatus. Samsung will also install a number of blue seats in Landmark auditoriums across the country, through which lucky ticketbuyers can apparently expect to be offered Samsung swag.
The first film to be promoted under the deal is Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, which is a perhaps unwittingly strong match for a business proposition pairing corporate sponsorship with independent productions. Wild tells the story of an idealistic young hippie who impulsively gives up all his cash and worldly possessions to live “off the grid,” with disastrous consequences. Lesson learned: ascetic individualism is noble in spirit, but consumerism makes the world go round.

More on the Samsung deal here, and for our interview with Sean Penn from Wild’s Telluride premiere, click thisaway.