The Last Airbender director M. Night Shyamalan landed himself in controversy after employing a rather unethical marketing strategy for his film, The Village. To create buzz around the Joaquin Phoenix film, Syfy Channel (earlier Sci Fi) aired a documentary, The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan, that claimed to reveal deep secrets about the director. The documentary was later revealed to be a hoax, blending real-life events with fiction.
The documentary was created by Nathaniel Kahn and Callum Greene. It allegedly uncovered events from Shyamalan’s life through interviews, reenactments, and supposedly leaked footage. The documentary suggested that Shyamalan had a direct connection to the supernatural.
The Last Airbender Director Created A Fake Documentary To Promote His Film
The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan was promoted as actual events that happened in the life of director M. Night Shyamalan. The Syfy Channel documentary portrayed a narrative where the crew set out to find the secrets in Shyamalan’s life. In the documentary, the crew faced some resistance from the Signs director, which apparently proved the documentary’s legitimacy.
However, it turned out that the entire events shown in the docu-film were fictional and were created with the full cooperation of Shyamalan. It intended to create a buzz for the director’s film The Village. The hoax was exposed when Syfy Channel president Bonnie Hammer revealed that it was part of a “guerilla marketing campaign”. Hammer shared with the LA Times:
“We created a fictional special that was part fact and part fiction, and Night was part of the creation from the beginning.”
Hammer’s revelation did not sit well with the audience who felt betrayed by the false narrative of the documentary. The documentary received massive backlash from the public and the press. To create the perfect deception, the crew even issued false press releases and encouraged journalists to report on the docufilm as if it were real.
The marketing effort clearly crossed some ethical boundaries as the staff members involved in the production were asked to sign strict NDA agreements. According to reports from the site BeamBlog, these NDA violations carried a $5 million fine. This meant that no crew member could reveal the documentary’s fictitious nature.
Apologies Were Issued After M. Night Shyamalan’s Documentary Backfired
The backlash for the documentary was felt across the network that released it. NBCUniversal acquired Sci Fi Channel around that time and the parent studio had to issue a statement through spokeswoman Rebecca Marks. The company apologized and stated that the marketing tactic was against their policy. The statement read (via CBS):
“This marketing strategy is not consistent with our policy at NBC. We would never intend to offend the public or the press and value our relationship with both.”
Disney also got involved in the controversy as The Village was distributed through its label, Touchstone Pictures. A studio representative for Disney issued a statement where the company distanced itself from the Sci Fi Channel documentary. Disney’s statement read (via LA Times):
“Disney has nothing to do with [the documentary]. There’s no relationship between Disney and the Sci Fi Channel special.”
The unethical campaign eventually achieved success with its goal. The buzz surrounding The Village was significant enough to make people aware of the film. The film made $257 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).
The Village is now available for rent on AppleTV+.
