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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Splitting Product
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Steven Pickles
Film Handler
Posts: 81
From: Gainesville, FL, USA
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 10-18-2001 12:05 AM
How many of you out there are forced to split product with another theatre due to being in a "competitive zone?" With two main theatres here in Gainesville, FL, it seems a bit stupid for the two theatres not to get the same films. There are some 40,000 college students when school is in session and with only one theatre playing a particular film--the film sells out repeatedly because there just isn't enough room to put everyone in the movie. Furthermore, isn't that why there are two competing theatres? So patrons can spend money at whichever theatre is the one they like (best presentation, shortest lines, cleanest, etc..)?Can someone shed a little light onto the reasons for the split product? I believe it hurts more than it helps.. case in point: A customer wants 150 tickets for the first show of Harry Potter (on 11/16) so that his 7th grade class can attend the showing. Due to the split product, we are not getting that film... upon responding to his letter, he calls me and informs me that because we cannot show that film that he has lost faith in the company and will never return. Is that the kind of image we want portrayed to an already suffering industry? Suddenly we are the bad guy and we haven't done anything wrong. I hate to disappoint people, but in this case I have no say whatsoever. Meanwhile I am losing customers and there is nothing I can do about it.
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Steven Pickles
Film Handler
Posts: 81
From: Gainesville, FL, USA
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 10-18-2001 06:34 PM
quote:
Was that Harry Potter case just hypothetical?
No, it is real. On your other note, the way the bargaining goes... I think its a bit biased. Regal (mine) is seemingly getting the short hand of the stick... for example, the three big summer movies "Shrek," "Pearl Harbor," and "JP3" all went to the competitor. We got "America's Sweethearts," and "Final Fantasy." Looking at grosses from last year they got 7/10 big pictures--and are scheduled to get Harry Potter and Fellowship (understandable). We get Monster's INC, and some Jim Carrey film I haven't even heard of in their places. Monster's Inc. will be a good film, I hope.. but won't bring the kind of business that either of their films (especially combined) will in the long run. Perhaps the films companies can post an explanation?
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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 10-20-2001 04:54 PM
Alright - let me attempt to shed some light on this subject. I (until just recently) was running an 8-screen theater in Mankato, MN that had to split product w/ 2 4-screen Carmikes. It was basically a 50-50 film split ... in other words ... the distributors treated the Carmikes like 1 8-screen theater ... Carmike placed the film wherever they wanted when it was allocated to them. A lot of it has to do with the quality of your film buyer. Booking is not an exact science ... there is a lot of wheeling and dealing and schmoozing that goes on between bookers and film companies. There were instances where I ended up with extra product for 2 reasons: 1) my booker had a good relationship with the film companies and 2) I had the higher "gross potential". In other words ... a movie would gross more at my theater than the same movie would gross at the other theater. For example, "Road Trip" grossed $2000 more opening weekend than both prints of "Dinosaur" did combined. When we would move product over from Carmike, the gross would often jump 50% or more the following weekend. Now, if you have a film buyer that just doesn't care ... or, worse, doesn't pay any attention ... then you're basically up shit creek. Often, a booker needs to FIGHT for a picture after it has been allocated by saying, "blah blah blah ... you played the last x number of pictures there ... blah blah blah" Also, film companies allocate film differently. The one thing that helped me come to an understanding on this was to call and have a nice, long conversation with my film buyer. He explained to me EXACTLY how the allocation process works, with the different Wheels of product ... or the A-picture, B-picture way of allocating ... or in some cases ... the better theatre plays the good product ... the crappy theater plays the junk. If your booker is unwilling to discuss this with you, then that sucks, because I can tell you that my business was improved by my staying in the booking loop and being aware of allocations and the like. Plus, if you have a good relationship with your booker, it shows him that you CARE about your theatre and he just might go the extra mile to help you out. Good luck, I know it's awful frustrating ... but now I'm managing discount which is a whole new monster.
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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 10-21-2001 06:56 PM
I think the whole reason for sharing can be summed up pretty simple. It's in the film company's interest to keep as many screens open as possible. If they allowed day and date competition, one theatre would usually prevail, and the other would close. Instead, they share films to keep both open. That way, when you don't get "Harry Potter", you've gotta play something on that screen, so you keep "Bandits" for another week, or whatever. I'm in a newly remodeled 12 plex and our competition is a cruddy old 4 plex, and we still share. We get about 75% of the good ones, but they get enough to stay open. Then maybe on the screen we would have shown "Zoolander", we instead keep around "American Pie 2" and it makes a few more bucks. The only exception is with a couple companies, we play all their pictures exclusively. That's where the "you scratch my back..." thing comes in. Overall, I don't think sharing is all bad. Otherwise, all the theatres in town would be playing the same 10 movies or whatever.------------------
"Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!" - Homer Simpson
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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001
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posted 08-21-2002 04:52 PM
Doylestown PA has a 14-screen Regal and the 2-screen County Theater. For mainstream movies it's a free zone -- the Regal gets most every new release. On upmarket/arthouse titles the Regal and the County split product. In fact, the County raised a stink last winter about not being able to play In the Bedroom and said so on their website.If you run an arthouse and have to split product you've got to keep the "Coming Soon" section of your website up to date. In Doylestown the Regal picked up Tadpole last week but the County is still listing that picture as "Coming Soon".
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Bill Gabel
Film God
Posts: 3873
From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 08-21-2002 05:28 PM
In the 80's in Westwood and Hollywood. Mann Theatres had a 5 mile
zone on films in the area. So if Mann's National in Westwood was playing the movie, AMC or Plitt in Century City could not book the same film. Because Century City was within the 5 mile zone from the National.But at that time the business was moving west to Santa Monica. The Cinerama Dome had a policy that the film would play only at
the Dome for x weeks, before going citywide. That was till the
mid 80's for the Dome. A ind. chain filed suit againist Mann theatres over zone rights.
They won the case.
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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"
Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 08-21-2002 08:31 PM
The "Competitive Zone" is also known as the "Catchment Area"There was this one theatre I used to work for who ended up on Paramount's "shit-list" (evidently there is such a thing...who knew?) but even though our competitor (right across the street) got all of those movies, Sony was apparently "in love with us" and so we got all of that studio's movies. As it turned out that was a VERY BIG summer for Sony ("My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Men In Black" were just two Sony hits that came out that summer). I know of another instance where a theatre ran afoul of several distributors by not paying grosses on time. Another case: a cinema did not complete construction on time and missed an entire season of first-run product. And, still another case, where one cinema earned favors from Sony for running "Joan of Arc" when it was likely nobody in that market would patronize it. The payoff: an exclusive on "Stuart Little." Make no mistake, an exclusive on a kiddie flick during summer is a big, big deal. ~Manny (Behold: The Power of Cheese!)
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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001
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posted 10-31-2002 04:00 PM
You think your theater gets the short end? Look to Connecticut!The York Square Cinema is a 3-plex in New Haven that's nominally an arthouse. National Amusements has larger theaters nearby in Orange and North Haven. The only other theater in New Haven is a 4-plex that plays 20th Century Fox titles and mid-run arthouse product. Spirited Away and Comedian have been allocated to the York Square. Secretary, Igby Goes Down, Bowling for Columbine, and Auto Focus have been allocated to National Amusements. That got the York Square angry enough to say on its phone message that it was not getting the movies it wants and was suing the studios. What are the movies the York Square wants? Secretary, Igby Goes Down, Bowling for Columbine, and Auto Focus. This isn't the first time this has happened. The York Square sued all the majors and some of the minimajors a few years ago over the way they were allocating product. BV and Miramax have relented for now, mainly because the Connecticut attorney general's office got involved the first time. Also, because the York Square gets shut out of the movies it wants it sometimes has to play a mainstream movie that's about to go subrun. Three weeks ago the York Square was playing Signs in a double-up.
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