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Author Topic: Properly Staffing A Theater Brent Mahaney Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 08-12-2003 01:01 PM                    I know that with each post I write, I continue to beat an already very, very dead horse, but I need to get this off my chest. First, how can a twelve screen theatre operate with three employees? That is exactly what we are going to be asked to do to cut payroll. A manager will cashier, and we will have a booth person and a concessionist. You can run a six-plex like that but not a twelve. Why would you WANT to run a twelve like that? What if the manager has a booth emergency and needs to leave cashier? A million things could happen and the manager will be tied down to a position, and THAT, my friends, is BAD, BAD, BAD! Attendance will be low with schools back in session, but come on! Even if we only do 125-150 people on weekdays, we still need to be properly staffed. You know, I understand that payroll is a very important concern, but I'm learning first hand that there is a fine line between staffing the way a company wants you to staff and maintaining a proper level of customer service. But, it's all about money. Screw the customer service! You can just take it forgranted that they're going to come in no matter what! That's a BAD practice. When you don't properly staff you sacrifice cleanliness, you have bigger lines, you have angry customers...and THEN, unbelievably, you get in trouble from your home office because you're implementing the exact guidelines THEY put in place! You're supposed to be able to do it ALL and SCREW YOU if you can't! It's enough to make you want to pull your hair out in fist-fulls.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 08-12-2003 01:36 PM                     Wow, the're keeping the projectionist? That's a switch; usually he's the first to go. Is you theater company low on cash? Since payroll is among the biggest expenses, it is usually where the bean counters cut first. ("Ya just press the button; how hard can it be?!") I guess if it's a choice between going out of biz, or reducing staff, there's only one choice...... I believe many companies actually research to find what is the minimum level of customer service before customers will no longer return. That becomes their standard level of service. Three people run a 12-plex? Well, with the right people, it could probably work fairly well. But, those kinds of people are hard to find, since anyone with that much drive could probably earn more money from another industry.  |  IP: Logged Michael Brown Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1522 From: Bradford, England Registered: May 2001 posted 08-12-2003 01:40 PM                     I assume you mean 3 people at any one time, not three people in total.  |  IP: Logged Mike Williams Master Film Handler Posts: 255 From: Knoxville, TN Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-12-2003 02:10 PM                     I used to work an entire round at a 7 screen (then an 8 screen for a brief period) by myself... but then both were dollar houses and only about 40 people would show up all evening. (Just before each of them closed). I would thread up the projectors, set up the concession and walk the entire theater before I openned the doors. Then, I would quickly go up to the booth and start the movie I needed and go back downstairs to cover the concession and box after the doors were open (if anybody showed up for it). Usually, very few people made it to the first show since it was around 5:00. An employee would come in around 7:00 to run the concession and/or sell tickets for the next 2 rounds. It was not that bad as long as there was no problem in the booth.  |  IP: Logged Michael Gonzalez Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 790 From: Grand Island , NE USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 08-12-2003 02:30 PM                     I have also had the pleasure of running a seven screen theater by myself for most of the day 11:00am - 4:00pm (that was my GM's way of saving payroll, which was BTW against company policy). The trick was to get in really early and set everything up (pre-threading projectors, popping popcorn, etc.) I just had to wait on customers then run up stairs to start movies rinse and repeat. Of course one of the big downsides was that I had to leave cash drawers unattended for lengths of time and of course the inevitable booth problems but that was just the way it was.  |  IP: Logged John Scott Master Film Handler Posts: 252 From: Oakdale, MN, USA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-12-2003 04:31 PM                     I don't think 3-4 employees on during a shift (especially during a weekday afternoon when school is in session) is unreasonable. I've done it before with a 16plex. 1 person in the booth, 1 cashier, 1 vendor, and the manager floating and doing other things as needed (Ushing, helping out in vending if needed, and other work). You just need to plan ahead, and have qualified and experienced line staff on. (Plus, during the week, we have a box office set up in the vending stand for the afternoons.)  |  IP: Logged Kelly Skaggs Film Handler Posts: 68 From: Springdale UT Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-12-2003 05:02 PM                        I run the booth (for the next and my last week) at the theater Brent is talking about. Something that needs to be mentioned is the box office has its own separate lobby in the front, of the main lobby. Which makes it more cut off from the concession stand and the access to the booth. Having the manager run the box office or the concession stand at this poorly designed theater is asinine.  |  IP: Logged John Scott Master Film Handler Posts: 252 From: Oakdale, MN, USA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-12-2003 05:51 PM                     Is there a way to move the box office to the vending stand (either through the OS of the software your theatre uses, or physically moving a station) to allow for better "access" during these slow periods when you are required to reduce staff to these levels? If so, that would be a solution to help reduce the "isolation" of the separate box office.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-12-2003 06:39 PM                        Selling tickets at the concession stand is a good idea for slow periods, although it probably reduces concession sales, too, particularly if there is a line. I haven't had much experience with staffing a multiplex, but I do think that single-screen houses need at least three employees (box, concession, projectionist) during "normal" periods, and 4-5 on busy weekend evenings (probably add one in concession and a general manager type to rip tickets and do other jobs as needed). I'm guessing that a 12-plex with a separate box office and concession stand could probably do fairly well with five employees on slow nights (1-box office, 2-concession, 1-manager, and 1-projectionist), with substantially more on busy nights. I've heard of 10-plexes which run with one (yes, one) employee during slow weekday afternoons, which sounds completely insane to me. I ran a single by myself one night (one employee called in sick; the other just didn't show up) once and told the owners that I would quit before doing that again.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 08-12-2003 06:59 PM                        I have spent years operating 4 to 8 screens all on my lonesome, and not have it be a very stressing experience. Just stay busy all the time, bite your tounge, be glad you have a job in this day and age, especially in the movie theater business, and be happy dammit! Unless you have a mysteriously rich benefactor, you will have to roll up your sleeves and actually do some work. We can't all work for Century Theaters, but it would be nice if we did. Dave  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 08-12-2003 09:27 PM                     I would not want to attend a showing at a twelve-plex with only three members of staff on duty, because of my fear of being trapped in case of fire, civil disorder or natural catastrophe. [Actually I would not attend a twelve-plex period. I have worked projection at a twelve-plex even when it went to fourteen screens, but it had a whole army of ushers, concessionists and security officers in addition to its managers and projectionists. Still, I would not go there to see a movie.] Are there no public safety standards or laws governing operating a place of public accommodation where this theatre is located? I believe in any civilized location such a theatre should be forced to comply with safety standards or lose its license and be shut down.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-13-2003 12:20 AM                        I run a 14 with 2 people on staff ... myself and one other ... I run booth and cleans auditoriums, the other sells tickets & concessions ... and we do your pre-decribed 125-150/day. Ask yourself this question ... if I added two employees, will I end up paying two people to stand around and do nothing? With those attendance numbers, most likely the answer is yes, assuming you have a well-spaced show schedule and the 7's aren't bunched into a 15-30 minute time period. Cause even with just 2, on those numbers ... I never feel rushed  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-13-2003 12:43 AM                     In the past during school we would have two for concession, one for box, one person tearing tickets, one person cleaning all 30 theatres, two people in booth, a manger and an asst manager. If needed, the ticket drop person would be cut and then a concessionist. This is just my way of thinking here, but it would seem to me that paying an extra $25 a day for another cashier would not be that big of a loss. The way I see it, a lot of people see the lines and dont feel like waiting and either go into their movie or just dont buy a ticket. I have driven up to theatres many times and seen long lines at the box office and not wanted to wait for an hour in the cold/heat/rain and just went home.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 08-13-2003 02:24 AM                        Hmmmmmmmm.... I may be doing something wrong here. From what I'm reading, we're seriously overstaffed, and this must be fixed immediately. We rarely have less than 3 people in our 4-plex.... 2 by closing time, or if it's just plain dead during the week. On weekends (when we have decent shows) our busy shifts might run as high as 5 (including the Manager). We actually put 2 people behind the counter... 3, if you count the boxoffice person, who can help where needed... maybe even 4.... wow...the Manager might be making popcorn! Personally, I don't like to see people waiting in line... especially since we tend to run a fairly tight schedule. Some of you must have incredibly well-designed facilities to be able to run with so few. If we had only one person, someone(s) would walk out of the building with the whole concession stand while the staff member was in the booth. Our auditoriums run from 200 to 500 seats. Even on mediocre days it takes a while to clean them decently... which makes me wonder how one person could manage 30 auditoriums. I must be leaving too much of my money for the staff & not taking enough home for me!.......  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-13-2003 02:41 AM                     Our houses are between 93 seats and 595 seats and usually when there is one person there only the big houses get cleaned. When I was downstairs and I had to do it, I couldnt get every piece of popcorn, but I had enough time to go through and at least get the bags and cups and what-not. You can usually find the ushers whatching a movie instead of cleaning, so why pay more people to not do anything. Of course it's not my call to make.  |  IP: Logged

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