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Author Topic: 2 screen or smaller theatre Kara Tillotson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Manistee Mi Registered: Jul 2006 posted 09-09-2006 07:51 PM                        who here works at a theatre that has two screens or less....well duh..thatd be one..LOL..I didnt know how to ask that..ok...uhm, who here works in a movie theatre with only one or two screens and isnt part of a chain. I am curious how you stay afloat, peopl ehere are exstatic we have reopened, yet seem to balk at the concept that it takes money to run stuff, and that actually coming to see a movie would be good. I dont know if the theatre being closed over a year has made people forget about it being open, or if people are still traveling 30 miles to the nearby town with multiplexes. I thought people would appreciate first run shows at an affordable rate...$4 before 6 $5 after 6...and our great deals, like a large popcorn and two med drinks with refills on it all for 10.00. Some people even seem offended we offer cheaper tickets..."you only charge 5.00...really...wow....its like 10.00 at such and such a place..." We also have nice big ass screens, not the little ones you often see in multiplexes. In comparison, tickets at the one Carmike are 7.50 all day  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 09-09-2006 08:24 PM                     "Some people even seem offended we offer cheaper tickets..."you only charge 5.00...really...wow....its like 10.00 at such and such a place..." Kara, This is called "perceived value". They are wondering what about your operation is inferior to the establishments that charge the higher prices. I once repaired an electronic organ for a friend. When I finished, she asked me what she owed for the work. I said "nothing". Her surprising response was, "We all know the worth of our own work!" That was a good lesson in marketing. KEN  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-09-2006 08:51 PM                        Well, if you are running first run movies, $5 is WAY TOO LOW. Or are you charging the same price for all tickets? (If so, that's a bad idea...people like the idea of lower prices for kids...it's dumb, but it's tradition.) Do you offer digital (or at least stereo) sound? Are the seats comfortable? And above all, is the whole theatre clean and comfortable? Is the entrance inviting and well-lit, or dim and dingy with nonworking lights? Is the concession stand sparkling or dull? Is your picture in focus and in frame 100% of the time? What about marketing? Are you running all the trailers you can? Do you put one-sheets up well in advance of the film arriving? Do you advertise in your local newspaper? Do you have a website with lots of pictures? Is your audience quiet during the film or are they out of control? (The way teenagers behave in your place will have a major impact on ALL your audiences, especially in a small town.) Is your staff -- especially your teenage staff if any -- friendly to a fault? Answer the above questions honestly and you might uncover a few spots where improvements can be made. With improvements comes increased attendance, although it will take a while to build up.  |  IP: Logged Kara Tillotson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Manistee Mi Registered: Jul 2006 posted 09-09-2006 09:35 PM                        Well, if you are running first run movies, $5 is WAY TOO LOW. Or are you charging the same price for all tickets? (If so, that's a bad idea...people like the idea of lower prices for kids...it's dumb, but it's tradition.) We charge 5.00 prety much for everyone, cept people who are under 2.00. The last people who ran this theatre charged 4.25 for adults and 2.75 for kids. Do you offer digital (or at least stereo) sound? im not sure of this..I think so..i know there was an upgrade back when some starwars movie came out... Are the seats comfortable? well they arent horrible, most of them are vintage but we did get rid of the ones that were butt sprung etc And above all, is the whole theatre clean and comfortable? Oh yes, I can vouch for this. We go sweep after every show, and my bf who is a prof. Janitor mops them every morning. We have freshly installed carpet...the wall interior is a bit disheveled, but restoring a historic theatre that the previous leasers basiclly did nothing with is a long process. Is the entrance inviting and well-lit, or dim and dingy with nonworking lights? Is the concession stand sparkling or dull? yup, we recently repainted this area, oh it used to be this gaudy blue, like hideous, and we changed it to a more astheticlly pleasing dark red. Is your picture in focus and in frame 100% of the time?yeah, though being we run on an old vintage supersimplex there are sometimes fuzzies on the screen, and every so often the updstairs projector gets moody and wont work. But thankfully this has only happend a few times. What about marketing? Are you running all the trailers you can? can you explain to me how trailers help? you mean to advertise the film we are getting? Do you put one-sheets up well in advance of the film arriving? when the idiots deliver when they are supposed to... Do you advertise in your local newspaper? our local newspaper is crap. we gave them the shcedule for the movies, and when we gave them the updated schedule last week, they assumed we wanted the old times listed.... Do you have a website with lots of pictures?well, the "official" website is aacinema.com, and I think the site sucks. I like my myspace one better,myspace.com/voguetheatre it has updates, a link to movies coming and a history of the theatre Is your audience quiet during the film or are they out of control? (The way teenagers behave in your place will have a major impact on ALL your audiences, especially in a small town.) no problem with this...if people get noisy we ask them to be quiet or leave Is your staff -- especially your teenage staff if any -- friendly to a fault?yup. we have weeded out the, uh, weeds. Answer the above questions honestly and you might uncover a few spots where improvements can be made. With improvements comes increased attendance, although it will take a while to build up.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-09-2006 11:04 PM                        quote: Kara Tillotson how trailers help? you mean to advertise the film we are getting? Well.....to advertise the next FEW movies you are getting, along with maybe an upcoming blockbuster or two. (We are running trailers for a couple of Christmas movies already.) It's good to change-out the trailers according to the movie you are playing. Trailers are your absolute best advertising, partly because they're free, but mainly because the people in the audience are guaranteed moviegoers. You should try to get trailers for every movie you even THINK you MIGHT play.  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 09-10-2006 03:09 AM                        Trailers are free Mike? Here in Australia, cinemas are charged for trailers and posters. But film distributors give us elaborate, expensive displays and banners free.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-10-2006 01:58 PM                        quote: Ron Curran Here in Australia, cinemas are charged for trailers and posters. That sucks! Yes, in the US trailers are free except for Paramount, I'm not sure what big chains have to pay, but we have to pay $60 for a year of trailer/onesheet service. Warner Bros used to charge the same thing, but I think they've stopped. Everybody else's trailers are free, although we do have to pay shipping on a couple of companies.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 09-10-2006 03:00 PM                        That web site needs to be totally redesigned. The advertisers get better placement than the theatres do. Who's running the show? You have to click way too many times to get to the information you want. The graphics look like they came out of an Apple II (sorry).  |  IP: Logged Kara Tillotson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Manistee Mi Registered: Jul 2006 posted 09-10-2006 04:19 PM                        I know the official website su*cough*cks. I tried to delicatley let them know that but they reassured me its get better. I personally thin my myspace page rocks compared to the official page, and im going to re-add the show info on the site..i just got lazy and stopped. im thinking of seeing what I can do with a quick geocities template with a little html tweaking. which is what I did for the myspace page, and seeing if they like what they see.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 09-10-2006 08:35 PM                        If people are going to find you for the first time through the web, it isn't going to be through your existing website. They need to be able to go to a recognized website, seach theatres in Manistee, and find something. I searched for theatres in Manistee on Fandango, Moviefone, Yahoo, and movietickets.com. Fandango actually had your showtimes. Moviefone had your address, but no showtimes. Yahoo returned the Carmikes in Ludington as being the closest. Movietickets didn't return any information for theatres in Manistee at all. If it doesn't exist there, as far as the customer is concerned, it won't exist at all. Submit showtimes to every movie showtimes/tickets sites that will take them. You can usually find out how through the "Contact" page of the various sites. In most...if not ALL...cases, there's no charge to do so.  |  IP: Logged Kara Tillotson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Manistee Mi Registered: Jul 2006 posted 09-10-2006 10:01 PM                        i just emailed moviefone. also, if anyone wants to check ou the site I twiddled with in about 10 min, go to geocities.com/voguetheatre  |  IP: Logged Paul Cassidy Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 549 From: Auckland, New Zealand Registered: Aug 2001 posted 09-11-2006 12:32 AM                        We have a local single screen that does OK , but this has a Organ as well , so has special shows just for the organ , which gets good support , here is his Web Site , may give you some ideas ??? Hollywood Cinema  |  IP: Logged Anslem Rayburn Master Film Handler Posts: 476 From: Yuma, AZ, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-11-2006 02:22 AM                     I have a question about your showtimes. How do you show World Trade Center at 7:10 and 9:10 when it is 2 hours and 9 minutes long? The 7:10 won't be over until 9:19 if you run zero previews. Agreed with others, that website is pretty bad, and listing on yahoo, movietickets.com, et. al. is a must if the owners are serious about having an internet presence.  |  IP: Logged Jamie Glossop Expert Film Handler Posts: 100 From: Nottingham Uk Registered: Jan 2004 posted 09-11-2006 03:28 AM                        Also the site is hosted from a free geocities account? A site with your domain and your own hosting makes it look a lot nicer. "large popcorn and two med drinks with refills on it all for 10.00" Nice idea but whouldnt that leave you out of pocket? How whold you know if they didnt just come into the cinema with the cup?. If your doing that maybe to get them to show you thier ticket?, Reminds me of the subway food outlet. Love thier refillable drinks. Anslem Rayburn, I agree, The films going to run into the next showing if its programmed like that, And people waiting for that show will be annoyed. It reminds me of my last job as a projectionist, The programme was wrong and the film was still playing 20mins into the next show, Alot of angry customers!  |  IP: Logged Kara Tillotson Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Manistee Mi Registered: Jul 2006 posted 09-11-2006 09:18 AM                        the geocities one i the one I did just fiddling with a page to see what I could come up with. I was thinking of doing alayout and then pointing it out to them as an option. I had noticed the discrepancy in the movie times but didnt bother to say anything...maybe they fixed it and have a new time by now.  |  IP: Logged

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