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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Drive-In questions
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-28-2007 08:47 PM
I can answer a few of these just from being here, although I don't run a drive-in.
1. Depends on the movie, but usually starting at 70% for the first week and going down from there -- but sometimes starting at 60% and for a potential flop movie, maybe 50%. If you're playing off the break, usually 35% or 40% unless the movie is a mega-hit, then it could be a bit higher if you're playing in the first month or so...well, like I said, it depends on the movie.
2. I don't think so, but there are no restrictions on "stacking" two movies like there are for indoor theatres. (A stupid rule.)
3. Are you kidding? That's hilarious. No. If you can gross, you can play.
4. See below. (Edited to move incorrect answer)
Why doesn't your friend register here and ask questions? There's a lot of drive-in knowledge here.
[ 11-29-2007, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 11-29-2007 11:17 AM
The studios don't directly ban carload pricing, because they can't legally force what you charge, if anything. However, as you probably know, they CAN enforce a per-capita admission. Lately, we've received letters that remind us of this policy, though we've always been higher than the minimum that would generate that kind of deal. The studios could also refuse to book you "on the break" by enforcing their pass restrictions. Technically, you're charging the driver and letting everyone else in for free. That doesn't work very well for the studio, so why would they be excited about sending you a brand-new print? I think it's still something like 2%, though some of those letters even restrict employee showings.
I haven't heard that the studios have a heartache over carload pricing for sub-run bookings, but there are only a couple of drive-ins (over on the east-side) that I've seen get a carload price on the break. That was a couple of years ago, so it may not be happening now.
A carload policy does not result in a different percentage deal. The studios aren't going to give you a lower percentage because you choose to give their product away. If anything, you'll probably be looking for flat-rentals on your co-features as a way of reducing your costs, because you're not bringing in much boxoffice income to begin with. That will reduce the quality of your overall presentations, imho.
Your boxoffice report will show the number of tickets sold, though that will be in terms of cars, not actual people. The percentage will be calculated based on your gross, as usual. I don't remember ever getting a worse, or better deal based on how I charged, though better grosses do seem to generate more positive attention.
Barry is right about the kind of crowd that carloads tend to attract. Many of them either don't have much money to begin with, or spend what they do have at the local "beverage outlet". In any case, the per-caps are pretty low with these crowds. Also (from our own experience in the past), vandalism and the levels of trash are much higher, as are cases of "negative customer interaction". Generally speaking, the less your customers invest in your product, the less they respect what you offer... which includes your facilities and staff. If you get tired of dealing with it and go to a per-capita admission, you'll get rid of the rowdies pretty much immediately, but it'll take you anywhere from 2 to 5 seasons to redevelop your clientele.
The drive-in environment is a special place that more families are seeking out. I'm not sure why some owners feel they need to give this away, but it's not something I subscribe to. You can't get the experience we offer anywhere else, whether we manage to get 16fL on our screens or not. It's also a lot of work. We commonly put in a full day before we open for a full night. It makes for a long summer, but it is a lot of fun.
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 11-29-2007 11:44 AM
quote: Jonathan M. Crist
Years ago drive-in double features from the same studio were the norm. In addition to the percentage combos, distributors often sold the main feature percentage with a cheap flat rate
That's true. But back then, distribution wasn't so wide, cable and home video (tape, dvd, satellite) wasn't prevalent (or even available), so a title had a much longer life. You could book a co-feature 3 or 4 months out, maybe get it flat, and it might still have legs. Nowadays, pretty much anything you can get flat has been out on DVD for some time, and isn't much of a draw for any kind of theatre.
It is more common, at least among drive-ins that book close to the break, to see percentage deals on both features... usually from the same studio, but not always. As noted above, the total gross for the screen is applied to both films (there is no division claimed on the boxoffice report), so there can be benefits for both sides here. Frequently, both features could be playing as singles in local indoor houses, but the grosses could generate the same kind of returns as if they had been booked separately... especially for a weaker co-feature.
I couldn't speak for the Haar's deal, though it is not something you'd see commonly. I also doubt that regional frugality would have mattered. I'd bet they paid a pretty hefty percentage to get a very good, if not unusual booking. The studio may have gone for it in this case, because tagging along with Transformers would have guaranteed grosses for Die Hard that it couldn't have generated with any other picture. I'd even be willing to speculate that Die Hard "grossed" better in its second week with Transformers than it did in its own first week as the headliner at that theatre.
Single screen theatres frequently have to be more creative about their double feature booking, since they don't usually have the holdover capabilities that a multi would have. In order to keep the normal clientele happy, they usually have to turn their pictures over faster, resulting in higher overall percentages for the season. The smaller drive-ins we had were lucky to get two weeks out of a new film, much less the 3 or 4 that the studios would prefer. Under those conditions, your customers would only have one new opportunity to patronize you each month... not such a good deal for a Summertime business.
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 11-29-2007 10:57 PM
Hope that works out for you, Monte. Sounds like you've been part of that operation for a long time.
We get sneakers from time to time. Over the long haul, Cindy (who manages our boxoffices) and our field staff have developed a sort of radar for this kind of thing... nervous singles, trunks that ride too low, stuff like that. It's not a major part of our lives, but it is an ingredient of the whole drive-in picture. Basically, everything that ever happened at a drive-in is still going on, though the balance is probably different! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
We found that making an announcement when the lights to up at credits, stating that cars may not be moved between fields, has reduced that particular problem by at least 90%. That's on a recording our system now plays on each screen as soon as their light cues hit. We mix that in with exit directions, thanks for attending, second features coming up after a short intermission... etc.
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Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 11-30-2007 03:38 AM
Thx, Jack - definitely have to wait and see, but not holding my breath, obviously. Doesn't work out, it was meant to be.
Yet, started in this "ozoner" as a projectionist, never started in the yard, box or concession, yet, have performed work in all departments, including yard cleanup during the day.
When I was off, sometimes I would volunteer to do yardboy work, checking speakers before opening, help park cars, jot down license plates where the cars were parked at, so if a speaker was cut off the line (we didn't have the REED speakers with the steel cable within the audio cable, ours was the the old round 8inch can type and no security cable within..), we had a good success rate of getting that speaker back with help from the sheriff dept.
I was like your boxlady Jack, when I would do box...it was easy to notice those oddities in vehicles where I would radio back in the building for the yardboy to check out this particular vehicle and amazing how the percentage rate of catching sneak-in was very high with our 'spy' system.
Our big thing was the exit side of the yard where we had the one way spiked treadles and how many sneak-ins would lose tires do to those spiked treadles - esp with a well-lit warning sign of the treadle usage.
Then during intermission, we had quite the setup for yard flood lights that did a very good job of lighting the yard so that everyone was seen and could be kept track of..
Yes, I had fun working in a Drive-In and would recommend those who've never worked in one to give it a try ... a whole new world to be in.
-Monte
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