Anyone go to SHOWEAST? Was it Good? Bad? Any comments about it?

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SHOWEAST 2002> October 09-12,2002

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I spent Wednesday morning at Sea World. I have wanted to go there for quite a while. While the convention was going to have an event they’re later in the evening, I know I wanted to see it all. In reading about all of the parks, I surmised that Sea World was the most adult of the parks. I arrived at 9 in the morning and there were about 60 people waiting to get in to the park. We were let in and then at 9 they played the Star Spangled Banner and we were off. I pet the sea rays, fed the dolphins, looked at the Manatees engaging in my favorite sport of lying around and eating. I saw the Dolphin and Spudo-Orca show. I rode the Kraken roller coaster said to be the largest and fastest in Orlando. I saw the sharks and the Shamu show. I even saw Klondike and Snow the polar bear cubs from Denver. Although, I liked Sea World generally, I came away disappointed that they missed so many opportunities to educate the public about these animals. I was in a position of knowing more than they were telling. That shouldn’t have happened. Their thrust is entertainment, not education. I think it should be both in equal measures.

I ended up walking back to the hotel from Sea World because the busses don’t head back until 5 PM. I was exhausted but I took a shower and started to walk to the convention. This is when Mike (bigscreenbiz) rescued me. As a result, I missed the seminar on Digital Cinema: Where does the industry stand today? I’m sure there will be an article in Box Office to fill us in. We also missed the opening dinner, but we made up for it later.

We went to the Indie Night at the movies where they were showing “Sidewalks of New York”, “The Business of Strangers” and “The Devil’s Backbone.” My bookers had said that I should see “The Business of Strangers” so I did and I dragged Mike to it. It plays like some student film about acting. I didn’t much like it, but we have already booked it here at the Rialto.

We skipped breakfast on Thursday and went to the seminar about “In-Theatre Customer Service.” We wish we hadn’t. As independent theatre owners we understand customer service instinctively. What this seminar was about was large corporate theatre chains beating customer service platitudes in to their ignorant staffs. Since I used to work for one of these companies and I knew their corporate trainer who was giving the talk, I had heard all of this before.

We then went to see the screening of “Crush” with Andie McDowell. It is one of those weeper romance movies that movies that women like. The film was full of scenes of the English countryside. This was notable because the film was presented in DLP Digital Cinema. I thought it looked good, but others I talked to told me that the greens were over saturated.

Then I had lunch where we heard from Jack Valenti (MPAA) and John Fithian (NATO). They both had predictable things to say. But we also heard from ACNielsen EDI with the results of their latest phone survey of theatregoers. They are still going, they still get most of their information from the newspaper, they don’t buy tickets on the web and boys want to see action and girls like horror of all things.

Then the Trade Show opened, where I met many of my old friends from around the industry.

Dinner was the “Lord of the Rings” Dinner with New Line Cinema and Fine Line. We then went to a screening of “I am Sam” I got engaged with this film and I was surprised when it ended. I think Sean Penn lost himself in the role and the little girl is the cutest thing on the planet. We also saw twenty minutes from “Lord of the Rings” and it blew the room away, myself included.

Friday again I skipped the breakfast and went straight to the screening at 10 AM. The screening was Alexander Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” It was good, not great and should get a respectable run at the local plex. This was our first non-arty film of the convention.

We had lunch on the trade show floor and did the trade show some more. I had met my bookers at the film so I talked with them some. I spoke to Steve Guttag, Lonny Jennings of Dolby, Mesbersmith architects, my old boss Bruce, and all the people from Boston Light and Sound.

The dinner was by Kodak and we all got film and cameras. The dinner also presided “Ocean’s Eleven” Our dinner guests included Matt Damon and George Cloony. They were funny.

“Ocean’s Eleven” was very good and perhaps the most enjoyable film at the convention. Even so, some people didn’t like it because it is a bit fantastic. After all, it is a movie! George Cloony is a bit like movie stars of the fifties he has style. The film was presented digitally and looked good for it.

Saturday I again missed breakfast and went to the screening of “Kate and Leopold.” This was a work print presented digitally and it looked good. It is a romantic comedy and we always need those. Hell the movie even stresses manners. This is one of three Christmas films from Miramax.

We had lunch at the House of Blues and had to imagine what it would be like with a nice band as there wasn’t any music.

We went straight in to the next film, which is “40 days and 40 nights” which is a sex comedy. It is about a young man in San Francisco trying to go 40 days and 40 nights without sex. It is a little implausible because I can do it and nobody notices. One fellow liked the film but thought it would be hard to book at his theatre because the only people he could see coming to it were the 15 year olds. This film was so full of boobs that I thought the best job on the set was the person auditioning boobs.

The final banquet dinner was where everybody wore suites. I wore a short sleeve gray shirt. The theme was Harry Potter and everybody was in to it. Apparently Harry Potter will save the western world, as we know it or at least the cinema industry.

At the dinner I met Perry Sun of Widescreen Review, Maria of Cinemark and Hank Lightstone, late of UA. We all repaired to the sports bar after dinner for drinks.

I had no earthly reason to attend Show East, but it beat a slow week at my theatre. I had fun talking to those I know in the cinema industry. I met a few new people who I am sure will figure in to my cinema life in the future. Some people from my past are now more knowledgeable about what I am engaged in now.

My flights home went as planned without any hitches. My planes were packed just like the good old days. United now doesn’t feed you on segments of 3 hours or less, so pack a sandwich.

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