Film-Tech Cinema Systems
  Home     Products     Store     Forum     Warehouse     Contact Us    
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » No Marquee Letters Regal In Santa Cruz CA (Page 1)

 
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2   
Author Topic: No Marquee Letters Regal In Santa Cruz CA
Terry Monohan
Master Film Handler

Posts: 379
From: San Francisco CA USA
Registered: May 2014

- posted 12-03-2016 10:09 AM      Profile for Terry Monohan   Email Terry Monohan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Seems the new manager'Kyle'at the Regal 9 Cinema in Santa Cruz CA as of a few weeks ago won't put up plastic letters what they are showing on their giant neon marquee anymore. Trying to save labor money and not have someone go up a lift once a week to show the people on the street what Regal is showing. How sad they don't even advertise in the local paper and the free paper 'Good Times' list all theatres in Santa Cruz for free but Regal does not even (most weeks) send them the show times in time for print. Down the street Landmark's Del Mar Theatre is proud to change out their plastic letters each week on their neon marque. 'Kyle' is new and he thinks It is a safety thing? Why after this former Signature SC cinema is he not doing the advertising this huge marquee demands? They just want to save the expense and give the marquee person something else to do like sell popcorn. Most cinemas these days don't bother with a old type of change out letter neon plastic marquee, but when you have one please use It!!! I took photos and will send to the main office of Regal Theatres. They just now have up 'Welcome To Regal Theatres' in the middle so the whole far right and left sides are blank white tube light. I guess Regal in Santa Cruz does not want the public to know what they are showing because of the new guy 'Kyle'and his lack of showmanship or advertising.

 |  IP: Logged
Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010

- posted 12-03-2016 05:23 PM      Profile for Buck Wilson   Email Buck Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If it really has anything to do with payroll, blame Regal, not Kyle. Trust me.

Our theater has giant 12'x20' vinyl posters co-oped from the studios and Regal stopped that too when they took over. Now they just have generic "buy gift cards" "get rewards cards" bull crap that are ever fading in the western sun exposure.

Regal is not good.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-03-2016 08:35 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Terry Monohan
'Kyle' is new and he thinks It is a safety thing?
Ha ha ha! That's pretty funny. Here at the good old Roxy we don't have a "lift," we have a 35 year old wood stepladder which I (or one of my employees) will haul up the sidewalk from the back door of the theater and risk life and limb climbing up and down in subzero weather to change our ancient fiberglass (and some masonite) letters, and yes we did spell out the entirety of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," thankyouverymuch.

 |  IP: Logged
Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-03-2016 09:22 PM      Profile for Scott Norwood   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Norwood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mike--you don't have one of those pole things for changing letters?

What is a "lift," as referred to in the original post? A Genie lift? Something else?

 |  IP: Logged
Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

- posted 12-03-2016 10:46 PM      Profile for Frank Cox   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Cox   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That's one of the reasons why I never got an outside sign here when I set up my theatre. Just not into dragging my carcass out into -50 weather at midnight so I can stand on a ladder and chip ice out of the tracks on a marquee.

 |  IP: Logged
Gary Meyer
Film Handler

Posts: 20
From: Berkeley, CA/ USA
Registered: Dec 2004

- posted 12-03-2016 11:23 PM      Profile for Gary Meyer   Author's Homepage   Email Gary Meyer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
In December 2014 The Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley got hit by OSHA which said changing the marquee was an employee safety issue and they could no longer change them unless they got a different marquee or hired a cherry picker. That marquee stayed the same (showing BOYHOOD, National Gallery,etc) until this late summer when they finally were able to put up a generic message. People thought they were closed.

I hope the head office gets on his case and the most valuable real estate a cinema has gets back to doing its job.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-03-2016 11:40 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Scott Norwood
Mike--you don't have one of those pole things for changing letters?
No - I don't know if it's because the marquee being built around 1932 pre-dates those plastic letters or what, but we have letters that are cut out of either masonite or fiberglass, so one of those pole changers wouldn't work. I should try the plastic ones out, I guess...but I think using the pole would take just as long anyway. Might even take longer when it's super cold outside.

Originally the marquee had wood letters that would clip onto stiff wires that ran across the readerboards, but the current letters just slide in behind the wires. I'm not sure when the current letters were put into service -- the oldest pictures we have of them are from the 1960s.

I've toyed with the idea of saving up the $$$ and getting an electronic sign built into the marquee but I'm sure it'd be prohibitively expensive, plus would probably look too modern on our building. (I'd rather buy a stage curtain than that anyway!)

 |  IP: Logged
Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

- posted 12-04-2016 05:44 AM      Profile for Jesse Skeen   Email Jesse Skeen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Most new theaters here don't have marquees; the one for the Cinedome (now the Century Greenback 16) was changed to a generic sign more than 10 years ago. You'd think they'd want people to know what they were showing; just another sign that showmanship is dead. (Oddly enough, the United Artists Market Square Cinema, possibly the worst-run theater in the area, has a very prominent marquee that's always visible on some of my regular routes. They seem to be running out of letters, but at least they still use it!)

 |  IP: Logged
Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

- posted 12-04-2016 11:01 AM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
No marquees: the theory is that we play all movies so come on inside and select one or buy popcorn or play on the games. Just leave some money on the way out.

 |  IP: Logged
Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-04-2016 01:17 PM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Movie Theatre Roulette!

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-05-2016 11:14 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Louis Bornwasser
the theory is that we play all movies so come on inside and select one
There is validity to that theory. The question is, how many people driving by would see a title on a marquee and say, "Hey! Let's go see that movie!" as opposed to making the decision to see a movie before they leave the house. I'm sure there have been studies that show 95% of people head to the theater already believing the movie they want to see is playing there.

We would probably not see a huge drop in grosses here if I just put our website URL on the marquee and left it there, but that would just not look right (or be right).

 |  IP: Logged
Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-05-2016 11:47 AM      Profile for Martin McCaffery   Author's Homepage   Email Martin McCaffery   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We're a MonoPlex and we put the title of the movie on the marquee. The number of people who come to the box-office to ask what's playing is truly frightening.

On the other hand if we two different pictures playing the same day and put up one on each side of the marquee, confusion ensues.

You can't win, either way.

 |  IP: Logged
Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

- posted 12-05-2016 01:27 PM      Profile for Frank Cox   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Cox   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have four windows in the front of my theatre, exactly the same size as a movie poster. Funny coincidence, that [Smile]

I have Now Playing, Coming Next and Coming Soon at the top of the windows. It's almost comical to see all of the brake lights coming on when people are driving past the theatre.

 |  IP: Logged
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 12-05-2016 02:34 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Martin McCaffery
We're a MonoPlex and we put the title of the movie on the marquee. The number of people who come to the box-office to ask what's playing is truly frightening.
Same here - it's on the marquee AND in the main front door windows (onesheets). But we also have two display windows off to the sides, where I put the next two coming attractions. People (tourists) occasionally come in wanting tickets to those side movies, even though they're not on the marquee. Multiplex conditioning, I guess.

quote: Martin McCaffery
On the other hand if we two different pictures playing the same day and put up one on each side of the marquee, confusion ensues.
Yep, same here on that, too. The only time we ever do that is if there aren't enough of some letter or the other to spell out both titles on each side. With Fantastic Beasts, we only had enough "T's" to do the full title on one side... on the other side I left off the "and Where to Find Them." I still had a couple of people walk in looking confused and asking what was playing.

 |  IP: Logged
Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

- posted 12-05-2016 04:49 PM      Profile for Sam Graham   Author's Homepage   Email Sam Graham   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Buck Wilson
Our theater has giant 12'x20' vinyl posters co-oped from the studios and Regal stopped that too when they took over. Now they just have generic "buy gift cards" "get rewards cards" bull crap that are ever fading in the western sun exposure.
Those were pretty cool too.

This appears to be something they're getting away from everywhere. They replaced the old marquee letterboqrds at Village Square (Las Vegas) with similar generic banners a couple of years ago.

 |  IP: Logged


All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2   
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
- Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.