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Topic: Ridiculous customer/show scheduling

Tom Kroening
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 214
From: Janesville, WI USA
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 10-05-2000 06:58 PM

What you can do is wind the extra film on the ring, collapse the ring and sink the trailers back in. Then expand the ring as far as it will go.. sometimes you get lucky and it clicks, but usually not. Its not a great practice, but sometimes it has to be done (like when someone threads a movie by mistake). You should not be starting a movie last set on thursday night unless you intend to play through it all. Although the above method works (usually), as you are winding the film the ring will slowly shrink and the film will start pulling tight from the center, causing little scratches everywhere.

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Rick Fowler
Film Handler

Posts: 17
From: Richmond, VA, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-08-2000 02:10 PM

well let's see you start every show that is scheduled yes if noone shows turn off the lamp (to conserve electricity saw it mentioned that the meter still runs) here's a novel approach if you know you have a dog and it's gonna leave that thursday don't schedule a late show. make it's last show at the 7-8 oclock set it'll be done before 10 and tear it down. also move your prints so your dog ends in the house your new movie starts in on friday I doubt anyone is having sellouts on thursday 10pm shows. so when that dog is done at 10pm you can screen your new movie early and tear down the old and be out by 12-1am. that's assuming everyone screens thier movies before putting them on screen for the public like you should. the dropping the center back in should only be used in an emergency like an extended power outage or starting the wrong movie. that's the way I see it. this way you avoid the customer complaints at least the legitimate ones those that show up late of course apologize but you have a scheduled time and it was started on time. that leaves them very little to argue about and you should never argue with a customer. so in essence do your job your a theater manager, your job is to show movies so show the movie!

------------------
Regal Booth Certifier

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 11-15-2000 10:52 AM

Ok I have heard enough of "The customer is always right" crap. It was never true and never will be. This phrase came about a couple of decades ago by groups fighting for consumer rights. This originally dealt with consumer safety and truth in advertising. It was NEVER intended for customers to assume that just because they graced your business with thier presence, that they are entitled to order you to start licking thier bums!

In reality, the customer only assumes they are correct, even though they rarely are. They must be treated as if they are, but really are not. In fact, you must patronize them and pretend you are an idiot to placate them.

There was a time when if you showed up late, you were not admitted into the theater. It was considered to be rude to assume you could just show up whenever the hell you wanted. Now we have by virtue of massive multiple prints and megaplexes and overscheduling told the masses that it is ok to be lazy slobs and just show up without checking the paper for showtimes, and its ok to be a rude son of a bitch and show up in the movie, late, start talking as if it were the previews, make people move for you, and act like a total ass!

It is time to take our industry back to when the number of shows and prints were limited, and if you were late, YOU DONT GET IN!!! ASS!!

Customers are like children, they want structure and will take it if you are willing and daring to give it. Most customers prefer a dose of "FU" every now and then anyway. You know that when they are told to go away because they are late, they will eventually come back, and on time, just to be part of the crowd that showed up on time.

I am now watching a TV ad for Chuck A Rama, an all you can eat slop house. This couple is excited to go there, and get into theier POS ford truck. I think this says it all.

Dave

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 11-15-2000 04:00 PM

You know the difference Dave, VIDEO. Back then, if a customer didn't see a movie in the theatre, they didn't see it. Nowadays, its on HBO, Showtime, Network TV, DVD, re-release, VHS.

They don't have to come to our theatres anymore. If you turn them away like that, you know where they'll go? The corner blockbuster.

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Aldo Baez
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: USA
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 04-01-2001 05:34 PM

At my theatre, we would always start the movie maybe 6 or 7 minutes earlier, that way when the showtime came around, the movie would be starting since the trailers already played. Saves just a few minutes. Sometimes we never did start them and there really hasn't been any problems, but did anyone get that memo from Disney about some thing that theatres weren't playing all the shows for some reason or another, and that if future theatres are caught not showing a showtime they won't be able to run Atlantis? My manager freaked and ever since then we have started every movie no matter what.

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Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-02-2001 12:52 PM

At my current job, I start every movie. I usually get told by box office staff if something is a no-show, but just run it anyway.

At one of my previous places with no platters, the movie would usually be run on 6000' spools. If there were no sales, I wouldn't thread the second projector. If there still wasn't anyone by the time the changeover was due, I wouldn't make the changeover and rewound that reel, and that was that. I miss changeovers. (Oops! I don't want to start another Guttag vs. Miller!!!). But seriously, if I'm running 5 shows a day of 'Miss Congeniality' or what have you, platters are the way to go.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 04-02-2001 04:31 PM

I always enjoyed the debates. I think Steve had fun with them too. Neither of us were actually angry at each other.

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 01-22-2002 05:43 PM

Bumping this back up thanks to the references in a different thread about "Mandatory Showtimes".

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 01-23-2002 03:55 PM

Mike S, Dustin: At my nearest multiplex (Reading Cinemas, Manville NJ) the 7 PM round is spread out. Here's that round for this weekend:

6:00 Black Hawk Down (print 1), Kung Pow! Enter the Fist
6:20 A Beautiful Mind
6:30 The Count of Monte Cristo
6:45 Brotherhood of the Wolf, Snow Dogs
7:00 Black Hawk Down (print 2), The Lord of the Rings
7:15 I Am Sam
7:30 The Mothman Prophecies, Orange County
7:50 A Walk to Remember
8:00 Kung Pow! Enter the Fist

Yes, Kung Pow! gets listed twice -- it only runs 81 minutes.

Last show starts 10:30 (The Lord of the Rings).

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 01-23-2002 06:38 PM

What is the Matinee schedule?

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Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 01-23-2002 07:07 PM

First round for that day goes:

12:00 Black Hawk Down (print 1), Kung Pow! Enter the Fist,
The Lord of the Rings, The Mothman Prophecies, Snow Dogs
12:20 A Beautiful Mind, A Walk to Remember
12:30 The Count of Monte Cristo
12:45 Brotherhood of the Wolf
1:00 Black Hawk Down (print 2)
1:15 I Am Sam
1:30 Orange County

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Michael Brown
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1522
From: Bradford, England
Registered: May 2001

posted 02-15-2003 03:41 PM

quote:
Ian on page 1 wrote:
I was raised to respect punctuality. If I wasn't on time there was hell to pay.
Last night was my day off, in theory. One of our employees was sick so I came in to close the theatre.
Our schedule is such that all our films save one get out by 10:45 PM. The other film gets out at 11:30 PM. It has the last start time at 9:15 PM. 9:15 came and went without a ticket sold.

You all have had this happen to you.

9:25 two ladies come in and ask for tickets to the show that I am not running. I tell them that it is cancled and please come again tomorrow. They start whining and saying that they drove here from Petaluma which is 25 miles away. I relent and start the show at 9:30. This means that I am here one more hour on my day off.

Why is it that people can be on time for the train, plane and symphony but they are always 5 to 10 minutes late for a film?

I have to go. My staff is due here in one minute.

I went to see a movie today. I'm at the box office at about 12:55. I ask for the ticket but fail to mention what time I want to see the film. (there is a 12:35 show and a 1:05 show). Guess which ticket he gave me? [Roll Eyes]

I guess they expect people to show up late.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 02-15-2003 05:23 PM

If the trailers have already played, and you want to break down the print without damaging it, you can also use an expanding ring. We have one of those which we can also use when we have to take a film from the platter after the ring has been taken out.

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Gracia L. Babbidge
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 709
From: Bowdoin, Maine
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 02-16-2003 01:46 AM

This week I get to deal with an *interesting* show schedule for the evenings:
7:00 #8
7:00 #10
7:05 #4
7:05 #5
7:10 #2
7:15 #1
7:15 #3
7:20 #9
7:30 #6
7:35 #7
~
8:45 #8
~
9:20 #1
9:25 #5
9:25 #10
9:35 #2
9:35 #3
9:40 #4
9:40 #9
9:45 #6

The arrangement of my machines is something like a candy cane - #2 & #3 are almost back to back, and #1 & #4 are almost back to back. Two start buttons furthest from each other are #2 & #10, with a good 215' (give or take a few feet) between them!

But this schedule is hell on the floor staff!
Virtually all of the customers show up almost all at once. ..Or so it seems with the lengths of the lines I glimpsed when I ducked downstairs to take a peek the other night! [Eek!]

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Scott Norwood
Film God

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

posted 02-16-2003 09:57 AM

On Friday at a certain 5-plex, we had three shows which all started at 7:20. The other two started at 7:00 and 7:10. This was not a problem for me (the booth has timers), but the floor staff must have had an "interesting" evening.

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