Bob, you said a mouthful for sure. As I read the posts here in film-tech I often think that many of the people that hang out here aren't aware that we are in the entertainment business. New technology is great, but is not the all encompassing end in itself. I would hate to see the industry stagnate, but to think that the moviegoing public goes primarily because of that technology I believe is a mistake.

People go to be entertained. That means a good story along with good production values, and excellent presention with some showmanship thrown in. And showmanship is not presenting the preshow slides and 6 to 10 trailers all in frame and in focus. It's the way the houselights are dimmed through multiple color changes with the curtain opening to reveal the theatre logo without showing any blank white screen. It's running the cartoon and then the trailers with the appropriate film daters so the public knows which picture is next and what day it's opening. Frank is so correct... people love cartoons. I run a cartoon as often as I can before my feature followed by the old "lets go to the lobby" snipe. The audience often sings along with it, and they absolutely love the cartoons. When I have a show that goes over 2 hours I don't run a cartoon, and people often ask me... why no cartoon tonight?

Some here have said in the past that any theatre not equipped with stereo sound doesn't deserve to be open any longer. I love stereo sound, but I can still enjoy a movie without it, and I know many people who agree. I have been in many theatres where the stereo wasn't working properly and found that much worse then not having it. As a matter of fact if there isn't any, I don't even miss it.

Are you sure you're not a lot older than that picture? You sound like an "old showman" to me. At least you've got a handle on what exhibition is all about (now if others in your generation would only get a clue). Good luck and good fortune friend.

I've been reading your posts for the past month since you came aboard and have thought several times that we have a lot in common.

I don't think it's my (or our)generation that needs to get a clue. We've done it. It's the several generations that have come after us that never had the opportunity to learn from the old master showman. I don't think we can really blame them as they don't know any other way. We were, or at least I was, very lucky to have come into the business at a time when the true showman managers of the great movie palaces were still around. I had the pleasure to work with and learn from a number of great showman in several magnificent 1800 to 3000 seat downtown theatres. Who do the young entrants into the industry today have to learn from? They must learn from the people that brought about the multiplexing of American through the 70s and 80s which was the low point in theatre design and management. The theatres that emerged during the 2nd half of the 90s through today are a vast improvement over what was created the two previous decades, but the attitude in management proceedures and lack of concern about projection still leave many of these theatres sorely lacking when it comes to patron satisfaction. Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel,(who?) one of Americas greatest showman use to say... "Don't give people what they want, give them something better". Todays management seem to believe the following... don't give people anything more then you absolutely need to.

There are no schools that teach theatre management or history that I know of, and most of the old showman are gone. Therefore it's impossible for these new young people to learn the basics of showmanship 101. Well not exactly, but they have to want to do the reseach to learn. The information IS out there. I don't mean to suggest that todays new theatre complexes must be run exactly like the movie palaces of old, but that knowing the history of our industry, is the basis to understanding what our industry is all about, where it came from, and how it got to where we are today?
Having a full understanding of our past helps us in the present, and to prepare for the future. I would suggest that any one going into or who is relatively new to our business (been in it under 10 years)should find a copy of Ben Halls 1961 book "The Best Remaining Seats". It could very well be considered the bible of the history of the theatre business. Also go to the library or bookstore and get copies of the biographies of some of the great showman such as Sid Grauman, Marcus Loew, William Fox, Balaban & Katz, and of course Roxy Rothafel. Over the years numerous books on theatre management have been published. I have some from 1910, 1927, 1939 and so on. I think I have at least one for every decade through the early 90s. Even though many things have changed, the basics of showmanship remain the same, but are not carried out to their fullest today. To you young people in the business today, I challenge you to seek the knowledge and desire to carry on our business to new heights. There is so much more that was done in the past, and can be done today and in the future, to improve the theatre going experience.

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Also, Miramax is re-releasing The Importance of Being Earnest and putting Tadpole into megaplexes to get rid of the stench left by Full Frontal. Sony has apparently canceled that planned MIIB/Spider-Man double-up.

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If it's a shared screen (two movies on one screen at different times) then you report and pay each title separately.

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In the same vein, two of the producers of ALIEN were on one of the talks and they were asked how did it feel to have such a phenominal hit. They looked at each other and feigned surprise. "Is it a hit?" they asked. The host chided them saying "What do you mean, "is it a hit, of course it's a hit." One said, well, yah, we THINK it's a hit because we drive by the National Theatre on Broadway and see their last show is a 3am show and at 3am there are lines around the block, so we get all excited and the next morning call Fox and ask how good we are doing, they tell us, 'no, no, it's bringing in the crowds but it's not making all that much money.'" "How could this be?," we ask ourselves and then we find out that no matter what the gross income from the film is, it seems that Fox's marketing and distribution cost to us always just about match the ticket sales income."

It's called creative accounting -- more than likely some of those execs wound up working for Enron.