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Author Topic: Properly Staffing A Theater Carl Martin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1424 From: Oakland, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-13-2003 03:16 AM                        let's be generous (to the staff) and say that adding an employee per shift costs $40. if by adding that one employee you can get 5 more people to see a movie that shift (and come back another day, because they didn't have to wait as long in line or feel slighted by harried workers), then it's worth it. and that's only from pure bottom-line thinking. if excellence is your objective, then the bottom line will follow. well, i like to think so anyways. carl  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-13-2003 09:24 AM                     When I worked for Pacific Theatres at their Picwood Theatre in West Los Angeles. This was a single screen, 950 seat theatre. During the engagement of "ET" and a few other engagements we would staff the theatre with as many as 16 staff, 2 assts., 1 manager and a projectionist during a shift. The brakedown for the weekend/weekday/slow staffing was: Concession----6/3/1 Box Office----2/1/1 Door Person---1/1/1 Line Control--3/1/0 Parking Lot---2/1/0 Usher---------2/1 Asst.Manager--2/1/1 Manager-------1 Projectionist-1/1/1 For Busy Weekends the staff was 20 people. For Weekdays and special screenings the staff was 10 people. For Slow periods of time during the week the staff was 5 people. The Manager and Asst's worked a 5 day week. The Parking Lot person was to watch and make sure no one parked in the wrong spaces that belonged to the neighboring businesses. At the time Pacific Theatres wanted to staff the theatre this way. Pacific Theatres staffed the Cinerama Dome, Hollywood Pacific the same way during this era. For a single screen this will never happen again. Pacfic Theatres People Pleasing People  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 08-13-2003 09:41 AM                        quote: People Pleasing People Something too often forgotten in some of today's theatres. Added to "Film Done Right", a winning combination.  |  IP: Logged Richard C. Wolfe Master Film Handler Posts: 250 From: Northampton, PA, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-13-2003 10:15 AM                        It looks as though I am over staffing my theatre as well. But I think not. I am a single screen and I usually use 5 people on weekends all year round, 4 people weekdays during the summer or over any school holiday periods, and 3 people during weekdays during the school periods. My weekend staff is make up of a cashier, ticket taker, two concession salespeople, and myself as manager/projectionist. On the weekdays I take tickets myself as well, amd during the school season on weeknights there is only 1 person in the concession stand. I can't see how I could do with less. Even on the slow weeknights during the school year I usually get between 50 and 100 people per show, and being a single they are all coming in at the same time. On weekends 150 to 300 per show is to be expected and sometimes more, and I can't imagine serving those people with less of a staff. It gets backed up at the concession stand now as it is. I just find it difficult to comprehend that a large multiplex would ever run with less then 5 people.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-13-2003 10:22 AM                     The staffs at the Cinerama Dome and Hollywood Pacific Theatres had great loyal staffs. Some of them worked at those theatres for over 5 years and longer. When I was assigned to the Hollywood Pacific during it's last year. I watched the staff all around the theatre, helping patrons. This was Theatre Done Right . They were older staff members, but they gave better service then the kids working over at the Chinese Theatre down the street and other first run houses in the area. When I was just a patron, I enjoyed going to the Hollywood Pacific and the Dome. Because I knew I was going to get GOOD SERVICE and a GOOD SHOW. OK , the Hollywood Pacific was not the best theatre on Hollywood Blvd.. But during its day it was a Good showcase house. I hate going to the movies here in NYC, because the services SUCKS at many of the theatres. Remember GOOD SERVICE, repeat business  |  IP: Logged Tim Turner Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Chula Vista, CA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-13-2003 10:40 AM                     I remember when I worked for another company, there was about a month where payroll was cut down, and only 3 people were scheduled to run the 10 screen theater. 2 managers and 1 projectionist only. 1 Manager was in the box office and the other was in concessions, and the projectionist (I) ran the booth and cleaned theaters and bathrooms. As well as sometimes run for the cashier in concessions, or briefly work in the box office if the manager in there needed to take a phone call. I was happy that that I was at least getting hours in the week, and I went through all that without complaints. And if you are going have a staff as small as that, thats the kind of people you need. People who don't complain, they know things need to be done and understand the circumtances, and just do the work the best way they can. But it can be done! Though I don't know what good it would do, since that company closed done anyway. The booth manager once told me he had a similar experience at another theater. In his case, it was just the GM and himself! And the place still closed!  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 08-13-2003 10:59 AM                        quote: The booth manager once told me he had a similar experience at another theater. In his case, it was just the GM and himself! And the place still closed! I think there is a lesson to be learned there. Yes, theatres need to control costs, including payroll. But not at the expense of being able to attract and keep good employees who provide the service and presentation quality the audience expects and DESERVES.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 08-13-2003 11:52 AM                     I remember visiting an old theatre once, I think it was what was the 'Astoria', now the 'Academy', a rock music venue, in Brixton. It was built mainly for film, but with some live shows. In an office there were some old ledgers, and the staffing in those dats, late '20s-early '30s, was incredible. There were managers, projectionists, electricians, box office people, catering staff, stokers, seamstresses, page boys cleaners, stage door keeper, lamp operators, carpenters, the list went on and on, I think there were over a hunderd people on the staff. an any one time there were always at least two projectionists plus a rewind boy on duty.  |  IP: Logged R. Andrew Diercks Expert Film Handler Posts: 232 From: Marion, Iowa (In the middle of everywhere) Registered: May 2003 posted 08-13-2003 01:19 PM                     I run minimum 3 staff in my 5 screen (including myself). Weekends I run about 4-5. 2-3 concession, 1 box, 1 projection. Really slow times I probably could run with 2 barring any problems, but I will not sacrifice customer service EVER! It's not that expensive to have a third person just to run a smooth night. When things go well nobody notices, when things go wrong everyone does. It's not worth the risk.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-13-2003 02:34 PM                     Today my 5-plex is being run with 3 people. Me as manager/operator, Elizabeth in box and Pat in concessions. I believe during the slow period the 12-plex I worked at started with 5-poeple in the morning. 1-box, 1-ticket taker/usher, 1-concessions, 1-manager & 1-projectionist.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-13-2003 05:20 PM                        Customer service and safety are the two most important things that I consider. (There are SOOO many things that fall in those two catagories). Bottom line: You should be able to run a sucessful operation if everything is perfectly balanced. There are ways to have happy employees work for you (for a decent wage)and not blow the payroll budget for the week (or month). A Movie theatre is either SUCESSFUL or UNSUCESSFUL - PERIOD. I can walk into ANY theatre across the country and tell right away whether the theatre is a viable business in that community. The biggest problem is - these superhuge theatre corporations can operate unsuccessful theatres with unhappy employees for LONG periods of time - before they close them and let all those people go. It is truly sad.....  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 08-14-2003 04:47 AM                     As a strict moviegoer who has never managed a theater, i could be wrong in my assumptions. But the way I see it, one of the biggest obstacles to putting your stamp on the business, and be willing to spend a little more money in creating an environment that could entice more moviegoers,either through better projection, customer service, or whatever, is the attitude of distributors and studios to maximize their short term profit at the expense of any long term benefits. Instead of taking tips from the NFL, and try to partner with the theaters in bringing more patrons to the theaters, they just seem obsessed with their cut of the grosses. I read about how distributors take a high percentage of the net (I am guessing they give theaters some kind of allowance for expenses). But i doubt this allowance differs much from a super crappy theater to a great theater. The way i see it distributors and studios act more like MLB and the NHL than the NFL where everyone profits. It doesn't seem to bother them that their future earnings are jeapordized whenever a theater offers the moviegoers a substandard experience compared to ther pique at a theater that doesn't drive people to DVD rentals but offers a few more free passes. The NHL nearly killed itself in the 80s when it sold the TV rights to a small time cable network because ESPN probably didn't offer as much. As far as staffing, maybe self serve credit card ticketselling will become as common as credit card gas purchases at the gas stations. Maybe more concessions could be placed in vending machines to help out during overcrowded times. Maybe concessions could also be segregated in big multiplexes by cash and credit limiting the theft worries only at the cash counters.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-15-2003 08:34 AM                        Gerard makes a good point about customer safety. Also important is the safety of the employees; in a small-town theatre in a safe area, it's probably OK to have only one person in the lobby after the late show starts, but in larger areas where crime rates are higher (and cash on hand is probably greater), I can't imagine having fewer than two employees in the lobby/ticket booth area at all times. In the event of a problem (technical or otherwise), it's important to have one person (manager or assistant) to go into the auditorium and explain the situation to the customers, while leaving someone else in the lobby. Communication is also important--the box office, concession stand, manager's office, and booth should all have phones, walkie talkies, buzzers, or some other means of communication in the event of a problem. Even in smaller theatres, I think it's important to have a phone in the booth so that the projectionist can call for help if there are problems in the public areas of the building.  |  IP: Logged Brent Mahaney Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA Registered: Dec 2001 posted 08-15-2003 06:41 PM                    To put my situation in perspective, consider the fact that the general manager and two janitors are considered a payroll expense rather than an operating expense. Furthermore, consider the fact that for several weekends in a row, our attendance varied between 4000 and 7000 and our payroll went as low as 3.8% and never higher than 5%. Trust me, our managers know what work is, and I'll happily put our work ethic up against any theater staff in this country. But when you run a payroll that low, you are only hurting the company in the long run. It is detrimental in the sense that when you make cuts, you are truly cutting your ability to please the customers. PERIOD. That should be your number one concern, shouldn't it? ESPECIALLY given that we are in a competitive market where we are splitting product!! If you have three concessionists (including a manager) for a 450 person walk-in, something is wrong. You save payroll, but do you honestly think people are going to stand in line and wait for any longer than ten minutes or so? So those people get angry and don't buy and you lose sales. And guess what? That off-sets what you saved on payroll because now your per cap is significantly lower...not to mention the fact that your building cannot possibly be as clean as it should be. I understand that certain managers have bonuses that are contingent upon low payroll, and all they care about is their money. Do you think they really care about customers? Some do, most don't. But if you don't have happy customers, you eventually won't have business. You'll have even more people who will wait for the movies to hit DVD. I'm all for keeping costs low, but use some common sense.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 08-15-2003 10:27 PM                        Brent: You just changed situations. First, you were talking about 125-150 people for 3 rounds of shows (at most a 50-person walk-in). Now, you're talking about a 450-person walk-in w/ 3 concessionists. Also, I hate the term "walk-in" because my round is spread from 7:00 - 8:35 ... where some people have their round scheduled from 7:00 - 7:15, thereby having to serve more people in less time. I prefer to look at payroll on a CPC (cost per customer) basis, where your payroll is divided by your attendance (not including salaried employees/janitors). Using the CPC ... you can see how the increased payroll affects the Per Capita concession income, and correlate the two.  |  IP: Logged

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