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Author Topic: The Opinionated Ticket Seller Michael Gonzalez Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 790 From: Grand Island , NE USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 09-15-2006 05:05 PM                     quote: Jack Ondracek BTW... It sounds like they're following a fairly strict interpretation of the studio master licenses, most of which specifically state that nobody gets to see their shows without paying admission during those first couple of weeks. Hypothetically, lets just say that there is a company out there that use to allow employee showings but then a manager decided to turn one of those shows into a kegger and then one of the underage employees got into an accident after having a few and after the lawsuit, said company decided not to allow employee showings ever again. Remember this is just hypothetical  |  IP: Logged Andy Muirhead Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Galashiels, Scotland Registered: Dec 2000 posted 09-15-2006 06:27 PM                     Maybe the master contracts in the US are different from the UK, but 'free list suspend' conditions are on a film by film basis. If a customer asks me whether a film is good or not, I will ALWAYS tell them fair and square. If I enjoyed it I'd say that I personally liked it, but you may not. If there were mass walkouts I'd tell them. I'd tell them if I had great feedback from a movie or bad feedback. The bottom line is I will never tell a customer a movie is good just to get them in the door. I'll tell them as much as I know and leave it up to the customer. Often a customer will ask if a movie is any good, then immediately say "actually, you have to say it's good". Well, no I don't actually.  |  IP: Logged Caleb Johnstone-Cowan Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 593 From: London, UK Registered: Mar 2006 posted 09-15-2006 07:28 PM                     "but 'free list suspend' conditions are on a film by film basis." Those things are stupid, should be left to individual cinemas to decide. We've taken staff out of sold-out shows so paying customers can come in, people involved were very understanding. I've been lucky that when working downstairs I was at a cinema that always had something decent on so could direct customers to that.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-15-2006 07:41 PM                     Let me preface my remarks by stating that I never have contact with actual customers in a box office setting, but when people outside of work ask me if a film is good, or why I have not watched a particular film my response is simply: "Do you go to your workplace on your days off?" That usually ends the discussion about movies and movie content right there.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-15-2006 09:10 PM                        People sometimes ask me if a movie is any good. If I liked it, I'll say so; if I didn't like it, I'll give an ambiguous answer, like (in the case of Wicker Man, for example) "Well, if you like Nicolas Cage you might like it." That way it puts the onus on them.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-17-2006 04:57 PM                    I just tell people that I haven't seen the movie. I keep my opinion to myself. I tend to like movies that others don't, and hate the movies that seen to win awards. To each their own, and its best left like that.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-20-2006 02:01 PM                        Our house or box office staff are NEVER to give any personal opinions about the shows, be they live or film. That avoids all of the negatives already cited. I don't want some usher who thinks any film made before 2005 is old, boring junk giving his opinion to patrons. If I or my other senior staff are asked, we give a general answer only. We are sub-run and we are picking the films specifically for our venue, so it is unlikely we would be running films that we hate. But even then, the rule of thumb is, only general comments and possibly a quick summation what the film is about and its genre (without any spoilers, of course.) We also run sneak previews and there we just say we have no idea, which is true because we haven't seen the film. The studios send sneak prints not more than an hour or so before showtime, usually with a security guy to sit with it in the booth. One guard who I was walking up to the booth, 5 flights --no elevator -- wouldn't let me take the cans from him; we normally put them on a wench that we use to hoists them up to the booth level so they can be pulled into the booth thru the followspot window. He explained quite seriously that he had to "stay with the print at all times" and evidently he was very contentious about it. He insisted on carrying both cans up the five flights. I would have helped him, but he was big and strapping and seemed to thrive on showing how macho he was, so I was happy to let him prove his tough he was. What was very enlightening was that as we climbed the stairs, him lugging two cans of a 7 reeler, he told me that the reason the cans had to be so heavy was to protect the DVDs. Yup...tough, but not bright.  |  IP: Logged Chad Souder Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 962 From: Waterloo, IA, USA Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-20-2006 03:29 PM                     But don't you think that when a customer asks an employee if they think a movie is good or not they kind of want to know their opinion? I regularly ask servers in a new-to-me restaurant what their favorite thing on the menu is and I want them to tell me the truth. If I don't like it, that's my fault for asking. I would rather have them be honest than give me some milk-toast answer that reeks of orders from higher up. I find it hard to believe that a customer asking for a pass because they did not enjoy a movie an employee said they liked occurs very often. I never recall hearing that complaint at my theatre. In these situations, simply explain that you don't offer refunds for not enjoying a movie they chose to watch. You don't always have to give in to a customer that obviously is just looking for a hand-out.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 09-20-2006 05:01 PM                        For over 37 years, I've run films, watched crowds respond, and formed opinions of my own. Yet, I found out the hard way that those observations and opinions didn't make me a good booker. Somehow, anything I thought would make a good choice... wasn't. There's no question that my taste in music doesn't match that of my younger staff. Thank goodness I can hide behind the nostalgia angle of a drive-in! Your staff has opinions that the general public has no good reason to be motivated by, one way or the other. "Beerfest" wasn't for me... neither was "Jackass" (or, I suspect, the new one coming up). However, I have staff that saw them and thought they were pretty good. I thought "Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" was hilarious. Half of my staff didn't get it. I always took the honest approach with questioning patrons. I'd tell them I try not to express my personal feelings about a film, because the customers usually have a "much more refined sense of quality than I seem to have". That sort of sucks up to the customer, while not necessarily giving them an answer that could come back to bite you. Maybe it's something like oysters, liver, limburger, zuchini, squid and gin. All that stuff would make me gag, yet not all feel that way. I doubt a restaurant owner would want me on the staff, expressing my opinions about that stuff.  |  IP: Logged Anslem Rayburn Master Film Handler Posts: 476 From: Yuma, AZ, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-20-2006 10:20 PM                     I never offer an opinion, but if someone asks me how a film is, I generally offer one of 3 reviews 1. I think it may be one of the best (or worst) films I've seen this year. I'm not sure what types of films you enjoy but if you liked blah blah blah you will probably like this one. 2. I enjoyed it, but it has gotten mixed reviews. It depends on what type of movies you enjoy. 3. I didn't care for it myself, but a lot of other people have said they enjoyed it. Most people appreciate and are shocked if I tell them I didn't like a movie, as they expect every business to lie, cheat, and steal to sell them something. I won't do it, and ownership feels the same way. I think we build a loyal base and great community relationship by being honest, with out bludgeoning them with the truth. There's a big difference between " I didn't care for it myself, but a lot of other people have said they enjoyed it." and "That movie sucks." Number 1 is reserved for regulars. We have several groups of people who are here 2 or 3 times almost every week, and have been coming here (and to the theater I worked at previously here in town) for years. I have known some of them for 8 or 9 years. I know what types of films they generally enjoy, and talk with them about movies at length when time allows. I feel comfortable telling them an honest opinion based on our discussions. Everyone of them has thanked me for the honesty, and then generally watch the movie anyway. Then they come out and tell me if they agreed or not. Also, at least here, customers dislike the "I don't know" or "I haven't seen it yet" line very much. Our staff is instructed to get a manager every single time the answer to a customer's question is "I don't know", movie reviews included.  |  IP: Logged Chad M Calpito Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Apr 2006 posted 09-21-2006 12:20 AM                        I've had customers ask me about particular movies, especially the ones that I haven't seen. I just give out a general response and let the customer form their own opinion about a movie. I even tell them what others thought of it, at least in general terms.  |  IP: Logged Frank Dubrois Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 896 From: Cleveland, OH Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-21-2006 12:50 AM                    quote: Chad Souder I regularly ask servers in a new-to-me restaurant what their favorite thing on the menu is Thats a different kind of question. Asking a movie ticket seller "which is the best movie here" is quite different than asking "is that movie any good?" You can like all the movies (or pretend to) and just select your favorite to share with the customer. In that way, your not telling anyone that any particular movie is bad. If you went to that new-to-you restaurant and asked "is the pizza any good here" how many times would you expect to hear a "Hell no, its horrible, try something else". It is possible to suggest a movie you liked without telling the customer that any other movie is bad.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 09-21-2006 06:28 AM                        If the customer in the initial example was sensible, the meagre opinion of a lowly ticket-seller shouldn't have had such a stark effect. My stance, however, has always been that when you buy a ticket to a movie, you're paying for the opportunity to view it, NOT for the guarantee to enjoy it. In this case, telling customers not to see it is horrible. Even if you KNOW they'll hate a film, they're not paying to like it, they're paying to SEE it. This view also applies toward post-viewing refunds. You paid to see the film, you saw (most of) the film; no refund. But then, I'm nowhere near the position to dictate that stuff.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 09-21-2006 10:24 AM                        quote: Brian Michael Weidemann This view also applies toward post-viewing refunds. You paid to see the film, you saw (most of) the film; no refund. But then, I'm nowhere near the position to dictate that stuff. That reminds me of back when one of the Star Wars pictures was being promoted; people would fill the seats, watch the preview, then go back out for a refund and leave.... and they got their money back! Do theatres still do that?  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-24-2006 03:17 AM                        I guess I can understand that in multiplex, asking theatre staff if they liked this or that title, or in the example of the resturaunt, asking the waiter if he/she liked this or that menu item is a lot different than in a single screen art house. In the former, the customer is asking because he's got a choice between selections and getting a truthful answer helps him make a choice; it's positive and yes, indeed the customer will appreciate the honesty. On the other hand, in an art house where we are playing a single title or we are presenting a single performer or concert, there is no choice -- I am running CITIZEN KANE -- it is irrelative and detrimental for an usher to offer his opinion that he thinks it is "like, this boring old film about some fat rich guy who has a thing for roses but it like really sucks because it's not even in color, man, so like you can't even see the red roses, which is like really stupid." If an usher or ticket cashier tells a patron he/she hated this movie, what's that patron to do....go home? If that were ever to happen (and it hasn't and it won't because we train our people well), believe me, so would the cashier be sent home....for good. One would assume that patrons come to an repetory/art house playing a single title because they either know the film or because they are regulars and know that we run quality titles and they trust us. On the occasion that they come out and tell us in no uncertain terms that they didn't like the film, we commisserate with them but ultimately as Jack rightly points out, the price of the ticket never guarantees that they great filmic experience, it just gets them into the theatre and to see the film expertly presented. If they really think the film is trash, tell it to the studio! Also in a multiplex operation it is understood that the place is not picking and choosing titles based on quality or even critical acclaim -- the theatre simply provides the blank screens upon which the film companies show their fair. No one expects the multiplex operator to be responsible for what's playing, only for what they are serving at the concessions. Reasonable people understand that.  |  IP: Logged

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