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Author
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Topic: Boxoffice Magazine rant
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Peter Cane
Film Handler
Posts: 12
From: San Francisco, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2008
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posted 09-06-2008 02:51 AM
Greetings,
I'm the publisher of Boxoffice Magazine, although some of you might have other names for me...
I haven't necessarily enjoyed reading some of these posts, but I have found all of them to be educational.
All of us who work on the magazine take its legacy very seriously. We're honoring that legacy later this year when we will post the entire archive of the magazine, going back to 1924, on Boxoffice.com. That's about 4,000 issues and a total of more than 300,000 pages. It was a substantial investment, as were the redesigns of the magazine and the website.
Boxoffice is as committed to the exhibition industry as it ever was. I like to think that I have reaffirmed that commitment.
Some of you disagree. That's not a bad thing. To the contrary, it's good to know that many of you are so passionate about Boxoffice.
If you'd like to translate that passion into change, I hereby extend a personal invitation to each of you to contact me offline. My email address is peter@boxoffice.com and my phone number is (310) 876-9090. I will keep all discussions off the record if you'd like. Unless I ask you to write a column or two.
Thanks,
Peter Cane
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John Walsh
Film God
Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 09-06-2008 09:28 AM
Welcome, Peter. It is not often that the person primarily responsible for a well-known motion picture related entity acknowledges comments, let alone asks for suggestions. I admit, I’m impressed.
I think the person who started this topic had some very valid points, and I would like to suggest that you might begin by responding to them. I’m not trying to goad you on or anything like that, but the original posting (I thought) summed up the general feeling quite well.
Also, I feel it would be better if, generally, comments are made here, on this forum. Not only because many people already look at this site for information, but to post (most) opinions privately does not promote a ‘peer review’ concept. I certainly do not expect anyone to refer back to this site every day, just to read and respond to multiple postings. But if you were to respond to your choice of a forum member’s opinion once every two or three months, that would show (I feel ) a real interest. I respectfully point out that the members of this site are comprised of the exactly the audience Box Office magazine is trying to reach. If you believe that old adage, “If one person comments, ten feel the same way ..” then you would find the several hundred members here represent thousands of people in the demographic Box Office is writing for.
Thanks
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 09-06-2008 11:42 AM
quote: Scott Norwood
The digital cinema stuff is fine and well and good when it is _useful_ to the average theatre owner and/or manager and/or employees. The self-promotional crap written by the studios or Fithian or AccessIT or others with a financial interest in the technology's adoption and success is not.
This was a tipping point for me. Sure, I've noticed the steady demise of the informative articles I used to see in B/O. The magazine may be convinced we don't need that information anymore, since none of us will be running projectors in (____) years.
The digital content hardly helps me at all, and I'm to the point that I'd probably miss something really good, because I expect the magazine to be full of industry-biased content that I just can't use
How about a hard, honest look at what digital means to that half of us who aren't Regal, or AMC, or anywhere near the top 10 chains in the country? Regal isn't buying yet, but when they do, they'll probably know what they want, and an ad in Boxoffice likely won't influence them much. The rest of us are trying to figure out how, or if, we can make this work for us. Unless you're full-time and first-run, the AccessIT program probably isn't going to help you. Even if you could get their stuff in your theatre, it comes with so many fees and conditions, I'm not sure there'd be any money left for you.
Can the industry address how to service the lower third, or half if the exhibition chain, or have they, by their silence, already decided how that's going to work out? Does any publication have the courage to get us some answers, while accepting advertising money from the companies that are so focused on the top 20% right now?
Contrary to what the digital folk would like to see, film is far from dead. Curiously, Strong still seems to be selling projectors, and Kodak's grinding out film stock like crazy. It doesn't have to dominate the whole mag, but how 'bout some operational and maintenance content that focuses on current film and sound equipment. Not everyone has a corporate service division, or a reasonably priced technician nearby.
The problem with all this, is that most of our personal issues don't serve the interests of the advertisers, which is probably one reason why online solutions are so effective. Mr. Cane may deny it, but every media outlet I ever worked for certainly paid some attention to how their advertisers viewed the balance of their content. A car dealer isn't as likely to run ads where his cars are regularly trashed. Realtors probably won't run ads alongside articles about substandard construction practices. Curiously, exhibitors shell out a lot of money to be in newspapers that put derogatory reviews right next to our ads. Hmmm... maybe I just answered my own question.
Still, with all the exposure that NATO and the digital people get, it seems reasonable to me that the advertisers might have more influence than in the past. Perhaps that's part of why the magazine has evolved the way it has.
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Adam Fraser
Master Film Handler
Posts: 499
From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA
Registered: Dec 2001
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posted 09-11-2008 09:17 AM
Mr. Cane,
Another thing that has been also overlooked are the thousands of 1-5 screen independent owner operators that would like to see things that actually relate to them. Here are a few I personally feel would go well with your magazine's role in the industry.
Basic technical and repair advice.
Product reviews by qualified technicians, not industry insiders.
Information and reviews on popcorn poppers, nacho machines, hot dog machines, etc.
How to effectively advertise your theatre and upcoming films.
Alternative content and uses of theatres without digital projection. ie. conventions, church rentals, live shows, plays.
Spotlights on old/historic theatres and drive ins that are still making it, even with competition and rising costs.
Real dollar costs/benefits of the conversion to digital projection using a theatre that has added a digital projector. Maybe give an accountant all the numbers of the real cost of conversion versus the benefits in decreased shipping costs, less time building up prints, etc. and see how long it would take to make up the $100,000 price tag. I for one don't feel like paying $1500/month on something that might bring in a couple extra patrons a week.
Plant and equipment upgrades for reliability and efficiency, as in follow an old theatre that upgraded from an old boiler system to a hot water or geothermal heating/cooling system.
If your magazine is really for theatre owners, how about you get some theatre owners to write articles for you and not executives of chains who many times have not set foot behind a box office to sell a ticket, behind a concession counter to sell a popcorn, or run and maintained a projector.
I know you have to cater to the big chains also, as they buy most of the new equipment direct from your advertisers. But think of us also.
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