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Author Topic: A minimum-three week policy is putting a P.E.I. drive-in theatre out of business Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-16-2018 03:35 PM                        quote: nd they're not living up to one of the sales pitches they gave about making theaters convert to digital projection: more flexible booking arrangements and greater variety of movies to play. I have a hunch this will start to change as VPF deals start to run out. Our theatres are just about done with VPFs (like within weeks) and we've already seen some indication we will have an easier time getting product, especially from the smaller studios.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-16-2018 06:57 PM                        Don't hold your breath. We were never on a VPF plan and the situation here is essentially the same as it was with film. Although I did hear from our booker one or two times that "since we weren't a VPF theater" we were getting a title that a VPF theater might not have gotten. But that wasn't very often at all. Once in a while, if we don't play a movie on the break, we can get it in week 3 but usually they still want two weeks at that point, and by that time it's not worth 2 weeks anymore...so we have to wait until week 5 or so. The real irritation is when a movie is a surprise smash, as happened with "American Sniper" and "The Revenant." They could have easily run off a bunch more hard drives and spread the movie fast and wide, but all the smaller towns had to wait until about week 6 with both of those titles. We still did well with both though.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 07-18-2018 08:07 PM                     You know, Hollywood enjoys billions of dollars of tax breaks, which government officials of all parties usually grant without much hesitation, because Hollywood generates quite a lot of jobs. So, since they're essentially benefiting from public money, maybe the government can step in and protect the small exhibitors from monopolistic malpractices like requesting exclusivity for extended periods for certain titles?  |  IP: Logged Dave Bird Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 777 From: Perth, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2000 posted 07-20-2018 06:36 AM                        It still baffles me a bit, coming from a retail background, how the studios can be so rigid in their standard booking practices, things like Mike says, not getting new markets in on surprise hits week 3 (week 2 even), 3 week minimums where it clearly doesn't fit. You never see Coca-Cola holding back a product that surprises them, and every retail outlet and then some sold those stupid "fidget spinners" which had zero purpose but were in demand just the same. In almost any other business, they make hay while the sun shines, wherever it happens to be shining.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 07-20-2018 07:30 AM                     I only recently learned that some markets have an astonishingly high percentage of single screeners, as in the US, UK, Germany, France, etc. The multiplexes may still account for higher profits for the studios, but if the single screeners closed, that would lose quite some business for them, too. I don't understand why the studios are so stubborn here. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Dave Bird Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 777 From: Perth, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2000 posted 07-20-2018 08:07 AM                        Carsten, we still have studios request us to play films, single screen, outdoors when it suits them....that would be prime season (now) when we can, and sometimes do put 1,200-1,400 admissions through for a single showing (which they count TWICE on both ends of their double-feature, with accounting skills like that, they should get into the government racket!). It makes some sense to me, there might not be any actual auditoriums that seat that capacity anymore in this country.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 07-20-2018 12:25 PM                        quote: Mike Blakesley we also don't get any of the perks they get, like promotional goodies, so it's not exactly an even field. Welcome to the club, Mike. We send 5-figured checks to some of those distributors, and we don't get treated any better than you. I'm hoping we can change that when we put digital poster boards in the building... The printed stuff that's shipped to us is mostly junk.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-20-2018 02:00 PM                        When I started in the industry in the mid 90's it was very common for studios to send promotional t-shirts and other goodies to the theatres. Now you have to jump through hoops to get anything, and often only for the sake of radio or other promotions. Goodies for theatre staff are almost unheard of today.  |  IP: Logged Frank Cox Film God Posts: 2234 From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada Registered: Apr 2011 posted 07-20-2018 02:34 PM                        When I first got the Real D setup (in 2011) I got boxes of t-shirts from Real D for almost every 3D movie. Boy, did I have shirts. And there were lots of happy customers who received a free t-shirt when they came to the show. That only lasted a year or so, though. I haven't had any swag for any movie for some years, now.  |  IP: Logged

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