This is topic New Cinemark Trailers? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Neil Hunter (Member # 1005) on 10-24-2001, 02:25 PM:
I heard from my booth manager that Cinemark is making new policy trailers for all their screens. My question for any Cinemark "higher-ups" is is this really going to happen? If so, when? I have been waiting for a new one for a while now, and I am really getting tired of the one they are currently using. It is boring, not to mention all the scratches and cinch marks from the horrible film handling practice at my theater. Thanks.
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-24-2001, 10:50 PM:
On a someone related note, GCC just came out with their new coming attractions and "Enjoy the Show" policy/feature presetation trailers. They're decent, but definitely a departure from the previous "Candy Band" trailers.
Posted by Don Sneed (Member # 955) on 10-25-2001, 02:06 AM:
When I was a projectionist for GCC in Galaveston, Texas we had policy trailer of "Timmy The Trash can"....loved that one !! The one that got old quick was the Feature Presenstion, Coming Att. with the pink,red swirls, the music SUCKED !! Then after a few years they removed Timmy & the swirls & replace with the GCC projector logo, for the Coming Att. & Feature Presentation, the music was much better, & stylest (hip)for that day in time... (do the still use that word Hip!!)Showing my age now....
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-25-2001, 03:55 AM:
Timmy the trash can is awesome!!! I saved a print of that one and it is indeed very old. It's around here somewhere. Always gets tons of laughs when I run it. 
Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 10-25-2001, 12:33 PM:
I LOVED the Front Row Joe trailer...probably around the mid-90's. That is one of the few I liked to sing along with. At least it was fun. Most of the others are not very interesting. I might even go back to "The Cinemark" if that was running.Mark Lensenmayer
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-25-2001, 03:31 PM:
This is, like, the third time I've been through this. Not to sound cynical, but I've had so much sunshine blown up my ass I think I'm getting colon cancer. The truth is they'll get here when they get here.What's happening, AFAIK, is that the new one is "in the works" as we speak. They aren't going to spend any more money to have any more of the old, "Image" trailers made up in the mean time. If you run out of them you are done. You'll just have to be sure you take extra good care of the trailers you have left, because that's probably all you are going to get until the new ones come out. If your trailers get too beat up to show, the official word is to just pull them out and don't play anything. It's better to have nothing than to show crappy film. I have also heard that you could be getting some "stock" trailers to hold you over until the new ones arrive. If you get them play them (and take CARE of them!) If not, like I said, it's better to play NO policy trailer than to play a beat up one.
Having trailers made is not an inexpensive undertaking. From what I understand, if you our I went to the company and said, "Make me a 30 second trailer", you wouldn't get out the door for anything less than a couple thousand bucks. Expand that to "Cinemark Proportions" and you could easily see that Mr. Mitchell is probably going to shell out about a million bucks to make this new policy trailer. Thus, you'll understand why it takes so long.
PS: To whomever is in charge of designing the new trailers... PLEASE bring back Front Row Joe!
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-25-2001, 04:19 PM:
When printed in bulk quantities like Cinemark would be doing, each trailer becomes very inexpensive. A 2 hour feature with only 1 print struck is around $1200. The biggest investment is the actual design of the trailer, which is a one time fee and having them rolled up onto individual 30 second cores. Cinemark used to have 5 policies printed on one roll, which was an excellent idea for keeping costs down. I wonder why they don't do that anymore.Anyway, whoever is blowing that sunshine up your ass about Lee Roy spending millions on new policy trailers needs a wake up call. That's a bunch of bull 
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-25-2001, 04:43 PM:
I once did some research on getting some trailers made. It was a simple logo that faded in and faded out. The prices started out at about $1, 000 if they produced the art work, not including the cost of the prints. If we produced the art, according to their specs it was about 1/2 that. Of course there was a minimum number of prints that could be made. (In 5-copy rolls, just like you said.)Yes, I suppose spending a million bucks was hyperbole. I guess what I was trying to say is that considering the state of financial affairs throughout the movie biz, it's a lot of money to spend even if it isn't a million.
Again, with any large company, making new company "imagery" isn't always a simple affair. Remember, a camel is just a horse that was designed by a committee.
Posted by Doug Willming (Member # 728) on 10-26-2001, 11:17 AM:
As the producer/director of the Front Row Joe series, I appreciate the comments about the trailers. We had a lot of fun making them and figuring out new things for the characters to do, which was sometimes hard given the time and policy restraints. Our goal was to make these trailers entertaining enough so that you wouldn't mind to much sitting through them for a year or two. I WISH we had gotten a million dollars to do those trailers!! We made our money marking up the prints a bit, but the production costs were basically a wash. By the time you spend around 6-8 months doing storyboards, the actual animation, shoot it all, do the music tracks, do the mix, make all the IPs and optical track negs required for the thousands of prints required by Cinemark, the money gets eaten up pretty fast.
I think the Cinemark brass decided that Joe and the gang did not project a serious enough image, back in the days when they were trying to take the company public. Personally, with the expansion plans they had of going into other countries, I thought an animated mascot projected a lot of goodwill appeal (ie. Mickey Mouse), but what do I know. According to my sources, they spent more on "The Best Seat in Town" trailer and campaign than we ever charged (of course, they used an expensive Dallas ad agency to come up with it. Guess us San Antonio trailer guys weren't sophisticated enough).I've approached Cinemark about re-vitalizing Joe, or even running the old trailers again as a nostalgia kind of thing (the first ones we did were over 12 years ago, so a lot of current moviegoers wouldn't have seen them). The whole idea originally was to produce a library of them that could be rotated. The latest I've heard, which just makes me want to gag if it's true, is that they are going to do a trailer contest between film schools to come up with a corporate trailer (shades of Lowes Cineplex!!). That probably means some crappy live action-shot on video-transferred to film trailer that wears out it's welcome quickly (Pepsi Girl, anyone?) that will require the same amount of money striking the prints.
Oh, by the way, we were selling video compilations of the FRJoe trailers on our website for a while, really just for fun since we occasionally get email from Cinemark employees that still like the cats. I think we were asking $19.95 for a tape. We quit when Cinemark's lawyers sent us a letter demanding us to cease and desist from selling the tapes with their characters (although they did buy the rights to most of the characters from us for a very small amount of money, we still own the copyrights to the trailers, but this wasn't worth arguing). We offered to share our vast proceeds with them 50/50, which would have made their check around $60!
Posted by Don Sneed (Member # 955) on 10-26-2001, 11:31 AM:
I use to service a company in Houston called "Dollar Cinemas". A great company to work for, well until they went belly up in 1997, they had the best policy trailer I ever seen, although they were only in Houston & Las Vegas, they had a great trailer, I really missed seeing that strip...I should have kept a copy !!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-26-2001, 12:19 PM:
IMHO, the policy trailer and corporate snipes should reflect the image the theatre is trying to project. Production value and image quality are important. What does it say about a theatre when the trailers are run until they literally fall apart, full of dirt and scratches, and missing seconds of continuity at the beginning and end? Or looking like nothing more than an overblown video promo, with low resolution graphics and fuzzy images? It's your message on the screen --- what do you really want it to say?------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-26-2001, 01:20 PM:
Okay, so maybe the trailers don't have to be 100% Front Row Jow but can't he at least make a "guest appearance"? Or even do a kind of "Where's Waldo" thing where he's hidden in the background. People would have to figure out where he's hiding.
Okay, that's silly. But the point is that they don't have to completely get rid of Joe even if they don't feature him in every trailer or ad.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-26-2001, 01:36 PM:
Doug,Could you offer the tapes free of charge? In other words, was it the fact that you were making millions of dollars with Cinemark's characters the problem here? Or is it that Cinemark does not want the "childish" antics of their animated mascot seen by the public? (Either being just a bit uptight if you ask me.)
I always liked the original Front Row Joe's myself, but by the time the 4th one hit, it was obvious that Cinemark was trying to cut out the violence, which made them start getting lame. Those first few were entertaining and had a very nice Dolby A track on them. 
I'll bet the reason why Cinemark will not use the older trailers now is due to the product advertising within them. My favorite is on the 2nd trailer where the camera turns to the screen and it says something like "this auditorium features Peavey speakers, for the ultimate in sound!" That's just hilarious, especially since back in the day Peavey was only known for crappy, loud guitar amps. No doubt Peavey helped defray the cost of the trailers though.
Posted by Doug Willming (Member # 728) on 10-26-2001, 04:01 PM:
Brad:Actually, one of the reasons they may be loathe to reprint the first 3 FRJoe's is that they were 2 minutes long! I think they got a few complaints from frequent patrons that didn't dig the cats. Typically, it seems like you only hear from people that DON'T like something, but the complaints were offset by people that would write us asking about buying animation cels or getting copies of the trailer, or just asking what the names of the various characters were. We even got a request from a high school marching band that wanted the music to the latest Joe trailer to play at half time.
Just FYI, the first 3 Joe trailers were mixed at Skywalker Sound by Gary Summers with sound effects by Gary Rydstrom, 2 guys that have gotten lots of Oscars from their feature work. I agree that the first ones were the best (as is the case with most films and sequels). Since the basic policies stayed the same, it was a challange coming up with new ideas, particularly as the trailers got shorter.
I think the problem with the tapes really stemmed from the marketing director that was in place at the time that didn't care much for us (he is no longer with Cinemark). I think he was the main person that talked them into dumping Joe and coming up with something more "corporate", and when he heard we were making the big bucks off the old trailers, contacted the lawyer. I'm sure they spent more paying for the lawyer's time than they could have collected off us. But, in general, the Cinemark people are really nice folks and we enjoyed it while it lasted.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-26-2001, 04:38 PM:
Aha! Chalk up another point for the best sound-man in town...Gary Rydstrom! I had no idea he mixed those. Does anyone have a list of movies that he has mixed? It seems every time a really, really, really good sound mix comes along, his name is associated with it.
Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 10-26-2001, 07:09 PM:
Rydstrom is credited with 60 sound credits in the IMDB. Lots of BIG movies on that list, including most of the films by James Cameron. He was also responsible for the incredible sound of JURASSIC PARK. He has been associated with PIXAR starting with one of my favorits, LUXO JR. I didn't know he also was sound designer on SPACEBALLS.He is also the primary influence on adding the center surround channel for DOLBY EX.
I'm sure he was responisble for slipping in the panned dialog for TOY STORY II.
Not to many bad movies on that list.
Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 10-27-2001, 09:59 AM:
Ah Front Row Joe.... I still have the Original and the second one. I also have one close to the end of Front Row Joes run that I am not sure which number in the series it is. Does not have any Lyrics to it, but it is FRJ driving a car down a film path, As he passes the various characters in the skit different messages pop up in the center console of his car. At the end Him, Popcorn Penny, and Elton all fly up out of the car do a 90 degree turn and fall back down into a seat in the Auditorium as the Cinemark logo flys overhead and the final shot is a Clapboard with all of Cinemarks info on it. Which number is it Doug?
Posted by Doug Willming (Member # 728) on 10-29-2001, 11:49 AM:
Hey William:That was the next to the last one. It was my least favorite, and I can hardly stand to watch it now. Cinemark liked their short "disk" trailer we did (where Joe throws the logo and it bounces off the walls in surround) and wanted something short, more "techy" and no singing. The next year they went back to the musical format (for the last Joe trailer we did). I think it was one of those deals where they got letters and emails from patrons that didn't like the singing cats one year, and then heard from other people the next year wondering why they didn't sing. One thing I have definitely learned from over 20 years making trailers and commercials is you can't please everyone.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-22-2002, 05:55 PM:
Randy Stankey said "What's happening, AFAIK, is that the new one is "in the works" as we speak. They aren't going to spend any more money to have any more of the old, "Image" trailers made up in the mean time. If you run out of them you are done. You'll just have to be sure you take extra good care of the trailers you have left, because that's probably all you are going to get until the new ones come out. If your trailers get too beat up to show, the official word is to just pull them out and don't play anything. It's better to have nothing than to show crappy film. I have also heard that you could be getting some "stock" trailers to hold you over until the new ones arrive. If you get them play them (and take CARE of them!) If not, like I said, it's better to play NO policy trailer than to play a beat up one."Cinemark here has recently stopped playing their image trailer. The last 3 movies I attended did not have the trailer, including Blade 2 today. Is something new about to come out?
Posted by Jim Casterioto (Member # 1155) on 03-22-2002, 06:46 PM:
We at Cinemark, have been instructed to remove image trailers from all prints immediately. They have claimed for a long time that one is in the works, but I would not be surprised if it takes another couple of weeks.
Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 03-22-2002, 08:07 PM:
I wonder if they will bring back front row joe? If they do I wonder if Bob Maar will eat front row joe since he is a cat.------------------
--"That's my story and i'm sticking to it!"--
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 03-23-2002, 02:51 AM:
From what I have heard through the grapevine, Front Row Joe will not be making a return...
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-23-2002, 09:33 AM:
The word that I have heard is that the new trailer will be more geared to the concession stand. So I expect to see popcorn drinks and candy floating across the screen. I hope there is no nariration in it. Never could accept the announcer saying best seat in town at the end of the image with it written right there on the screen. Sort of didn't fit. I am expecting to see the new ones probably in time for the opening of Spiderman on May 3rd.
Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 03-23-2002, 12:51 PM:
Hopefully, they will have the new uniforms out in time for Spiderman too... Right now my staff is in ET tshirts...
Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 03-24-2002, 04:53 AM:
If anybody has the old Cinemark trailers hangin around... I might be happy to find it a resting place on a preview reel wedged comfortably between an AMC trailer and my GCC dancing candy trailer...I hate to always bring it up -- but I just LOVE policy trailers... so when you think of me... think of the dorky guy who has 1 1/2 hours of film reminding the viewer to shut the hell up and throw their crap away when they're done.
Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-24-2002, 11:40 AM:
Distantly related to the subject of policies...Just yesterday I was rummaging around looking for a small sample of nitrate stock I vaguely remembered I had. I couldn't recall what it was but I found it and it was several strands of theatre logo some of which date codes to 1933 and 1939. Some Kodak, some DuPont.
Also a couple of strips that say "THIS PICTURE is respectfully dedicated to the youthful trials and tribulations of the High School Students of [town]." The weird part is that one of the latter is spliced to a single frame of what appears to be the main title of "What a Life," a 1939 Henry Aldrich/Jackie Cooper picture. From the way it's spliced it would seem that the dedication was cut in after the Paramount logo ahead of the main title. Unless that single frame was the first frame of a trailer but I doubt that. Maybe they cut this in on every teen oriented film.
BTW, all these bits of nitrate are in perfect condition.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 12-29-2002, 06:03 PM:
Not exactly a policy trailer, but Cinemark is running a new "Buy Gift Certificates!" trailer right before the feature. The new tagline is something like "Cinemark -- Where Reel Movies Play!" (instead of "best seat in town").
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-29-2002, 07:05 PM:
But I thought Cinemark used platters! hardy har, wap wap
(I figured I would go ahead and beat Guttag and Kraus to it.)
Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 12-29-2002, 09:00 PM:
Interesting - we've not received any of these. Is it possible it's just pushing the "Gift Cards"? If so, then it would only be playing in the Internet Ticketing-enabled theatres that sell Gift Cards as opposed to Movie Dollars.
Posted by Jim Casterioto (Member # 1155) on 12-30-2002, 12:48 AM:
These new trailers are pushing the gift cards, Mike. As you know, not all theaters accept them, so naturally not all of the theaters are playing this short trailer.
Hopefully we'll get a new policy trailer!!