Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Booking Through BV/Disney

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Posted by Christopher Lani (Member # 7952) on 08-11-2014, 01:46 PM:

Hey everyone! Does anyone out there book their own movies? And if so, who do they contact for BV/Disney. Is booking your own films a good option to go with for a single screen theater?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-11-2014, 02:03 PM:

Repertory is through Swank. No idea on current releases. Check the directory that Boxoffice Magazine publishes periodically. Or just call the Buena Vista office in NYC or LA and let them forward you to the right person.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-11-2014, 02:24 PM:

Seen both: independents doing their own booking, or going through a buyer.

If you do your own booking, plan on selling yourself to the studios to let them know you want their product since independents aren't the cash flow that the studios want, yet they still want their product to be on screens.

Advantage going through a buyer is they can help you get the films "on the break" with the right deals since they place the independents in a group and book them as a circuit for better deals to the independents. Plus, a buyer is well known with the studios and are more willing to cut deals.

Clark Film Buyers in Bozeman MT. is a good place to begin since they help out a lot with the independents.

-Monte

Posted by Christopher Lani (Member # 7952) on 08-11-2014, 02:25 PM:

Thank you both, excellent suggestions!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-11-2014, 02:35 PM:

Clark Film Buying has been doing our booking for about 14 years now. (Our previous booker, Barry Walker, retired.) I think it is money well spent to have a booker for a single screen if you want to get movies "hot" -- on or close to the break. If you can live with waiting a while, then it should be easy enough to do your own booking. Once you have established a reputation and average grosses, then you might be able to move up to getting movies faster.

The best part of having a booker is 'strength in numbers.' Clark handles 200+ screens so they get the attention of studio decision makers faster than a single screen would.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 08-14-2014, 12:48 PM:

If you new to this business you should without a doubt hire someone to book your movies for you for at least a year.

I actually enjoyed booking my movies for the following reasons:

* It was nice hearing from the studio reps on issues vs third hand.
* I liked getting confirmations on bookings 2-3 weeks out vs sometimes just 4 days out (when I used a booker).

While in theory being one of over 200 screens could be beneficial......it can also be a disadvantage. Your booker, like anyone would. will have their favorites. I saw it numerous times when I used a booker. Other theaters getting movies that you wanted and you did not. A 200 screen booker still is pretty small in this world.

Some other must things to do:
1) Have your hold-overs or finals in first thing on Monday. Do not make your studio reps chase you down to see if you are holding a movie or not.
2) Make sure you report your daily grosses every night.
3) Get you box office reports in ASAP. I tried to get mine in within one day.
4) pay on time if not early.
5) Get to know how to use Rentrak's website and be able to see what other theaters are doing business wise.
6) Do not get into a habit of overasking. Meaning know your place in the totem pole of theaters. Seldom will you be able to jump up in position.
7) Ask for studios' permission before you do any split.

As far as time commitment: I doubt you will spend more than 10 minutes a week booking your theater. Probably less.

It really is that easy.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-14-2014, 03:31 PM:

quote: Mike Frese
While in theory being one of over 200 screens could be beneficial......it can also be a disadvantage. Your booker, like anyone would. will have their favorites. I saw it numerous times when I used a booker. Other theaters getting movies that you wanted and you did not. A 200 screen booker still is pretty small in this world.

Well...our booker always makes me feel like I'm his only client. We've never felt like we got bad treatment. I think 200 screens is still a far cry from a half-dozen or less.

I am sure you're right about "favorites" but I'd guess the way to become a favorite is to pay attention to your list of must-dos. All good tips there. Having a computerized ticketing system makes some of it easy...for example our ticket sales go in to Rentrak automatically right after we finish selling tickets, and the first two things I do after tickets close on the last night of the week are email the BO reports, and write the film rental checks.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 08-15-2014, 06:59 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Well...our booker always makes me feel like I'm his only client. We've never felt like we got bad treatment. I think 200 screens is still a far cry from a half-dozen or less.

It helps you out that you have been with them for 14 years. Plus, you have shared good grosses for a theater in you class. That helps too.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-15-2014, 12:06 PM:

quote: Mike Frese
It helps you out that you have been with them for 14 years

I suppose it does, but even since "day 1" I've always felt like we were getting great service from them.

I usually have two conversations with our booker each week. On Monday we confirm the upcoming week's movie and also make tentative plans for the following week. On Thursday we "pencil in" the following week and talk about longer range possibilities.

Some people have told me they talk to their booker but it's more like a 10 second conversation once a week. I always have assumed those guys have just indicated they don't want to be very involved with the decision of what to play. Maybe it depends on how much you're willing to roll with the punches and how involved you want to be with the booking process.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 08-16-2014, 08:28 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Some people have told me they talk to their booker but it's more like a 10 second conversation once a week. I always have assumed those guys have just indicated they don't want to be very involved with the decision of what to play. Maybe it depends on how much you're willing to roll with the punches and how involved you want to be with the booking process.

When I had a booker, is was 90%+ communicated by email.

For most mainstream theaters there just is not a lot of choices that you really need to make. Especially the more screens you have. I had four so there was very little uncertainty of what to book.

My guess is that you and your booker seldom disagree on what to play. So you end up paying $30ish a week to make life a bit easier. I do not blame you in that situation and it probably makes sense for most single screen theaters to have a booker.

Now have 4 screens and paying $120ish a week and it adds up to a decent amount of money over the course of the year. Especially for such little work that it involves.