Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: "Advertising Checkers"

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-06-2003, 01:06 PM:

Does the theatre staff know when an "advertising checker" shows up? Seems like they would have to if you're checking multiple shows.

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 05-06-2003, 01:14 PM:

ok ya got me, What's an advertising checker?

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-06-2003, 01:25 PM:

They prepare a report (simple checklist?) on the theatre's pre-show ads. This is a way to get independent confirmation that the theatre is running all the correct ads with any given show (kind of an audit for the advertisers I guess). I think the checker also notes technical problems if there are any.

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-06-2003, 01:39 PM:

What about the head count checkers from the distributors? Some of those guys used to bug the crap out of me. We had to complain many times about this one guy who was dumber than a brick and would harrass our employees all the time. Most of our checkers expected free soda and popcorn and sometimes wouldn't even BE there during the shows they were supposed to check. They'd just show up after and ask for a box office report. We used to tell them to piss off... if they wanted information like that they should've been here counting heads the whole time not at the bar next door.

Grrr... and then there was Crazy Joel... he was shocked that we had "Lawnmower Man 2" in our 48 seat house. Don't get me started.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 05-06-2003, 04:24 PM:

Most theatre chains I have worked (4) have some sort of "secret checker" come to the theatre. The checker would evaluate each job position and movie presentation. The checker would usually not be known to the staff or management.

The checkers would look for how the box office attendant greeted him or her with a nice hello, were they polite. For concession did they try to up sell, were they fast and polite and courteous. Did the usher greet you with a friendly smile on his face, was the theatre clean.

As for management, the checker would need to see them wearing their name tag and dressed in the right attire. For projection we had to start the movie on time, make sure it was in frame, sound level good and the temperature was good.

A few weeks later our evaluation back. For instance, Regal would grade you on a number scale threw 100, if you did your job good they would reward the person $15. Which I was lucky enough to get $30 one time, a concessionist had my name tag on and I was in projection.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 05-06-2003, 06:50 PM:

There are different kinds of checks. Some are open checks where they announce themselves to management and perform their counts openly and also ask to see ticket machine data. There are also blind checks that are supposed to be unobtrusive where someone quietly counts heads in the auditorium.

http://www.certifiedreports.com/

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-06-2003, 06:58 PM:

This is referred to as an "advertising checker". Their only interest (apparently) is the paid ads being run ahead of the feature. They note what ads were played, their order of placement, and whether there were technical problems.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-06-2003, 07:32 PM:

Right, an advertising checker would be different than someone who was supposed to check the entire theatre. My mom did the "blind" theater checks in the 80's. In addition to the things William mentioned, sometimes we would be instructed to do stuff -- like they would send us passes and we were supposed to try and use them to see a new release and see if the box office staff would let us in, (That depended on what type of certificate it was what the "correct" action was) other times we were supposed to arrive late and see if the theater would let us stay and watch the beginning of the next showing -- all sorts of odd stuff...

Only twice did we have to give bad reports on theaters, one theater was extremely dirty and a roach crawled across the seat in front of us during the movie, and another occasion the theater was extremely dirty and the screens were ripped -- that place was a dump! In both occasions the theaters were shut down for remodeling. (I would always note stuff like crappy reel splices in the reports, don't know if the theaters ever read what we wrote or not...)

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 05-06-2003, 09:55 PM:

Dan,
You said

quote:
other times we were supposed to arrive late and see if the theater would let us stay and watch the beginning of the next showing

I'm curious what the correct policy was. My policy is... sure you may stay and see what you missed. Knowing some of the strange policies of theatre chains today I wouldn't be suprised if they wouldn't let someone see what they had missed when arriving late.

Just curious.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 05-06-2003, 10:29 PM:

Here, the advertising checkers have to report to the box office and state exactly which show they want to check.
Which would theoretically give the projection staff a little advantage if the cashiers weren`t generally too dumb to remember that they were supposed to call upstairs in that case.
To make sure that the checkers really check all the commercials (we often have 15-30 minutes of rolling commercials), they have to record the sound on a handheld tape recorder.
If they found that a commercial was missing that hadn`t been reported to the agency (for instance, because the copy hadn`t arrived at the theater), then they would usually not pay for any of the commercials for the whole week. So we had to be really careful that none were missing. That was often quite difficult. In a 10 plex with 20 films each which changed from week to week, you have a lot of work just to organise the commercial reels.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-06-2003, 11:23 PM:

I guess the chain wanted staff to let people do this -- we had to do this at several UA theaters in the area, and then we did checks 6 months later and they still allowed us to stay. (I suppose part of it was we were supposed to be somewhat "difficult" patrons and see how the staff reacted.) Part of the thing was we never knew if we were being employed by the chain or the film company -- sometimes we were just supposed to do a head count and see what trailers were played, (again, this was in 1988-1992, before ads were widespread.) but we always got our instructions from a company that did this, so we didn't know who was hiring them to hire us.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 05-07-2003, 11:27 PM:

The Certified Field Reports website looks interesting. Anyone know about jobs like that? Are they part time? Can they be easily scheduled around a full time job? I would love to be a checker for a theater.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-11-2003, 07:46 PM:

The reason I brought this up is Regal sent me a letter last week asking if I want to be an "ad checker". I received the full info Friday. I see no reason not to mention it here -- there's nothing clandestine or top secret going on, since checkers are required to introduce themself to the mgr on duty at the time and explain why they're there.

So anyway I did it today. It's kind of a pain in the ass -- not sure I will do it again. Basically, once a month you go to your assigned theater and watch the pre-show rolling stock for 3 movies, preferably PG, PG-13, and R. They don't care about anything but rolling stock/ads -- you're not evaluating slides or trailers, nor the feature. They want to know what ads played; the order they played in; whether there were any gross technical issues with picture or sound; the show's advertised start time; the actual start time of the rolling stock; actual start time of the trailers; and whether the lights were cued properly. Regal pays you $20 and reimburses for up to 2 adult admissions. You have to return a completed form to them, along with an "invoice".

I dunno. Kind of a lot of hassle. And I have mixed feelings about helping them audit those damn ads that we all hate. But then it's an afternoon at the movies for free too. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-11-2003, 10:26 PM:

Did they state when the ads were *supposed* to start? At the one Regal location here in town, the ads start at the advertised feature start time. At two other Regal locations the film itself starts at the advertised feature start time. (Needless to say I prefer the *film* starting at the advertised time!)

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-12-2003, 11:30 AM:

The impression I get from their instructions is they would like the trailers to start at the advertised showtime. So rolling stock starts early. That's how the theatre here timed it, +/- a couple minutes anyway.

Theatres equipped with the new Cinemedia digital system must be showing a LOT of ads because the checker is advised that the ads may start 20 minutes prior to the scheduled showtime. And if the theatre has the Cinemedia plasma screens in the lobby, they want you to audit those too, including whether any of the screens are non-functional.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-12-2003, 04:05 PM:

Oh, I see! I was afraid the theaters starting the ads early would get checked and Regal would stop that practice.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 04-29-2004, 12:43 AM:

Hey David, Regal sent me a letter asking me to try out as a PRE - SHOW VERIFIER which is pretty much the same thing you were offered( i guess the complaints I emailed them about projection quality made them think I am anal enough to check for the ads). How much time can I expect to spend on this when I go to check out 3 preshows. Do I have to sit through each of the REgal 20s for a total of 60 MIN? Or do we just sit through one and randomly check the others? What is the deal with "upto two tickets" a visit? Does that apply only if you take someone with you? INcluding filling the form and checking out the ads, how much total time do you spend to get the $20 and two tickets?

And how do the managers treat you? Are you still doing it? I wish they would have me audit projection quality during the feature presentation instead.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 04-30-2004, 11:46 AM:

Regal locations equippted with the Digital Content Network in the auditoriums play the 2wenty starting approximately 20 minutes before the advertised showtime. The 2wenty provides all of the advertising and commercial content for the feature. At the advertised showtime, the trailers start, then the feature. Locations not equppied with the DCN or that have it only for the lobby video screens, will start the ads and rolling stock at the advertised start time, then the trailers, then the feature.
I've never had a bad experience with a trailer checker, although most of the ones I've dealt with appear to be white trash types who just want to get into the picture show for free. They have been generally polite, considerate to employees and guests, and have done their job and left without any disturbance.

Posted by Chris Medley (Member # 2145) on 04-30-2004, 12:10 PM:

When I worked for Moroch I did a few screen checks, bur mostly just screenings....all in all the money you can make can add up...the only thing i hated was that I was classfied as a vendor and had to do an W-9. Now the theater keeps me locked down most of the time, but I have been to theates liek the Magnolia where the management has been very stuck up and i ahev refused to return...I guess there, if you aren't in the cool film kids club then you get treated like white trash help by the management