Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Commercials

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-25-2004, 12:55 AM:

I need some help. I am having arguement about commercials in front of the feature presentation.

Is there any theater chains in the US that don't play pre show commercials?

I did a forum search but could not come up with a good answer.

Thanks.
Tom

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 05-25-2004, 03:27 AM:

here's a page that i'm sure is not definitive but it's a start.

landmark doesn't show them (with the exception of some film-related things, like dvd's and film festivals). neither does century, though i'm told they have slides.

carl

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 05-25-2004, 04:45 AM:

Carl is right. Landmark Theatres, whom I work for, does not show "commecials" yet except for what he mentioned with DVDs and film fests.
At my theatre we do have slides but they are self promoting. We have parking problems and we advise customers where to and not to park simply because some we validate or others we don't.
I believe and will til the good Lord takes me that commercials, like Coke, American Express and the like DO NOT belong in theatres. I DO NOT and WILL NOT go to any competing theatre that shows commercials before the trailers. They do not belong there. If you want commercials before and during a movie dammit watch TV.
All the commercials do is piss the audience off. They paid good money to see a MOVIE not ads. Wake up!

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 05-25-2004, 10:54 PM:

Century Theatres does not run commercials.

Posted by Todd Cornwall (Member # 2205) on 05-26-2004, 10:21 AM:

Thats an interesting topic. I dont care for the commericials myself. Its getting really bad..like TV. Not only are there commericals, but now we have to watch little animated sequences during the TV show on the lower (sometimes 1/4 of the screen) about contests and upcomoing shows. I would hope movie theaters would be devoid of that, but it seems like its here for a while until customers really put up a fuss. I prefer to listen to music before the show myself..

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-26-2004, 11:54 PM:

Question two of my argument I need answering.

Is the there any Century theater near a AMC, Cineplex, Regal etc that does compete with the Century that does play commercials. Perferably side by side or across the street would be great.

Thanks.

My friend thinks that because a theater does not have commercials, the theater would be charging double the price.

Thanks in advance.
Tom.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 05-27-2004, 04:49 AM:

well, to answer a similar question, there are 3 landmarks within 2 1/2 blocks (2 within 1 block) of a ua here in berkeley. landmark is $9.25/$7mat and ua is $9/$6.50mat. so there's a small difference there but there are numerous other factors that could account for that. comparing to a mainstream century is probably more helpful.

carl

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-27-2004, 11:20 AM:

I was going to compare Landmark but it would better to compare a mainstream cinema like Century.

If anyone knows of a Century that is very close to another mainstream cinema it would be very helpful.

Thanks.

Tom.

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 05-27-2004, 11:29 AM:

There is a Century and a Cinemark that compete overhere. But they are about 5 miles or so apart. But off of the same freeway, on the same side, just a few exits down. The Cinemark does play commercials.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 05-27-2004, 12:40 PM:

Here in San Francisco, the big 3 Megaplexes are an AMC 14, LOEWS Metreon 15, and a CENTURY 20. We also have some older UA/REGAL singles, twin, and a quad, and some LANDMARK locations. The AMC, LOEWS, and REGAL show commericals, with the LOEWS being the worst violator. (Rumors I hear of 20-30 minutes of commercials beginning at the advertised start time at the movie shown before the movie trailers.)

CENTURY does a lot of advertising in the newspapers that they do not show commercials at their theatres.

From what I hear, the CENTURY 20 is one of the company's most profitible locations in Century's circuit, and the LOEWS METREON is one of the most profitable locations in the Loew's circuit.

The LOEWS Metreon has the advantage of being right on the subway line in a busy part of town. Many friends of mine choose to go there because of the location and the ease of getting there. The CENTURY 20 has the advantage of offering a huge FREE PARKING structure, and they heavily advertise that fact as well.

I'm not sure whether or not the fact that they play or do not play commercials contributes to the successes of these two theatres.

Posted by Peter Hall (Member # 695) on 05-28-2004, 09:20 AM:

To go against the thread, from a customers perspective I have no issue with on screen adverts. Especially in the UK, part of the cinema experience is the "Pearl and Deans" - the advertising logo has been sampled many times in pop songs and is somewhat of an iconic tune. The adverts are usually better quality or more adult themed than TV (does anyone remember the Haagen Daaz adult advert or the Student Travel "Durex" advert ?) and if you prefer not to see them you always know that the film starts 20 minutes after the advertised time.

Indeed some cinema adverts have been so popular that they spurred no1 singles - god, how else could the mighty "Steve Miller Band" get a no1 single in 1989 ! I will never go the laundrette in the same clothes again..

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-28-2004, 11:07 AM:

Peter, if you turn up twenty minutes lateat the David Lean you'd miss the start of the film. They usually run Pearl and Dean, two trailers and then the 'Europa cinemas' thing; between ten and fifteen minutes in total. Two weeks ago it was just under ten minutes.

When I'm projecting I run the adverts/trailers reel with the houselights at half, close the tabs on the last couple of seconds of the Europa thing, reset the masking if necessary, walk to the other machine, press houselights off, then motor start, open the tabs on the certificate. This gives about 10 seconds with the tabs closed if the feature is in scope, rather less if it's Academy or widescreen. I think the ten seconds is a bit long, but the top masking moves quite slowly. I close the tabs between adverts/trailers and feature even when the latter is in the same ratio, it separates the feature from the other stuff, and I think it looks better that way than simply doing a changeover to the feature.

Posted by Alexander Smith (Member # 1769) on 05-28-2004, 03:20 PM:

If you can run your adverts with the house-lights at half-way
(or some intermediate level between full and off), I think you're
lucky.

Pearl & Dean won't let us show their adverts with the house-lights at any other setting than "off". Naturally, our customers are often still arriving during the adverts, so it's only a matter of time before one of them trips over and sues us. :-(

We do have secondary lighting, naturally, but that doesn't matter
to solicitors.

Alex.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-29-2004, 03:09 AM:

The 'half' settng is quite low, the picture on screen doesn't look much different, but there is enough light for late-commers to see their way to their seats. The house lights are designed in such a way that the light fills on the floor and the seats, not on the screen.

Most places seem to run with a low level of house light on during adverts and trailers.

Running adverts frst does at least mean that late-commers are seated by the time the feature starts.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-29-2004, 02:07 PM:

At most of the cinemas I worked at which showed ads at all (and I worked at a few rep houses which didn't), there was a house rule limiting the 'bullshit reel' to 10 or 15 minutes. The length of the Pearl & Dean or Carlton ads varied widely - between 3 and 12 minutes, I'd guess. We then simply filled the remaining time with trailers. My gut feeling is that 15 minutes is as long as is reasonable.

A few months ago I saw a show at the Odeon Leicester Square at which the ads alone lasted for 26 minutes: that was taking the mickey, I think, especially as the tickets cost £9. Agreed with Peter - a few ads are fine and add to the atmosphere of going to the pictures, especially if they have better scripts and production values than their TV counterparts. But 26 minutes sure as hell outstays its welcome.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 05-30-2004, 09:57 AM:

This brings up somethng I've been meaning to ask for a while. As a customer, I know none of us likes all the advertising. But from a business point of view, let's suppose that a particular theater finds it necessary to run ads to make decent money. Let's also suppose that same theater wishes to minimize the amount of ads for the customers' sake. As a customer, which would you prefer: only slides with no "rolling stock," or only rolling stock but no slides?

If a theater does show rolling stock, do you think it should start at the advertised start time, with the light going to half like they would for the trailers, or should it start however many minutes before the start time, and the lights stay up until the first trailer?

Posted by Bevan Wright (Member # 1884) on 05-30-2004, 10:21 AM:

Kodak, Century Theatres, CSM team up for digital pre-show

LOS ANGELES, CA., April 27—Eastman Kodak Company, Century Theatres, and Cinema Screen Media, announced today that Cinema Screen Media (CSM), one of the country's largest, independent, full-service cinema ad suppliers, has purchased nearly 900 Kodak Digital Cinema systems to present the CSM digital pre-show entertainment program to audiences in Century Theatres and CinéArts Theatres.

Key to the Kodak sale is CSM's new multi-year agreement with Century Theatres giving CSM the exclusive right to provide a revolutionary digital pre-show program without rolling-stock commercials. The program is designed to be both entertaining and informative for Century's guests.

With both the Century and CinéArts brands, Century Theatres is one of the top exhibitors in the U.S. with more than 900 screens in eleven states; they expect to open more than 250 new screens over the next three years.

"Century Theatres has a long history of offering the best in presentation, programming, and customer service," said Don Vassel, CEO of Cinema Screen Media. "They're widely admired for their ability to innovate with a sense of style and a concern for their theater guests. Because of our custom design capabilities and our partnership with Kodak for digital cinema systems, we are able to provide a unique program that complements the Century movie-going experience."

"This continues Century's tradition of making every visit to the movies special," said Nancy Klasky, Vice President of Marketing for Century and CinéArts Theatres. "When our theaters are fully outfitted with the CSM show and Kodak systems, we will be the first major exhibitor to offer a full digital pre-show program in all theatres and to all of our guests around the country."

"We're thrilled to have Kodak play a role in this," said Bill Doeren, general manager of Kodak Digital Cinema. "Don and his team are having great success in the marketplace because they have fresh ideas and a strong business focus. Together with Century, they will again set new standards for the digital pre-show."

In November 2003, Cinema Screen Media purchased more than 225 Kodak digital cinema pre-show systems. They are currently in use by CSM to provide a market-leading digital pre-show entertainment program in the Chicago, Phoenix, and Charleston markets.

The new agreement with Century will extend the delivery of CSM's digital pre-show entertainment program to the important Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver, and Portland markets, among others.

As part of the agreement, Kodak is providing CSM with system installation, as well as the service and support necessary to prepare and deliver pre-show content to Century and CinéArts Theatres' screens.

When installation is complete, there will be more than eleven hundred Kodak Digital Cinema systems in the marketplace, throughout the U.S. Playing on them, the CSM-produced pre-show offers a unique mix of marketing messages and entertainment.

"Local marketing messages are important to our presentation because Century has strong ties to the communities they serve," Vassel said. "We intermix those local messages with full audio and visual entertainment -- music videos, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and other entertaining content that audiences can't see anywhere else."

"We've made a commitment to our audiences," said Century's Klasky. "We don't play television commercials because we -- and they -- believe the cinema should be unique. We call it a 'seamless experience' and we expect every part of everything we do -- including the pre-show presentation -- to contribute to that."

"Kodak provides the technology and support we need," Vassel added, "so we can concentrate on creating a differentiated pre-show. Audiences tell us they find our digital pre-show to be more colorful, more engaging, and more entertaining than the slide presentations it replaces."

"We like the CSM solution," said Klasky, "because it allows our theater guests to be entertained while still maintaining an environment for them to socially interact. We believe the CSM concept has the capability to evolve to include new elements and new ways of presenting entertainment."

"CSM clearly shares Century Theatres' passion for quality and respect for their audiences," said Kodak's Bill Doeren. "Their innovative show, supported by Kodak technology, on Century and CinéArts screens, is an example of everyone doing what they do best. And, in the end, the real winners will be the millions of movie guests in Century and CinéArts Theatres."

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 05-30-2004, 10:39 AM:

Leo wrote:

quote: Leo Enticknap
A few months ago I saw a show at the Odeon Leicester Square at which the ads alone lasted for 26 minutes

26 minutes! That's ridiculous. I think 10-15 minutes, including trailers is reasonable, but no longer than that. I haven't seen anything at the OLS for some time now, they did tend to show quite a long adverts reel even then, but not that long.

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 05-30-2004, 03:19 PM:

At one time.........

It was contractural that the ad reel ran no more than 10 minutes, usually around christmas time the ad reels would start to creep up and up in footage, at which point yours truly and his splicer would be busy, reducing that footage.......

Personally they don't bother me, it gives the audience time to settle if nothing else.

A point that no one has made thus far. With the increasingly greedy mafia, sorry, distributors, showing ads is the only way that some theatres can make poorly attended screenings viable, indeed for many film societies and clubs it's the only thing that keeps them afloat. The point made by Peter Hall is very valid, as he stated here in UK the 'pa pa pa pa pa papa' or Pearl and Dean music is something of a national institution. Someplace I have a CD with the various versions of it throughout the years on, was given to me by, I forget the chaps name, sure it was Peter something or other from P&D, I was running reels of ads for a lecture they were giving for advertising students.

I totally agree with Leo, 26 minutes is ridiculous! In my day 15 minutes of ads and trailers was the absolute max.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 05-30-2004, 05:57 PM:

But is the deal with the "mafia" different today than in the past?

Posted by Julie Havlin (Member # 2465) on 05-31-2004, 12:21 AM:

I work for a Landmark theatre in St. Louis, and our previews average about 8 minutes. We typically run 2 30 second spots for contests or DVDs, then about 3 trailers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will never have commercials.

However, the flip side is many of our customers show up 20 minutes late and don't realize they've missed 10 minutes of the film.