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Posted by Thomas Dieter (Member # 2507) on 02-12-2007, 06:22 PM:
 
Hey guys,

I wanted to see if any of you could give me some information on bringing back movies to the big screen. What I'm looking for is information that I can put together in an email to present to someone as a reason why bringing back old movies can be profitable.

This person is set in stone on his belief that bringing back old movies is bad for business. I'm sure that everyone here would disagree with that, but I'm working with another obstacle. Someone previously did this in the company, I think 2 Christmas' back, and they weren't successful, and I know he's going to use that against me.

Can you give me was to show that this will be a success, and how to pull it off. I want to run a summer marathon (School here gets out 3rd week of May and doesn't go back til August 20th or so). I've picked out 12 movies that I feel would be good for this one for each week. Those movies are;

Back to the Future
Star Wars: A New Hope
The Neverending Story
The Lion King
The Goonies
Ghostbusters
The Mask
Aladdin
Grease
Forest Gump
Toy Story
Edward Scissor Hands
Jaws


Some other movies that I chose, but decided not to use cause I was going for more of a family environment or felt were not as popular as the ones above, are;

Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Donnie Darko
Office Space
Space Balls
I decided against this cause the Regal Cinema down the road from us is running it in the marathon which starts Valintine's Day and goes for 8 weeks.
Fight Club
Star Trek (one of them)
Clerks
Blade Runner
Dazed and Confused
Blue Velvet


Of all those movies, has anyone ever had the opportunity to re-run them, and what's the availability of them?

I figured that we would do it on one of our slow days during the week like Tuesday. Tuesday is one of our busy days, but it's also our 50 Cent day. I figured a 2:30 show time, and a 7:15 show time would be best to run them, as those are the two busiest times for the past summer Tuesdays. Because we are a second run theatre as it is, I thought it would be best to put it in one of our larger auditoriums with one of our slower movies we have running, and cancel those shows.

I wanted to make it able to purchase tickets in advance beings we would know the dates, and to help make it successful, have the purchase of the advanced ticket sale include the purchase of some concession combo.

I planned on promoting the event in our weekly newsletter start right after Spring Break. Posters and promotional materials I wanted to have made by our employees so they could have fun in making something, and sharing in the success of the event.

How well do you feel I've done my work on this, and what are some other ideas that you would think of?
 
Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 02-12-2007, 07:43 PM:
 
scratch the Disney Kids Films. They don't allow these to be run for these.
 
Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 02-12-2007, 07:52 PM:
 
You can't just show one Star Wars. Make it a marathon on a slow day, should be cool.
 
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-12-2007, 08:29 PM:
 
We tried to run the Star Wars series for our 75th anniversary a couple of years ago. My idea was to run each movie one night, or one each Friday night for six weeks....I was open to any plan they wanted to sign-on for. The response was, they're not available. (I suppose if we were in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago the answer might have been different.)

Beyond that -- your biggest problem is probably going to be getting quality prints. You'll have a weekly crap-shoot on whether you'll get something you can play without having to hide your head.

Selling tickets ... well, we've tried vintage movies sometimes here, and they don't usually do well. In a big town, who knows?
 
Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 02-12-2007, 09:47 PM:
 
I've never had much luck with specialty programming (classic, cult, or kiddie shows), even with some "big time" marketing behind the projects.

Tried it when I worked for one of the "big three" chains. They obtained quality prints of popular films, advertised in a major paper, printed flyers, etc., etc. It was a complete flop.

Tried it several times when I worked for a well connected local company. They even managed to get a radio station and the pictures' studio involved for one project. Other projects had special draws like vehicles used in the films on site. Broke even, at best. The owner of this company pulled out all the stops (and to the best of my knowledge still does), but it just never seemed to live up to expectations.

Tried it with a mom and pop independant. We didn't manage to obtain any worthwhile tittles, let alone an audience. Obtaining the prints you desire is difficult without the right film buyer.

Tried the old standby "$1 kiddie matinee" with just about every company I've worked for with mediocre to poor results.

The most annoying thing was that each project created a buzz and plenty of people voiced their excitement/desire to attend, but when it came to actually showing up we were let down time after time.

I know there are theatres that have found success with this sort of programming, but I've never been able to duplicate it (even with the kind of resources most people would kill for and being located in the expected hot bed for such programming, Southern California).

I know that's not very helpful or supportive, but it's the reality of my experience.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-12-2007, 09:58 PM:
 
quote: Thomas Dieter
This person is set in stone on his belief that bringing back old movies is bad for business. I'm sure that everyone here would disagree with that
Back in the mid-90s a guy bought the old McKenzie Theater in Springfield and programmed it with old movies. It was a colossal business failure. At "2001" there were about 5 people in the audience. Of course it didn't help that they had a 5-watt mono sound system.
 
Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 02-12-2007, 10:25 PM:
 
I think one of the reasons the Alamo Drafthouse is so successful with this format is becaue of all the hyping on Aint it cool (and it's well deserved too). And Ive read Austin Tx has quite a film community going on so that helps it out. We haven't done anything like you are doing, but unless it's something like Its a Wonderful Life during Christmas, anytime we've shown an old movie (grease had like 3 people show up, same for Guess whos coming to dinner) we rarely get anyone to show.
 
Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 02-12-2007, 10:40 PM:
 
The only time I have had success with something like this is in a college town. Showed "Midnight Movies" on Friday and Saturday night.

Had some sell outs, had some real duds too.

We played many of the movies on your list including:

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Donnie Darko
Office Space
Fight Club
Clerks
Dazed and Confused
Forest Gump

One that did really well for us was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Your companies booker should be able to tell you what you can or cannot get.
 
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-12-2007, 11:08 PM:
 
Probably the best result we ever had with an 'old' movie was when The Wizard of Oz came out a few years ago. We played it for 3 evenings, and on one day we held a "free" matinee sponsored by our local Chamber of Commerce. (Everyone got in free, but we punched up the tickets like normal and the Chamber paid the cost.) THAT performance of the movie was sold out. The evening shows, we had between 5 and 20 people. I didn't care though because I loved seeing "Oz" on the big screen.
 
Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 02-13-2007, 02:26 AM:
 
quote: Thomas Dieter
the Regal Cinema down the road from us is running it in the marathon which starts Valintine's Day
I'm sorry to say that Regal has beaten you to the punch. In several markets, they are running these films every Thursday. In your market, if you choose to give this a go, you will be perceived as a copycat and will probably fail miserably.

In your case, I would sit back and see what happens with their 8-week program and if they extend it. If they do well and don't extend it, try it yourself several months later. Their success will give you the firepower against the naysayers above you.

Regardless of their success, you won't be able to play the same films that they do. You'll also have to come up with some sort of a gimmick to make the people want to spend their money to see the movies in a theater instead of on their DVD players (which may be why they fail, if they do).
 
Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 02-13-2007, 03:09 AM:
 
One of the theaters in town ran re-run marathons at least twice a year. The two biggest sellers were Office Space and Goonies. So much so that they had to interlock the print of Office Space in two theaters because they sold so many tickets.
 
Posted by Patrick Matthews (Member # 2705) on 02-13-2007, 10:50 AM:
 
I operate a single screen theatre in Kansas City (not I huge market) and I have been programing "old" movies for about a year and a half now. I do them once a month on "First Fridays" (I am in the downtown area of KC and all the art galleries open on the First Friday of every month so it typically brings people from the burbs downtown) but I will occasionally do them at other times during the week as well. I have had great success with these films, typically selling them out. Granted I have only 150 seats but I will often play them twice on Friday and once on
Saturday (my shows are usually at 9:00 in the evening and if I have second shows they are usually at 11:00ish). Our theatre does sell alcohol (beer, wine, mixed drinks) but no food so it really does cater to these types of shows. We have specialty drinks for each movie that are themed with the movies and people really seem to enjoy it. I don't do a lot of advertising but I have a myspace for the theatre and an email list of over 3,000 people. We have our normal print ad and I also advertise in the Pitch newspaper that comes out once a week. I only put one ad a month in there. So my advertising costs are very low and I get crowds based on word of mouth mostly. The first night that we did it I got a really nice write up in the Kansas City Star newspaper in a section about night life.

Here is a list of films that I have played and how they did...

Fight Club (Sellout)
Sideways (Sellout)
The Big Lebowski (Sold Out 2 Shows)
The Goonies (Sold Out 1 Show, Second Show was 3/4 Full)
Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1/2 Full Show)
The Warriors (Sold Out 2 Shows)
Monty Python and The Holy Grail (Sold Out One Show, Second Show Half Full)
This Is Spinal Tap (Did ok)
Ghostbusters (Sold Out 2 Shows)
The Princess Bride (Sold Out)
Uncle Buck (worst show I have done, had about 30 people)
Clue (Sold Out 1 Show, 3/4 full on the second)
Tremors (Another bad one, had about 50)
The Lost Boys (Sold Out 1 Show, came very close on the second)
The Big Lebowski (one year later sold out 2 shows and was very close on 2 others)
Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory = (Did ok)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Sold Out 1 Show, Came Very Close on Second)

And most recently I did a John Hughes Double Feature where I had Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. It was $6 for a single show (our normal ticket price for these old movies) and $10 for the double feature. We showed each film once each night and I sold nearly 180 double feature tickets over both the nights and nearly 80 single feature tickets. The booker that I talk with normally called the idea "crazy" when I first told it to him and said it probably wouldn't work and he was very impressed at the numbers that I got.

I have found that playing the films only once or twice reduces the number of "bomb" shows I would have if I gave it the screen for the whole weekend (we only run on weekends). The downside to that is the $250.00 up front that you normally have to pay the studio because even if I sell out one show I'm still not getting too far above it which is one of the reasons I have resorted to do 2-3 shows each weekend when I have the prints.

As far as print quality goes it varies a lot. I have noticed that most of the prints from Universal have been very good (with the exception of Lebowski) but we can also run reel to reel so Universal usually sends us prints that can't/have never been built up. I have got some really awful prints a couple of times and most of the time they come from Criterion. If I want to play a film that I can only get from Criterion then I find something else to play instead. I got Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap from them and both were nearly unplayable. I have got some wonderful prints though too. The Warriors was newly struck and had maybe been run one time before I got it. The Goonies and Ghostbusters were also new printings and looked wonderful.

People love the "living room" feel to the films, people often say it is like watching the movie in your living room with 150 of your closest friends.

I will be doing Scarface and Caddyshack in the next few months.
 
Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 02-13-2007, 02:57 PM:
 
Thomas-

While a manager of a theatre in Gainesville, FL (former Eastern Federal), we played this type of thing in the spring and fall. A lot of the titles turned out to be a huge success - even triple interlocking "Goonies" both Friday and Saturday night. But being a college town - it is a lot easier to do this! But like others have said - print availability was very difficult. The Disney titles will be impossible but some of your other selections were available - Paramount and WB was the easiest for me to get ahold of at the time. I think I still have data somewhere as to what we did play and how they did as well if you want.

So what Regal is playing the marathon you mentioned? I didn't see any mention of it on fandango...
 
Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 02-13-2007, 03:11 PM:
 
Good Luck Thomas- I'm glad to see you doing this.

Folks pay thousands of dollars for fancy HDTVs & Sound Systems because they want to see their favorite movies on a "big" screen with good sound. It only makes sense that they'd pay $10 to see them on a really big screen with a room full of fans. I know I would (and do!)

I also know that some folks go to the movies without any idea what to see, and pick a title once they are there. It seems like there would be an opportunity for sales there.

And I think flash-backs could do well in slow times when the new release pickings are slim. (Now?)

How about running the first chapter(s) when the sequel is about to open? Die Hard, Pirates, Spider-Man, etc.


 
Posted by Tony Ratcliff (Member # 1196) on 02-13-2007, 04:17 PM:
 
We run classic films 3-4 times per year, mostly at Christmas.
We've been doing this since we bought the theatre in 1996.

We found out very early on that the only way people will come see the classics in this town is if it is FREE.
Otherwise, they can "see is on TV" the same. [Roll Eyes]

So we get local businesses to sponsor the film, footing the bill for the film rental and shipping.

Buena Vista films are not available.

Warner Brothers is controlling more and more of the classic film collection. And unfortunately they are the most expensive.
White Christmas is up to $400 vs 35%.

Another gotcha on classics is the shipping costs.
I've paid up to $120 EACH WAY to get a classic.
 
Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 02-13-2007, 04:51 PM:
 
The Music Box theater in Chicago runs some of those films for their Friday and Saturday midnight movies program. It doesn’t ever seem to sell out, but it does well enough that they keep doing it.

For the passed few years I always get over there for Fight Club presented in a change over house... [Cool] The turn out always surprises me.
 
Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 02-13-2007, 05:10 PM:
 
Tony Ratcliff said:

"We found out very early on that the only way people will come see the classics in this town is if it is FREE."

How true! People don't want to pay for something that they can get at home, either. While we would all like to think that classics and revivals are cool- (see it on the big screen) the general public simply doesn't give a rat's ass, at least not in numbers that make it viable. Perhaps in other locations this might work to a degree, but in our metropolitan area (NY,NJ,CT) you could lose your shirt doing this.

We tried kid's matinees of reruns several summers ago. It fell flat and was more bother than it was worth. Didn't even bring them in for free (so we could sell concessions)!
 
Posted by Thomas Dieter (Member # 2507) on 02-13-2007, 08:07 PM:
 
quote: John Carpenter
So what Regal is playing the marathon you mentioned? I didn't see any mention of it on fandango...
I don't know if it's on Fandango or not. I got the email from being a Regal Crown ClubCard Member. Here some of what they are offering.

Every Wednesday through April 4th
$5 Admission - 4:35 & 7:35 pm Showings


February 14 - Ghost (PG-13)
February 21 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG)
February 28 - The Princess Bride (PG)
March 7 - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (PG-13)
March 14 - Top Gun (PG)
March 21 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (PG)
March 28 - Spaceballs (PG)
April 4 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (PG-13)

 
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 03-11-2009, 11:10 PM:
 

It has been 757 days since the last post.


 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-11-2009, 11:10 PM:
 
I finally checked out a Flashback Feature at Regal 15 in Eugene tonight: The Lost Boys. Played in their largest house (somewhere north of 400 seats) and was basically sold out, very few empty seats. The theater manager and a promoter guy did an audience warmup right before the show, thanked everyone for coming and listed upcoming Flashback movies. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. And it seemed like concessions were doing good business too (just from observation).

So at least here in Eugene this strategy seems to be a big success for Regal. Upcoming shows include Jaws and Beverly Hills Cop, which they ran original trailers for.

It's smart of them to run these shows at the same time on the same day every week (Weds. @ 7:45PM) so the people interested in this kind of thing will have that "appointment" fixed in their minds.

This Lost Boys print was in pretty good condition except for being a little greenish and the extreme ends of the reels being pretty thrashed. It started out playing in stereo and sounded good, but about a minute into it they switched it to mono. [Confused]
 
Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 03-13-2009, 12:45 PM:
 
Back in my GCC days we had the "Summer Movie Camp" two mornings a week. The biggest title we EVER had? The Wizard of Oz.
 
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 03-13-2009, 02:48 PM:
 
We ran Grease and Dirty Dancing last year in August, and the shipping cost us more than the film rental. We were very plased with the turnout though. Might do something like that again this year during the week of the county fair.
 
Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 03-13-2009, 07:51 PM:
 
The Prince Charles Cinema in London has started doing classic double bills recently, went to King Kong and Godzilla which was cool, also saw Batman and Batman Returns which I think were one-off classics. These have been selling out.

The ultimate flash back season was at the Empire Leicester Square, easily in the top ten cinemas in the world. I saw Pulp Fiction, Raiders and Taxi Driver on their massive screen and THX system. It was virtually empty in a 1330 seat auditorium.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-01-2009, 12:34 PM:
 
The Regal 15 in Eugene has started publicizing its Fall 2009 Flashback Film Festival schedule:


 
Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 08-01-2009, 02:31 PM:
 
We ran an 80's Retro Week of Back To The Future, Breakfast Club and Beverly Hills Cop (3 shows each spread over a week). Didn't make enough to cover rental and shipping. But they did bring in people who don't usually attend (and scared away all of the regulars). May try some longer runs of similar stuff to see if they can at least break even.
 
Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-01-2009, 06:09 PM:
 
Geeze guys! Do you think Edison invented the movie projector in the 70s? What about stuff from the 40s, 50s and 60s?
 
Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-01-2009, 07:30 PM:
 
The 99W Drive-In will be running "Grease" on September 11-12.

Brian tried this last year, and it resulted in the first September sellout since they've kept records.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-01-2009, 07:45 PM:
 
I don't know what voodoo it takes to make these work, but they've worked here for Regal. They started these in a small house, had sellouts; started interlocking 2 or more small houses, more sellouts; moved to large house. The shows I went to this spring were in a large house and were basically sold out (Lost Boys and Jaws) even if technically not every seat was sold. They have a radio station tie-in for promotion, and someone from the theater gets up and gives a short talk before the movie starts, including soliciting requests for future shows. All in all making for a fun non-standard moviegoing experience.

Robert: They have run a few older movies, titles I can't recall now (possibly Singing in the Rain was one). They must not do as well as the more contemporary titles or there would be more oldies on the new schedule.
 
Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 08-01-2009, 08:23 PM:
 
quote: Robert E. Allen
Geeze guys! Do you think Edison invented the movie projector in the 70s? What about stuff from the 40s, 50s and 60s?
Besides the whole supply and demand thing, there is the whole supply thing.

The days of really great rep theatres are over, except in a few of the bigger cities. Video/DVD did to the Rep House pretty much what it did to the porno theatre. I went through High School going to Rep Houses in the DC area back in the 70's. There were as many as five, maybe more, operating full time. Mostly running junky prints, but we got to see all sorts of things. I remember the Dupont Circle running the complete (available) Buster Keaton collection. Now it is just the AFI Silver and their calendar is nowhere near as deep and adventurous as when in was in the Kennedy Center (or L'enfant plaza for that matter). Just looking at their August Calendar (I won't link because it will change in a month), they certainly aren't going into the 40's, and 50's, but some 60's.

And outside of archival venues, are there quality prints available, or does every thing now have to be show on DVD?

Don't get me wrong, I would love to run a Rep House and force my tastes on the unsuspecting public. But try getting anyone under 50 to show up for a B&W movie. Or a silent one. Rep programming is a dying art (like radio programming). I'm afraid I'm of the last generation to enjoy seeing the history of motion pictures in a movie theatre.
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-01-2009, 08:57 PM:
 
Martin is right. Most people are interested in seeing the rep movies that they saw when they were teenagers and in their 20s. By the time you start talking about 1940's movies, you are asking audiences of 90ish to come out to the theater and that just doesn't happen in reality.

Don't get me wrong. I love the older stuff all the way back into the 20s. Silent and b/w never bothered me in the least and I would love to see some of that stuff projected from 35mm, but running anything older than the 80s is risky. There are only a few movies from the 70s that would be able to bring in any sort of reasonable crowd, and even less from the 60s (probably could count them with your fingers).

Remember, very few people over 50 go out to the movies anymore. Its a matter of supply and demand.

DVD and home video has almost entirely killed the rep stuff as it is, even for the biggest timeframe out right now, which would be the 80s stuff.
 
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-01-2009, 09:13 PM:
 
It could also be that they don't have the proper lenses and plates to run Academy or 1.66 films. I personally think that this is shameful, but it would be even more so if they knowingly booked these titles and then showed them in the wrong aspect ratio.

Another possibility is that people who want to see older titles aren't in Regal's demographic and, instead, prefer to see those titles elsewhere.

In any case, I give whoever is responsible for the series that David describes (either Regal as a company or the management at that specific location) all the credit in the world for putting on a successful repertory film program. This is very difficult to do, as others have said, especially outside of NYC and LA.

As for older films, I actually think that a series of silent comedies with live accompaniment would do better than a series of 1940s film noir or something like that if properly promoted. This isn't something that could be duplicated in the home very easily, and most of these films play much better on a big screen with an audience than on a TV set. Unfortuantely, this type of program can be expensive, since it typically requires variable-speed projection, one or more musicians, and a piano or other instrument. It's probably also a series better suited to an older theatre than a modern multiplex, but I can imagine that it would work reasonably well in any venue if done right.
 
Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-01-2009, 09:17 PM:
 
Having been a Regal assistant Scott I seriously doubt that the local GM has the authority to book or even suggest any films. The DM maybe.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-01-2009, 09:49 PM:
 
I don't know how much decision-making on the titles is local, and how much is corporate. Right before one of the shows I attended the manager got up in front and threw out names of available movies and gauged audience reaction. I think they also said they had a "ballot" available at Guest Services in the lobby. I'm sure the local staff is at least suggesting titles that might do well, even if the final decision on what to run is made elsewhere.

Seems highly unlikely they would have the plates etc. to do anything but modern flat and scope. Also the sound gets dodgy if it's not digital. Nobody but me seems to care on that though.

Brad has it right: This is about 80s and later nostalgia & demographics. When you go back earlier than, say, the 80s, you're reaching for an audience that's *very* tough to bring out to a movie in any significant numbers.
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-02-2009, 02:50 PM:
 
At the height of the revival format era, I was projectionist at one of the most-popular repertory houses in the South; the 1,100-seat Kentucky Theatre in Lexington. I ran everything from silent films all the way through present day (the late 70s at the time), foreign and domestic product - with lots of crappy prints, but I hand-inspected and repaired them all. About 8-10 different titles a week on ONE screen, including Friday and Saturday Midnight Shows of offbeat films. 35mm. I ran four different formats with two-projector changeovers: 1.33, 1.66, 1.85, and scope. It was the top union gig in town (and, in the 6 years I was chief boothman there, I never put the wrong movie on, had an out of frame, a film break, or forgot to change a lens). Oh, yes.. while also running the little porn house next door, with it's two-projector changeovers (although it WAS automated)! [Razz]

As popular as this theatre was with repertory, even they have gone to a first and second run policy today. Sadly, repertory truly is dead.
 
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 08-02-2009, 04:38 PM:
 
quote:
At the height of the revival format era, I was projectionist at one of the most-popular repertory houses in the South; the 1,100-seat Kentucky Theatre in Lexington. I ran everything from silent films all the way through present day (the late 70s at the time), foreign and domestic product - with lots of crappy prints, but I hand-inspected and repaired them all. About 8-10 different titles a week on ONE screen, including Friday and Saturday Midnight Shows of offbeat films. 35mm. I ran four different formats with two-projector changeovers: 1.33, 1.66, 1.85, and scope. It was the top union gig in town (and, in the 6 years I was chief boothman there, I never put the wrong movie on, had an out of frame, a film break, or forgot to change a lens). Oh, yes.. while also running the little porn house next door, with it's two-projector changeovers (although it WAS automated)!

And according to Fred Mills it was the porn theatre that helped keep the Business afloat. The city helped bring back the Kentucky and they tried to keep the repertory going but it just wasn't bringing in the business so they had to change the way they did things and making the former X rated theatre into a second screen allowed them to do this successfully. Also allowing the wood-songs concert series and the smaller concert performances helped them out to.

I am going to try and get down there to see Monty python and the holy grail on September 2nd.
 
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 08-03-2009, 10:54 AM:
 
We're doing a "Flashback Weekend" here at my place on the weekend of August 28th, 29th, & 30th with "Sixteen Candles" and "Top Gun", to offer counter-programming against the county fair.

We originally wanted Footloose & Back to the Future, but was told there were no 35mm prints of Footloose available, and Back to the Future wouldn't be available until mid-September.
 
Posted by Luke Anderson (Member # 5316) on 08-03-2009, 10:40 PM:
 
I have played Footloose on 35mm in the past 6 months.

-Luke
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-04-2009, 12:33 AM:
 
I'm sure there are not too many of them though...not so hard to believe none are available.

Try 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Top Gun'...you'll need extra staff. [Smile]
 
Posted by Michael McGovern (Member # 4807) on 08-04-2009, 01:32 AM:
 
When Regal does the flashbacks and the free kid shows, field management gets zero say in bookings, just as they don't when it comes to regular releases. It all boils down to whatever can be obtained as cheap as possible, and can be circuited around to other locations running the program as well. It ends up being hit and miss, where you'll have to interlock something like "Alvin and the Chipmunks", but see tumbleweeds in the auditorium for "Everyone's Hero".

In fact, the free kids shows with Regal were a particular annoyance because part of the field managements job was to sell local advertising for it, but the sponsorships were pretty expensive, and you didn't get a whole lot for your investment, so it would end up being a really hard sell unless you had a lot of connections. They relied on the sponsors and concession sales to turn a profit, so it was tough. People going to a free movie usually aren't the type to spend a ton of money on concession in the first place, let alone the fact that the movies played at 10am, before people really wanted to be eating popcorn, soda, or candy, but I digress.

The prints for these things would always be in various states of horrible as well. I'd open up a box and find spaghetti almost every time, and some of them looked like the last place that played the print pulled it out of a ditch. I would be afraid to even run the prints on my projectors some times for fear they would make everything all filthy. It was such a hassle, and they didn't serve much useful purpose at all.
 
Posted by Luke Anderson (Member # 5316) on 08-04-2009, 01:45 AM:
 
Michael I work for the same company and have had great success with both programs you mention, and as a matter of fact I was able to choose each and every title my theatre played for the "Flashbacks".

With programs like these it boils down to the individuals running the building to make it a success. If you like what you do as I like playing and talking about films and getting others involved and interested in. Then both of these programs are very simple to suceeed at, usually ending up with inter-locks and still having to turn away patrons.

I like to address the crowds giving them some trivia behind the films / asking trivia questions and then giving away tickets to upcoming titles.

I am one of those individuals that is very fortunate to do what I love for a living.

-Luke
 
Posted by Michael McGovern (Member # 4807) on 08-04-2009, 11:54 AM:
 
You must have had a very nice film booker then, the guy I was used to working with in their film department was not very pleasant at all, and you would always want to avoid having to speak with or even e-mail him.

I'm actually unfamiliar with the Regal "Flash Back" program, only their free kids shows, but I just assumed they ran in the same way. I was never even aware Regal did such a thing until recently, as they don't advertise it anywhere on their website. Is there a list of participating theaters anywhere, because as far as I know none of the theaters here in the Northeast ran this, although I haven't worked for Regal in a while, so this may have changed.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-04-2009, 11:59 AM:
 
The Regal here is also doing the free kids shows. They're advertised on radio and they have numerous local businesses signed up as sponsors.
 
Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 08-04-2009, 02:00 PM:
 
quote: Michael McGovern
I was never even aware Regal did such a thing until recently, as they don't advertise it anywhere on their website.
Regal does a terrible job of promoting this series. I used to list them on my blog. (http://blog.onthebigscreen.net/) I emailed Regal's home office several times asking for info. They would send me listings I already had or ignore me altogether.

Someone is offering free marketing for your business and you won't send him an email? Asinine.

I found most listings through this time consuming process:
1. Go to IMDB and enter a likely title.
2. Scroll down to "showtimes" on the bottom left.
3. If you find a listing, go to Fandango and see if that theatre has any other listings.
4. Copy to blog.
5. Repeat frequently, because these listings aren't updated very far in advance.

I did a quick search just now and couldn't find anything from Regal. They don't tend to run this series over the summer blockbuster period.

I've pretty much abandoned my blog. Partly because of the amount of work involved, partly because most new movies suck so much it's hard to care about the movie-going experience, and partly because I discovered that some of the screenings I was sending people to were on dvd or bd...
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-01-2009, 11:25 AM:
 
I got a firsthand report from someone at work this morning who went to Regal 15 in Eugene's Flashback of The Goonies last night. He says it sold out a large house and they interlocked it with a smaller house for the overflow. They were handing out cards for customers to write down suggestions for future screenings. Not a pre-selected list of films -- you can write down anything you want. The only stipulation is it has to be more than 10 years old.

So this Flashback thing is still going strong here.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-01-2009, 12:26 PM:
 
Wasn't The Goonies based in (and parts filmed in) Oregon? That could explain the seemingly unusual popularity of the movie there.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-01-2009, 12:36 PM:
 
quote: Bobby Henderson
Wasn't The Goonies based in (and parts filmed in) Oregon? That could explain the seemingly unusual popularity of the movie there.
True, although I don't know how well-known that fact is locally. I believe the story takes place in Astoria OR, on the north Oregon coast. Probably mostly shot there too.
 
Posted by Todd McCracken (Member # 4718) on 10-01-2009, 02:21 PM:
 
The New Beverly, last of a breed

Unfortunately its the only one I know of in the LA area. There used to be tons of revival theaters here.
 
Posted by Luke Anderson (Member # 5316) on 10-01-2009, 07:18 PM:
 
I have played the Goonies to crowds of nearly 600 multiple times. We had Truffle Shuffle contests and gave away Baby Ruth candy bars.

Goonies is extremely popular, go on to E-bay and type in goonies for all catigories and you will be amazed at all the stuff that is still being made.

One of my alltime favorites as a kid, I have been to the Goonie house in Astoria. Actually several films have been shot in Astoria - Short Curcuit 2, Kindergarten Cop, TMNT 3, The Goonies and I believe one of the Free Willy movies.

If you play the GOONIES and get the word out you will have to bring on extra staff and get your interlock leaders ready, it's a blast! [thumbsup]

-LUKE
 
Posted by Dave Ganoe (Member # 53) on 07-13-2010, 12:43 PM:
 
Is it legal to use a dvd to show any of these retro titles as long as you actually book the 35mm print?
 
Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 07-13-2010, 12:59 PM:
 
Dvd is what some studios will allow if they have no print and then they treat it like a regular booking.
 
Posted by Tony Ratcliff (Member # 1196) on 07-13-2010, 07:44 PM:
 
Booking the film for 35mm then playing the DVD doesn't make sense. Why pay for the shipment of the print to and from you?

Just tell the distributor you are going to show it on DVD.
I've not had any trouble with that.
Most actually have a separate license agreement for DVDs that include things like you have to supply the DVD, you can't show the FBI warning or anything else on the DVD except the movie itself, etc.
 
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-14-2010, 02:17 AM:
 
We played a DVD of "Urban Cowboy" for a special show. No problem, our booker just told Paramount what we wanted to do and we paid the "rental" fee and everyone's happy. It looked really good on the screen too -- I was fairly impressed.
 
Posted by Jason Metcalfe (Member # 5739) on 08-01-2010, 12:25 PM:
 
Our sister theater does midnights on friday and saturday of every week. In the past they ran prints exclusively but lately they've been showing more and more blu-rays and dvds for prints that would be in poorer quality like Princess Bride and for movies that don't have prints like Birddemic and Ticked off Trannies with Knives.
 
Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 09-05-2010, 01:12 AM:
 
We've been doing once a month classics at the Cerrito in El Cerrito, CA. The Friends of the Cerrito organization helps out with the promotion. I must say I've been surprised at how well it has done. We started with Diva in April (2/3rds full), Chinatown in May (about 120 folks), Born Yesterday (50's version, not the 90's remake) in June (80 people), Jaws (sold out in July), To Catch A Thief (Sold Out in August), next up is Breakfast At Tiffany's. It's lots of fun. We do trivia and give away prizes. I let the Friends program 10 of the 12 films per year but I have veto power. So far I've veto'd one because of price and A Christmas Story because everybody knows they can see it on TBS for free. Classics can be done but you have to choose wisely and be clever in the promotion of them. The shipping is expensive.
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-12-2010, 04:24 PM:
 
Fall 2010 Flashback schedule for Regal 15 in Eugene:

Ballot for voting for Spring 2011 titles includes:

 
Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-12-2010, 07:45 PM:
 
I would see 4-5 of those Fall titles if I lived in Eugene (assuming 35mm). For comparison, I have seen TWO new films so far this year.

Regal stopped doing their Flashback series here in Denver, despite the fact that it appeared to be selling more tickets than whatever first run films were showing at the same time. Makes no sense.
 




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