This is topic Standees: Now With "Certified Installation" in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Tom Doyle (Member # 1474) on 07-12-2007, 05:07 PM:
 
Maybe someone here has some more info on this. Last week a standee was shipped to my theater (from Deluxe Media). The box had a large orange sticker on it that said "Hold For Certified Installation". Sure enough, someone came in to assemble the standee for us. I wasn't around or I would have asked questions.

Now, the floor staff is quite capable of putting up standees. So I'm wondering: why was this done? My only guesses are:

1) The movie company wanted to ensure it was put on display.

2) It's a new way to nickel-and-dime the theater - we'll get a bill for this 'service'.

. . . or maybe both. Has this happened to anyone else?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-12-2007, 05:22 PM:
 
I'll bet it's #1. Of course they will not know if you tear it down right after it's installed, but at least they know it's been seen by people.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-12-2007, 08:04 PM:
 
Some standees are complicated. Remember the one for Hitch?

I've seen a good number of standees over the years that were not assembled correctly. Keep in mind how America on average sucks at things like math and geometry. Also keep in mind how some high school kids earning minimum wage might sluff off on the task as well.

I think that if the standee is complicated and takes a bunch of time to assemble, then by golly, let the studio send someone to assemble it -just so long as they don't bill you for it (or at least not bill you a lot).
 

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Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 07-12-2007, 08:22 PM:
 
When I was an assistant manager in Miami, some of the studios were doing that for their standees (at this point I cannot remember which ones). This was around 7 years ago.
One or two people would show up to assemble the standee and go on to the next theater and do the same thing.
I agree with Mike that they are most likely doing it to make sure it is put up correctly (and maybe displayed in a prominent place in the lobby).
 

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Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 07-13-2007, 02:48 AM:
 
As has been mentioned, it's just a way for the studio to ensure the standee is assembled properly, put up in a timely fashion, and placed in a prominant area. While it seems like a "no brainer" task, I've seen plenty of standees assembled in a half assed fashion (or simply left in the box and tucked away in storage).

I've also seen these "hold for assembly" standees put up by staff without incident; the studio assembly rep didn't complain and simply took a picture to verify it was up.
 

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Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 07-13-2007, 09:08 AM:
 
Had this happen for the first and so far only time for the movie "Pride." That was a simple standee, wish this had been around for the "Toy Story" giant View-Master standee. That one took me 6 hours and was still trashed by kids in a couple of weeks. It was the best standee I've ever built though.
 

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Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 07-13-2007, 09:41 AM:
 
I wonder if they'll start doing 'certified disassembly' for standees in the near future? I've seen several that do contain complex fittings, and some that have electronic devices as part of the display. One that springs to mind is the standee for 'Vacancy' where it has lightbulbs behind the word VACANCY flashing on and off in a random order (so it looks like it's flickering)

I also remember a standee that actually contained a plasma screen and DVD player, so it would constantly run trailers for the movie. Without 'certified disassembly', who's to say that the staff won't take the plasma screen for use in the staff common room once the standee is dismantled?
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-13-2007, 09:59 AM:
 
This does not surprise me. Although you wouldn't think so, Standees are very expensive to produce. I don't blame the studios for wanting to make sure they are assembled correctly and displayed.
 

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Posted by Shane Cooper (Member # 2510) on 07-13-2007, 10:22 AM:
 
Here in Little Rock, we have this happen quite frequently. It seems that Paramount/Dreamworks is easily the most common.

Could have used someone from Fox on The Simpsons and Fantastic Four standees.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-13-2007, 11:22 AM:
 
Southland Display is the company that is contracted with the film companies (not all of them) to install standees. There is no cost to the theatre, the only cost incurred is to the film companies themselves. Southland usually gets contracted to do a certain number of standees on release at the higher grossing theatres, that is why some theatres have to build the standees themselves and some don't. The whole purpose of this process is for the Film companies to insure that they standees they paid for are actually getting built properly and within the right 'time window'.

The people who actually build the standees are contracted by Southland in the various cities around the country, and are usually college students looking for an extreme part-time gig. They get paid per standee built and are given a time period (usually over a weekend) to get the alotted amount of standess done.

There is no 'certification' involved. Unless you sign up for this job - you can then be certified "stupid".

Oh yes:

quote: Christopher Crouch

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I've also seen these "hold for assembly" standees put up by staff without incident; the studio assembly rep didn't complain and simply took a picture to verify it was up.

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So they could get paid for something they didn't do!!!!!
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-13-2007, 11:28 AM:
 
Anybody know about how much the average standee is worth in dollars? I've always been curious about that.

Shipping costs alone for the things must be outrageous. We've gotten quite a few standees on "overnight" service!
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-13-2007, 12:31 PM:
 
From what I've been told by somebody that would know they are between $500 and $1000 each normally.

They cost that much due to engineering and set-up costs not being spread over a very high quantity.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 07-13-2007, 02:47 PM:
 
I spoke to a company a few years ago about doing this very thing. I believe they paid around $10-20 for the average standee and up to $45 for the more complicated ones..
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-16-2007, 06:54 PM:
 
What happens to the standees once they are finished with them? Do the theatres just trash them? We second run outfits would love to be able to get our hands on these things, but of course, by the time we play titles, a call to the publicity department and they act like they never heard of the film. While on the phone, I've actually heard the girl yell to someone else in the office -- presumably someone who was more than 20 years old and who had been working there more than a month, "Hey, Harry, is that our title?"

Occassioinally I've actually gotten standees from video stores after THEY are done with them. Of course those standees require us to fine imaginative ways to cover up the "On DVD such and such a date" text.

I have always been fascinated by standees -- the extreme oragmai of the movie industry. How they can get those very complicated 3D things down into flat, mail-able boxes is fascinating. Lots of times it seems like more creativity has to go into producting the standee than has gone into the film they are hawking.
 

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Posted by James. R. Deeter (Member # 837) on 07-17-2007, 02:08 PM:
 
I have always believed the people who design the standees never really build one, they just tell you tab A will fit in slot B
 

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Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 07-17-2007, 03:02 PM:
 
Interesting, I wonder if my theatre will experience this anytime soon. They'll be disappointed if they're hoping for prominent display however, we have a no standees in the lobby policy.

Generally the usher staff doesn't mind assembling these, as it gives us something different to do on a quieter day.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-17-2007, 06:04 PM:
 

quote: Mark Strube

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we have a no standees in the lobby policy.

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quote: Thomas Pitt

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One that springs to mind is the standee for 'Vacancy' where it has lightbulbs behind the word VACANCY flashing on and off in a random order (so it looks like it's flickering).

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Built one of those myself, though I chucked all the light fittings since we have a policy of not putting them in, (don't want the site to catch on fire duning the night). And as far as i'm aware it's still sitting in our upstairs lobby (although we finished the film 3 weeks ago). Now I just need someone to come dismantle and throw it away for me.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-18-2007, 06:59 PM:
 

quote: Michael Brown

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I chucked all the light fittings since we have a policy of not putting them in, (don't want the site to catch on fire duning the night).

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quote: Michael Brown

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We've had a couple of these done recently.
Someone came in to build standees for 'Evan Almighty'

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quote: Mark Strube

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we have a no standees in the lobby policy

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