Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: A Hole in Our Schedule

This is topic A Hole in Our Schedule - What Movies to Fill In? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-27-2009, 11:36 AM:

Usually our hall is booked for most of the summer by the Pennsylvania Governor's School of the Arts. Due to the economy and the budget crunch, the program has been canceled this summer. That leaves us with a giant hole in our schedule. We are planning to show some movies this summer to fill in.

The question is: What's hot?

We don't like to show the same movies that Cinemark shows. Not only would it be counterproductive, it's doesn't really fall within our mission. We prefer to show international and independent movies that don't show at the megaplexes.

We are not afraid of expanding our range a little bit because this summer series isn't something we usually do. Movies that are a bit more popular or upscale wouldn't be a bad thing. We just don't want to show the same old things that people can see any day at Cinemark, etc.

Closer to the end of the year, we like to show a few of the Oscar contenders. Many people prefer to watch those movies here instead of Cinemark because it's a more mature atmosphere.

If you remember, we got screwed on "Slumdog" and had to wait until after the DVD was released before we could rebook it. Even then, we still got nearly 400 people in one day.

Experience has shown that we can draw a good number of customers if we play the right movies.

What movies do you guys think would be good to show?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-27-2009, 02:53 PM:

For recent art-house titles, I can recommend Sita Sings the Blues. It has had only limited distribution to this point, and it is an excellent film.

Also, consider Che, if you haven't already shown it, as well as The Class.

This might also be a good time to book the restored prints of the Godfather series, or experiment with other types of repertory programming (Hitchcock series? Noir series? "Silents are Golden" series?).

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 04-27-2009, 03:49 PM:

What's Hot or What's Good?

It's been a very bad year attendance-wise for the indie/foreign films. America is not in the mood for depressing foreign films. Scott's suggestions are all good, but it doesn't mean anyone will come to them. I don't see anything big coming out

Doing rep with "sure things" is a better bet, especially if you sell it as an extra special event. Once you go past the sure things, it all depends on who your audience is, and that takes a great deal of failure to figure out.

I'd kinda like to see what would happen with a Back to the Future trilogy (the original audience is now old enough to feel nostalgic and want to inflict it on their kids). In general, an 80's series may tap just the right audience.

Good luck

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-28-2009, 09:53 AM:

quote: Martin McCaffery
What's Hot or What's Good?

How about, "What makes money?" [Wink]

On a a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 = "Stick to your principles" and 10 = "Play anything to sell tickets" I score myself at about 6 or 7.

I think it's important to maintain your principles but you also have to think about keeping the business alive. If that means you have to give in once in a while then so be it.

Further, I think that playing more popular movies can bring other customers to your theater who might not have come in the first place. Once they get inside the door and see the other movies you have to offer, they are more likely to come back.

Me... I'd like to play some classics and I'd like to play more movies in tune with movie history. "Back to the Future" sounds like a good idea to me.

Whenever there is an important date or anniversary in movie history, we should play a movie to celebrate. Anniversary showings of "Godfather" or other movies sound like great ideas to me.

When Humphrey Bogart died, we should have showed "Casablanca."
When Cathreine Hepburn dies, we should have played "Woman of the Year."
When Ingmar Bergman died, we should have had a salute to his movies.
Okay, maybe it's a little morbid to show movies when people die. Maybe we could celebrate when somebody gets a Lifetime Achievement award? I don't know. It's about "connecting" people to the movies.

That's what *I* think...

My boss wants to stick to principles.
That makes me feel like I've been painted into a corner. On one hand I'm being told that we need to fill the schedule and make money. On the other hand, I have to stick to principles.

I'm just sitting here trying to think what to do.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 04-28-2009, 10:39 AM:

By Hot I of course meant, make money.

I guess you have to define your principles first. Pop Schlock is a part of movie history, and some things considered schlock at the time are now classics. So as long has you have a reason to show it, call it a classic and go with it.

Personally, I would love to show more old movies, but we've never had an audience for it. We don't have any other art/indie theatres within a couple hundred miles, so what little demand we have is directed towards art films. Your market may be inundated with art theatres, so classics could be the counter programming you are looking for.

As I said, it takes a lot of failure to figure out what the audience wants. They may say one thing, but it takes something else altogether to get them out of their houses. I say, Just Do It. Pay very close attention to what happens, and especially what else is happening that may cut into or ad to your audience.

You've got nothing to lose but money! [Wink]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-29-2009, 08:13 AM:

The Godfather series is pretty close to a sure thing, and you can advertise it as being a new restoration.

This could be expanded to a Coppola series. If you book "The Conversation," I'll drive out to see it. I love the film and have not seen it on the big screen.

Posted by Richard P. May (Member # 3598) on 04-29-2009, 12:43 PM:

Picking up on the series idea, and your comments about commemorative series, consider a group of films based on a well known star's career: Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Bogart,
etc.
In L.A. this summer, the Academy is running a weekly series of the Academy Award nominees of 1939, which includes GONE WITH THE WIND, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, NINOTCHKA, THE WIZARD OF OZ... a total of 10 features that year. Most of these are available thru the repertory departments of their respective distributors.
Something with an exploitable "hook" has been known to work well.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 04-29-2009, 04:00 PM:

quote: Randy Stankey
When Humphrey Bogart died, we should have showed "Casablanca."

Yes, but were you running in 1957?

Posted by Tony Ratcliff (Member # 1196) on 04-29-2009, 09:59 PM:

Randy,
We just finished doing an 80s April (Back To The Future, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller) that was so successful that we are doing 80s again in May, calling it "Molly & More May", with Molly Ringwald movies plus Top Gun and Princess Bride.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 05-06-2009, 08:55 PM:

First of all, I take issue with the characterization that foreign films are all depressing. As a dedicated art house guy, I can vouch for a fact that isn't true. For example Shall We Kiss from Music Box films could hardly be called depressing. Paris 36 from Sony Classics also isn't depressing.

But back to Randy's question...titles that I would recommend considering include Gomorrah (IFC Films), Sin Nombre (Focus), Sunshine Cleaning (Overture) though it may have been wide enough to have played your Cinemark, Two Lovers (Magnolia) this one did well in areas with significant Jewish populations, Everlasting Moments (again IFC), Is Anybody There? (Story Island Entertainment), Sugar, Paris 36, the upcoming Tyson, Rudo y Cursi, Every Little Step (all Sony Classics), Goodbye Solo (Roadside Attractions), Valentino: The Last Emperor (Vitagraph - does good business but prints are very tight), Harvard Beats Yale (Kino) does well especially if you have significant alumni of either school in your area, and The Garden (Oscilloscope).

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-11-2009, 10:14 AM:

So, then, I guess we can sum it up by saying that, no matter what kind of movies you play; foreign, independent, classics, first run or what-have-you, the bottom line is, "Play movies people want to see and they will buy tickets."

Not as many people have been buying tickets lately.
I guess that means we haven't been playing the right movies. :roll:

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-11-2009, 05:44 PM:

What have you been playing?

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-12-2009, 02:02 PM:

http://pac.mercyhurst.edu/events/index.php?type=FILM

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-12-2009, 02:40 PM:

In terms of anniversaries, Apocalypse Now and Alien both turn 30 years old this summer. It might be nice to be able see either one in 70mm.

In the case of Apocalypse Now it would be cool to see that one in either 70mm or 35mm with digital sound just to see something closer to the full 2.35:1 image rather than the silly 2:1 nonsense we're stuck with on home video versions. It looks probable that when Apocalypse Now arrives on Blu-ray it will have the 2:1 ratio. Criterion had to use a 2:1 ratio on the recent Blu-ray release of The Last Emperor to keep Vittorio Storaro happy despite the image cropping that occurred.

Back to the Future might generate interest given the film turns 25 years old this summer ("silver" anniversary).

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 05-12-2009, 09:30 PM:

And, of course, if price is a factor, choosing studios that have better pricing terms can be significant (for the same level of movie, of course)...

--jhawk